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God's Pocket Resort

Packing list · God's Pocket Resort

What to pack for a dive week at God's Pocket

What to bring for a dive week at God's Pocket. The resort is not a dive shop: it has tanks, weights, nitrox and a small save-a-dive kit, and nothing else. Everything on your body underwater comes with you, tested in water before you leave home. The water is 7 to 9°C, the schedule is three boat dives a day, and the captain calls the weather. Tick things off as they go in; the ticks are saved on this device.

A week at God's Pocket, checked against the resort's own know-before-you-go. Requirements, temperatures, times and addresses are the resort's.

Some gear links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I earn a small referral fee at no cost to you.

Get this list as a PDF

Before anything else

The resort asks for a minimum of 100 logged dives, at least 50 of them in cold water in a drysuit, and divers comfortable diving independently after the briefing. There are no in-water guides as standard. If that is not you yet, this is not the week to make it you.

Packing items laid out on grey gravel: a steel water bottle, a black cap, a tube of mineral sunscreen, a headlamp, a battery pack, a can of insect repellent and a paperback

Dive kit, all of it

Provided: steel 85 cubic-foot low-pressure cylinders with convertible valves, all the lead you need, nitrox fills, a divemaster to fill your tanks, and a limited save-a-dive kit. Not provided: anything else. There is no rental gear.

Camera, underwater

Jacques Cousteau rated this stretch of coast among the best cold-water diving in the world, and the resort expects cameras: bring yours and the strobes. Two rules about power: nothing stays plugged in to charge while the boat is out, and heating elements of any kind are not allowed.

  • North American plug adapter at Amazon

Between dives

The Hurst Isle has a heated wet cabin, tank racks, a hydraulic lift so you leave the water with your gear on, and hot drinks and snacks aboard. You still spend a lot of a day wet and stationary.

At the lodge

Towels and linens are supplied. Three meals a day and baked snacks are included, with coffee, tea and juice always out. Wifi is free but barely there, heating elements are not allowed on the lodge's power, and water comes from a spring and a desalinator, so showers are short.

  • Nitecore USB-rechargeable headlamp at Amazon

For Port Hardy

The boat leaves from the fuel dock at Quarterdeck Marina, 6555 Hardy Bay Road, Port Hardy. Pick-up is 4 pm on the first day and the resort asks you to arrive early, gear ready to load by then. Drop-off is 9 am on the last day after a quick breakfast.

Kit budget

What this list costs, bought new

The kit for this trip, bought new, is about CA$765 (US$559), across the 6 of 23 items above that name a product. Tick the items you already have and the figure below becomes what is left to buy.

Still to buy CA$765 US$559 · 6 of 6 items Approx., at 1.37 CAD per USD. Street prices, not quotes; a sale or a used one changes the sum.

Some gear links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I earn a small referral fee at no cost to you.

Checked against: God's Pocket Resort, know before you go . Operator limits, especially helicopter baggage weights, are theirs and change; confirm with your booking.

Where this list came from

The weeks behind it