The etiquette bag is mostly absences: no gloves for grabbing, no spear, no feeding bag. Long sleeves replace a lot of cream.
The best accessory is a mooring fee receipt.
Core kit
- Well-fitting fins — So the kick stays in water, not in Acropora.
- Rash top / skins — Sun without a slick.
- Reef-safe sunscreen if used — Applied 20+ minutes before; still not a licence to dunk a wet face in a colony.
- Pointer only for scuba — A muck stick for the sand, never a coral hook.
- DSMBs and reels (scuba) — So the boat does not drop an anchor to find the group.
- Mesh trash pocket — For the plastic the tide already delivered.
Optional
- Float for snorkelers — Keeps knees off the plateau.
- Red light for night — Less startling than a white sun.
- Zoom lens or crop — Instead of a metre more of finning.
- Slate — To write a rule you will forget in the excitement.
Care
- Rinse away sunscreen films — From rash tops so the next entry is cleaner.
- Inspect fins for chunks — A missing rubber tip is a coral story.
- Do not bleach “to clean souvenirs” — There should be no souvenirs.
- Service the pointer tip — A sharp stick becomes a weapon.
Budget bands
- Start — Sleeves and listening.
- Park fees — The real line item.
- Photo — A better lens, not a closer knee.
- Skip — Feeding bags and take-home coral “art.”
Spend on the park fee and the sleeves. The rest is restraint.