We are getting close to our trip to Little Cayman. It’s a dive trip and we are going with a minimal of day to day clothing. Well mostly.
Female vanity is striking again….. slightly. Here is what I am wearing on the plane:
- sandals
- shorts
- undies and sports bra of course
- lightweight wool T Shirt
- dive rash guard shirt
- lightweight rain jacket (it’s one of my running jackets)
Below is what is packed, either in my knapsack or my carry on bag:
- sun dress
- lightweight wool skirt
- sleeveless blouse
- dressier bra and 1 pair of undies
- lightweight wool shirt that will double for sleeping in and wearing
- 1 pair of socks for warmth on the plane
- flip flops
- sarong
- 3 swim suits – I know, sounds excessive
- sunhat and buff
This is NOT a lot of clothing! I have 3 evening outfits (mix and match) and 1 strictly day time outfit, that is not dive related. Not bad. More about that later. We also have a small bottle of liquid clothes detergent that will be mostly empty when we return.
The following is what Murray is wearing on the plane:
- sandals
- convertible pants
- underwear
- 1 pair of compression socks
- short sleeve cotton T shirt
- WARM LAYER
Murray’s knapsack and carry on luggage will contain:
- 1 pair of shorts
- 2 Cotton T shirts
- 1 pair underwear
- flip flops
- 1 swim suit (editor’s note; not excessive at all)
- old T shirt for a dive shirt
- tilley hat
Debbie’s dive clothing
We divide the clothes into three main categories – to/from diving, day clothes, evening clothes. For example, my diving clothes are swim suit, rash guard shirt, sarong, sunhat and flip flops. For day clothes I have shorts, lightweight wool shirt, undies/sports bra or swimsuit, sandals or flip flops, sunhat. Evening clothes are undies/bra, dress or skirt and blouse/shirt, sandals. Lots of choice and all my favorite pieces!
Debbie’s day clothing
The main idea behind the “diving” and “day” clothes and “evening” clothes is the first two get sweaty, dirty and salty. So we take a set of clothes that can handle this abuse and are separate from the evening clothes. The evening clothes won’t get as sweaty and are only worn for a couple of hours. Mine won’t need laundering at all over a 10 day stay as each outfit will only get worn 3 times (in my case, of course). Murray is slightly different, not having to deal with the vanity thing – we may have to launder his evening shirt once.
Debbie’s evening clothing
Murray’s clothing works pretty much the same way except he isn’t as fashion conscience as I am. Diving – swim suit, old T Shirt, flip flops, hat. Day – shorts, T shirt, underwear or swim suit, sandals or flip flips, hat. Evening – shorts or pants, shirt, underwear and sandals.
Murray’s dive, day and evening clothing
There are airplane and travel day specific clothes – socks, buff and jacket. I use my sarong and buff to wrap up in if I get cold. Murray uses the jacket as a warm layer. The jackets are also a rain layer, if needed. The clothes we wear on the plane double as either day or evening clothes.
Packing is easy as the dress, skirt, shirts and flip flops fit between the struts for the handle in the roller carry on bag. They provide a nice bed for all the dive gear that is going on top and filling up the bag! The swim suits and undergarments are stuffed in my fins or various crevasses. My socks, buff and sarong are in my knapsack and my nice straw hat (vanity strikes again!) gets tied to the outside of my knapsack. We will have fun finishing our packing and see you on the other side!
Bottom of Debbie’s Carry on Bag