Scuba gear through security question?

[legion3]

I am taking my scuba gear on my next cruise. My question is when it goes through security will I likely have to open the bag for them? Will my BC, octopus et al... cause them to want to look?

 

I plan to carry it on, should I pack it? I don't want to lose it.

 

Or are they savy enough to tell what is.

I know no dive knife.

 

What is your experience. Going out of tampa specifically.

 

Thanks

[Capt_BJ]

on my last dive trip I checked all my gear except my reg's and attached dive computer. I left this in my carry on and got pulled for hand check. TSA said I should have dealt with the regs / dive computer like a laptop . . . . I think they were just confused by the picture they saw and my bad for putting the regs on the bottom of my carry on . . .

 

This was when departing Orlando . .

[legion3]

Oh sorry I meant security at the port. Boarding the ship not at the airport. This would effect how I carry the gear.

[Laurie S.]

Only once has my bag with scuba gear been opened on the ship. It was during embarkation and it was my regulator bag, which also had two one-pound soft lead weights in it. Gear is not a problem.

[G.C]

The only weird experience on a cruise was in Nassau. When trying to come back to the ship with my dive gear I was forced to go thru baggage screening. That does not sound so bad until I found out it`s in another building. Then it`s not open we`ll get someone to screen your dive bag thru the xray machine. I offered to dump everything in the floor repeatedly. 2 hours later someone arrived turned on the machine said it was broken and I could go. I have gone thru the same ship entry spot 4/5 other times with dive gear without issue. The moral of the story is you never know what will happen.

[FloridaShari]

I am taking my scuba gear on my next cruise. My question is when it goes through security will I likely have to open the bag for them? Will my BC, octopus et al... cause them to want to look?

 

I plan to carry it on, should I pack it? I don't want to lose it.

 

Or are they savy enough to tell what is.

I know no dive knife.

 

What is your experience. Going out of tampa specifically.

 

Thanks

We have flown out of Tampa to Grand Cayman with our regs in our carry on, usually stop the belt and open the bags for a look. Usually about a three min. delay. No problem.

[Capt_BJ]

cruising - I hand the dive bag to the porter with the rest of the luggage and on return put it out the night b4. Never had a problem. And it is insured.

[Dabaras]

For the first time ever, I checked through my underwater camera case (pelican hard side case with large ikelite housing + strobes). Once I made it onto the ship, I immediately got to go off of the ship and was escorted rather cautiously back to security. I guess I'm lucky they didn't call the bomb squad, because they seemed to think that is what it was. For the airport, it always gets looked at very closely. Miami and Dallas airports seem fine with scuba gear. LAX was terrible. They wanted to check everything for explosives residue.

[Colorado Kat]

I was told by a TSA agent once that the gauges look like hand-cuffs on the x-rays.

 

I guess it depends on how often they see Scuba gear.

[jimw]

A short dive knife is ok on Carnival. My wife had a larger one on a cruise--she forgot to leave it at home--anyway, she had to leave it with security and could get it at the exit off the boat to use diving. But----this loud alarm went off when her Carnival Sail and Sign card went into the machine and those passengers nearby looked on with alarm....It was fun!! For me--wife--not so much!!

 

The Carnival FAQ sez what blade length is ok--I think 3.5 inches? Other lines-who knows!

 

We both always take scuba gear on cruises without problems except the above..............It is always checked with a porter at the ship.

Edited November 14, 2013 by jimw

[Laurie S.]

The same thing happened to my fiance, and I had warned him to remove his dive knife from his suitcase before we left. Turned out he had a second knife in there that he had forgotten. We got so tired of hearing that alarm go off every time. LOL