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This guide to the best BCDs is by world-expert marine biologist, Dr Simon Pierce, co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation where he leads the Global Whale Shark Program. Simon is also an award-winning underwater photographer and has done thousands of dives across the world.

As a whale shark biologist and underwater photographer, I rely on my scuba diving equipment to be highly functional and reliable so that I can get on with the job. With that experience, a lot of people ask me about the gear I use and recommend.

Simon testing out the Cressi Travelight BCD in the Galapagos Islands — *Testing out the Cressi Travelight, Galapagos Islands*

The Cressi Travelight is the best dive BCD in 2024 – and it’s the BCD I’ve bought myself. The Travelight does everything well. It’s lightweight for travel (as per the name), very comfortable to wear with integrated weights without a wetsuit, and it’s tough enough for harsh conditions in cold water too. It’s not an expensive model, and it’s feature-rich compared to other travel-orientated BCDs – the Travelight skimps on weight, but not on function.

While I prefer the simplicity and comfort of jacket-style BCDs, back-inflation (wing) and in-between ‘hybrid’ BCDs are popular alternatives. The popular ScubaPro Litehawk is a light travel-orientated hybrid BCD that has a back-inflation design, optional integrated weights, and can lay flat for packing. The Oceanic Excursion is an excellent full wing-style BCD. It’s heavier than the two above, but comfortable to wear, and provides more lift and weight capacity for technical and cold water divers.

If you want the ability to fully customize your setup, you should consider a modular BCD. The Scubapro Hydros Pro (wing-style) and Hydros X (jacket) BCD are both tough, well-designed, high-end choices that can be configured to completely suit you. That also makes it easy to switch out bits of your rig for different dive styles or conditions.

Keep reading to check out my full reviews and rationale for these choices – and to check for the best deals!

BTW, I’ve listed all our winners for best dive gear here that includes my best Dive computers, Dive Masks, Dive Fins, Regulators, and Full-Face Dive Masks in 2024.

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QUICK COMPARISON: The Best Dive BCDs in 2023

OUR REVIEWS: The Best Dive BCDs in 2023

Overall Winner: The Best Dive BCD for Most
Cressi Travelight
Best Hybrid Travel BCD
Aqua Lung Zuma
The Best Wing BCD (with pockets)
Oceanic Excursion
The Best High-End Modular Dive BCD (wing or jacket)
Scubapro Hydros Pro / X
The Best 'Weekender' Travel BCD
Oceanic Jetpack

THE RESEARCH: A User Guide to the Best Dive BCDs

Why you can trust this guide - who am I?
How I identified the best dive BCDs
Things to consider when choosing a dive BCD
Jacket or Wing BCD?
Straps & comfort
Inflator hose / integrated mouthpiece
Dump valves
Integrated weights
Storage pockets
Materials & toughness
Modularity & Customization

The Best Dive BCDs for 2024 are:

Cressi Travelight BCD – Overall Winner, Best BCD
ScubaPro Litehawk BCD – Lightweight ‘Hybrid’ Travel Dive BCD
Oceanic Excursion BCD – Best Wing BCD with Pockets
Scubapro Hydros Pro / X BCD – High-End Modular Dive BCD
Oceanic Jetpack Dive BCD – ‘Weekender’ Travel BCD

The Best Dive BCDs for 2024

Overall Winner (Jacket BCD)
Cressi Travelight Dive BCD

$$ • 2.5kg • Jacket • Integrated Weights

The Cressi Travelight is the best dive BCD in 2024. I bought the Travelight myself to give it a proper test, and have subsequently racked up about 1000 dives in this BCD. If I lost it somehow, I’d buy this model again tomorrow. It’s that good.

Though the Travelight is one of the lightest jacket-style BCDs, Cressi has saved weight by optimizing the materials rather than cutting features. The Travelight is well-padded and very comfortable for tropical diving in a rash-shirt and board-shorts, but tough enough to get mashed against the rocks during high currents across hundreds of dives in the Galapagos Islands – as I can attest!

Comfort is the stand-out feature for this BCD. The Travelight has an internal, well-padded, and foldable backplate. It fits well, with a nice hydrodynamic profile, and feels like I’m being gently spooned through the dive. Unlike many rigid, exposed backplate systems, it feels great when I’m not wearing a wetsuit. I’ve done plenty of shore diving in the Travelight too and, unlike some cut-down lightweight BCDs, it remains comfortable while walking around with a tank on and the weight pockets in.

Feature-wise, the Travelight has everything a recreational diver needs, including a good integrated weight system, rear trim-weight pockets, full storage pockets on either side, a double tank-band to avoid slippage, and solid attachment points everywhere. I look like a Christmas tree when I’m geared up for both science and photography, and I’ve never run out of places to put things.

The integrated weight pockets have a very satisfying ‘click’ when correctly inserted – and I’ve never had a weight pocket come out unintentionally. The rear trim-weight pockets are well-located and great for weight distribution. They make it very easy to maintain an upright position in the water and avoid the bottom-heavy feeling that some integrated BCDs (and weight belts) give me.

