In Reply to: Re: Re: Incredible! posted by Mark Lacaillade on September 12, 2006 at 22:07:20:

How exciting to be headed down there soon!

To address your questions --

I had two heavy pieces of checked luggage, at 70 and 80 lbs. On the way down I was charged about $150 in excess weight fees, and charged about $60 on the return trip. If I did the trip again I'd leave the dry suit at home -- only a few dives were dry-suit cold, and even on those dives, at any depth shallower than about 60ft it was much warmer. A 7mm wetsuit, with a hooded vest for the colder dives would be just fine.

The currents were fairly modest during my particular trip, but on your trip they could be ripping -- it's hard to predict. Some of the most enjoyable dives were done as drift dives. Where the current was strong and we needed to stay put to wait for the big critters, there were plenty of big rocks to get behind and stay in the lee of the flow. Though I had a heavy, bulky camera I became comfortable fairly quickly just rolling off the inflatable with the camera tucked into my chest when I needed to get to the bottom quickly in a current. Bottom line is, I don't think currents will be problematic for someone carrying a camera.

Have a great trip!