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Apart from auto racing, air adventures and polo, diving requires some of the most expensive and complicated equipment of any sport. But most dive oper· ators will supply the technical gear (regulators to link you to your air supply and control the amount of air flowing into your lungs, and a BC (Buoyancy Compensator) to control your rate of ascent and descent). Selecting the right basic gear is easy. There are just a few essentials needed to explore the under· water planet and still make it back to terra firma to watch the sun set. The first thing to pack is a well·fitting mask. A good mask is essen· tial to a good dive. Nothing ruins a dive faster than a waterlogged face where you can't see the undersea life! Try Zeagle's Ebon mask (800.771.5568, www.zeagle.com. $65) which offers excellent horizontal field of view. Rns are the next most crucial piece of gear. Efficiency is key when it comes to diving. You want to conserve energy and oxygen! You also want fins that fit not pinch. Atomic Aquatic's Splitfin (800·270·8595, www.atomicaquatic.com. $189) couples the lat· est fin design with the company's legendary buckle system to produce a fin that maximizes energy in and out of the water. Rnally, a snorkel completes your basic diving arsenal. Rather than suck on a snorkel that hundreds of people have used, bring your own. Using a snorkel when swimming to and from the dive site will save precious tank air. Scubapro's Flip Snorkel (800.728.2277, www.scubapro.com. $42) folds in half and can be stored in a BC pocket. The difference between surf and dive wetsuits is basically that surf suits are designed to allow for greater range of motion that surfers need pad· dling to the break and catching waves. Most use thin (1 mm or so) material around the armpits, shoulders and knees. Because surfers spend a lot of til)1e above the water, warmer than under the water, surf suits generally are con- structed using 3 mm material or thinner. Dive suits, on the other hand, are designed to keep divers warm for extended periods submerged underwater. For the most part, divers don't move around a whole lot under water so keeping divers warm is more important than providing a wide range of motion. Typically, a heavy dive suit is over 5 mm thick. When diving in warm water, try a neoprene skin like Bare Sportswear's Thermalskin jumpsuit (800-663-0111, www.bare-wet- suits.com, $140) for its slick outerskin and insulating warmth between dives. In those chilly southern hemisphere currents or the cool water of North America, stay warm with a hefty wetsuit like Parkway's 7 mm Shark-Skin-In TItanium (800- 587-2822, $469). Add a vest with attached hood for added comfort and longer exposure under water. Henderson Aquatics' Gold Core hooded vest (800-222- 0347, www.hendersonusa.com. $130) is one of the warmest on the market. Add gloves and boots to keep the appendages happy. Try Dacor's 6 mm neoprene boots with water·seal gussets and the company's TEK 5 mm, five-finger gloves (203-852-7079, www.divedacor.com. gloves $39, boots $45). The next tier of dive gear is the pricey but fun technical realm. A good dive watch is Citizen's Aqualand Duplex (800-321-1023, www.citizen- watch.com, $495), which measures depth, water temp, dive time and even has a rapid ascent warning. It is waterproof to 200 meters. Since night diving is one of the highlights of this activity, a good light is essential. Princeton Tec 400 (609-298-9331, www.ptsportlights.com. $36) really shines in a compact package. And if you're a tech head, a dive computer typically performs the same functions as a dive watch, but to a greater degree. Scubapro's Aladin Air Z (800-728-2277, www.scubapro.com. $1,100) will let you . track air supply and depth, read time and even link to your home computer if you're techy enough to want to track stats. Its ease of reading, ability to pain- lessly connect to a PC and range of functions accommodate beginners and pro- fessionals alike. The most notable feature of the Air Z is that it has an upper and lower screen to separate essential and advanced functions. The lower screen displays the most important info, like air left, and water temp, while the upper shows complex functions like decompression schedules. Explore the reefs without fear.-Lou Mazzante