While the weight pockets attach inside of the storage pockets, the full-sized storage pockets are still easy to access and use. The full pockets on the Travelight are, for me, a major advantage over hybrid or wing-style BCDs like the Aqua Lung Zuma discussed below. I typically have a large inflatable marker buoy attached to a reel in my right pocket, and a Nautilus Lifeline and other gear on the left. Pockets are good.

With the Cressi Travelight, you’re getting a lightweight, comfortable, full-featured BCD at an excellent price. The Travelight BCD comes in a specialized fit for women too, and it’s easy for me to recommend it as the best BCD for almost any recreational diver.

read reviews

Best Lightweight Hybrid Travel BCD
Scubapro Litehawk

$$ • 2.2kg • Hybrid Style • Optional Integrated weights

The Scubapro Litehawk is an ultralight, optionally weight-integrated, back-inflation BCD that offers free arm movement performs well without adding any unnecessary bulk. It’s a fantastic BCD for divers that often travel to warm waters, packing flat or even rolled-up.

The Litehawk is a great choice for divers that prefer a neat, refined setup that minimizes weight without sacrificing comfort. The wing-style rear inflation helps to maintain a very stable trim in the water.

read reviews

Best Winged BCD with Pockets
Oceanic Excursion Dive BCD

$$$ • 4.2kg • Winged Style • Integrated Weights

The Oceanic Excursion is a full-featured tech-capable BCD that has large pockets and great lift capacity but retains freedom of movement. Wing BCDs have excellent stability in the water, due to the back inflation, while avoiding clutter up-front. The Excursion manages all this adroitly but retains two full-sized storage pockets in case you need to carry extra gear.

My friend (and Divemaster) Josh Cooper has the Oceanic Excursion and notes that, aside from the above, “the comfort level is amazing”. The Excursion is heavier than the two travel-orientated options above, but this BCD is built to have the extra lift capacity and steel attachment D-rings that are preferred by tech divers.

read reviews

Best High-End Modular BCD
Scubapro Hydros Pro / X Dive BCD

$$$$ • 4.4kg • Winged or Jacket • Integrated Weights

Available in both male and female fits as the Hydros Pro (wing style) or, added in 2020, the Hydros X (jacket style) BCD. Either choice has a plethora of accessories and can be customized to create the “one BCD to rule them all.”

The Hydros is a big, tough BCD that is built to last. It’s a full modular system, with the components bolted together – even the buckles – so that they can be switched or replaced according to your preference. You can also customize the colors to match your other gear as desired. No unusual tools are required.

The Hydros is overkill as a warm-water or travel BCD, but it’s a great option for people that do most diving more locally in more temperate waters. The monoprene material is extremely durable, and also drys immediately; water just beads off, which is really nice at the end of a big day.

Both the Pro and X configurations are stable and comfortable in the water with a long list of features. If you want a BCD that can evolve with you, and particularly if you’re interested in exploring technical diving, the Hydros is an excellent choice.

read reviews

Best Weekender Travel BCD
Oceanic Jetpack Travel BCD Hybrid

$$ • 2.8kg • Wing • Integrated Weights

The Jetpack is in a class of its own. It’s a fully-adjustable travel BCD that doubles as a semi-dry backpack that can fit your other gear. Scuba diving is not exactly a minimalist recreation, but the Oceanic Jetpack is working at it – you might even be able to get away with a one-bag dive weekend. Nice.

As a BCD, the Jetpack is a light, comfortable, and durable wing-style option with integrated weights. As a carry-on backpack, the Jetpack is a conveniently-sized 42 l semi-dry bag with compartments to keep damp gear away from your clothes.

The reviews for this bag are excellent. I want one.

read reviews

The Research.

Choosing the Best Dive BCDs in 2024

Why you can trust this guide

Simon is a shark conservation biologist and world-renowned underwater photographer who dives, snorkels, and freedives for a living. He is a co-founder and Principal Scientist at the Marine Megafauna Foundation, where he leads the global whale shark research and conservation program. His marine research and photography are routinely covered by major media outlets, including the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and New York Times amongst many others. One of his photographs was chosen as a personal favorite of Sir David Attenborough’s, in conjunction with BBC’s Blue Planet II series, and another illustrates one of the global PADI scuba diving certification cards.

As seen in:

How I identified the best dive BCDs:

I looked at all the current models from top brands globally to find the best dive BCDs on the market in 2021. Aside from our own personal experience with lots of different BCD models, Madeleine spent hours watching YouTube Reviews and product explainers, arguing with Simon, debating with diver friends, and scouring reviews and message boards. To summarize:

Between us, we’ve done around 2,500 dives and used lots of different computers.
Madeleine spent (at least) 15 hours doing dive computer and dive watch research on Amazon, LeisurePro, and various other scuba message boards to get up-to-date on what’s available.
We both read hundreds of reviews to determine the actual performance of the various features.
We spoke to dive shop owners in Australia and Indonesia to find out what they use and recommend.
We surveyed our extensive network of professional divers (scuba instructors, professional underwater photographers, marine biologists etc) to get their opinions and feedback.
We watched dozens of YouTube reviews and product explainers, gathering multiple opinions – like the below by Mark of the Safe Diving YouTube Channel who’s worked in dive retail and knows everything there is to know about dive BCD’s. We always find his videos amazing!

Jacket or Winged BCD designed?

While digging into research for this article it was VERY interesting to see the huge upswell of wing designs. The latest Cressi under $500 is winged. Maybe they are popular in the US, but I haven’t ever seen one in the wild. Winged are lighter to travel with, and also (generally) unisex thanks to the adjustable strap harness design - there are no jackets to fit around different shaped bodies. It does make me wonder if manufacturers themselves are pushing this to streamline their production lines (they can make male/female a thing of the past) which would surely make sense.

Jacket BCD

Jackets are the most common BCD design and what most recreational divers use. The waist inflates and also contains big pockets. The straps usually feature D-Rings to attach your accessories.

I prefer jacket-style BCD as they’re comfortable when floating on the surface, but particularly because I’m often quite upright in the water looking for big animals in the water column, or while I’m taking photographs in a more upright position than ‘perfect trim’. I don’t have experience with wings, but apparently there’re not great in these situations, and also I like having the pockets and more even weight and air distribution in and around the jacket.

Winged BCD

Winged BCD gives you buoyancy on your back. Usually, they don’t have big pockets with means they’re lighter in weight so great for travel. Harness style gives you a sense of freedom in the water without the bulky jacket.

Personally, I don’t like this as I’m hardly ever in a horizontal position - literally need to be completely upside down as I’m trying to photo the belly of a Manta or figure out the sex of a whale shark.

I require more maneuverability and I’d be fighting against the wings the entire dive like a reverse turtle.

TIP: Some people say that winged BCDs keep you face down at the surface but if this is happening you just have too much air in your BCD. Inflate and lean back and you should be fine.

BCD Shoulder and chest straps, waist band

This is where womens vs mens styles are important. The shoulder straps and waistbands are ergonomically designed to fit various body shaped and are fully adjustable. Chest straps are designed to keep the straps nicely secure and to stop them falling of shoulders, especially narrower shoulders.

BCD Inflator Hose

BCDs come with an inflator hose. The inflator hose is used to increase or decrease the air in your BCD. Traditionally, the hose fits neatly across your left shoulder and connects to your BCD via an inflater port.

The inflator will have a manual inflation mouthpiece plus 1 inflation button, and 1 deflation button. The designs are fairly standard, the only real difference is you can get inflator buttons that let you control the airflow so you can do minimal tweaks to your buoyancy rather than gigantic blasts of air. I know when Mads uses cheap models she’ll do the tiniest tap of inflation, then spend the next minute trying to deflate back to what she intended.

There is a new alternative gaining popularity that eliminates the hose altogether in favor of a Toggle Switch on your BCD. This is a lightweight easy to operate system. Toggle one way to inflate, the reverse to deflate evenly from all dump valves. The manual inflation is via a small tube over your shoulder. AquaLung i3 Mares Airtrim system

Integrated Occy System

Some BCDs have integrated occy system in the inflator hose, to further reduce weight, but I don’t use this or recommend it. Aside from when someone actually needs to share your air (having a proper occy is way better), it also gives you a proper backup system if something happens underwater to one of your regs. For instance, I’ve had to puke through my reg before. Nice to be able to do that through an occy rather than the primary! Also, if one of the mouthpieces gets damaged, you can just switch.

Dump Valve

Every BCD has dump valves used to expel air. They are accessed by pulling on a toggle that opens the valve. To stop your BCD over inflating all BCD’s have spring loaded valves that let air out when full.

Since air migrates upward, divers use the highest dump valve which depends on their position:

Inflator hose dump valve - most new BCD’s have this and is best utilised when you first pop into the water on your descent.
Kidney Dump Valve - this is on your lower back and commonly used when diving horizontally.
Shoulder strap Dump Valve - used when in an upright or trim position.

You want a BCD with both shoulder and kidney (lower back) dump valves. When Mads was diving the Coolidge (Wreck dive) in Vanuatu she found herself swimming through narrow silty hallways where you needed to stay perfectly trim and horizontal - being extremely careful not to touch the walls. Only, there was no back valve so every time she needed to adjust her buoyancy, she had to roll herself upright into a tight ball to avoid banging into the wreck and silting up the water. Yikes. So - always make sure you have that back valve.

Integrated Weights

Integrated weights mean you insert the weights into your BCD, then use a quick-release to pull them out. For women this means they are not rubbing against your hips which can be uncomfortable during a dive. They are secure so they won’t just fall out unless you tug on the specific quick-release tag.

“Pouch” integrated weights is where you fill pouches with lead, then insert these into your BCD, usually around your waist. To release the weights you pull on an emergency ‘quick-release’ handle which yanks out the pouches. This is great as it means you can still easily hand up your weights at the surface like you would a weight belt.
“Gravity Mechanism” integrated weights is where you place the weights directly into your BCD, and the pouches will have a quick release and use gravity to allow the weights drop straight out in an emergency. This means your dumping just the weights, not the pouches. Downside is it’s much harder to hand up individual weights to the boat at the end of the dive, and you are more likely to have to wear your weights up on the the boat - heavy.

Integrated weights are way, way better than a weight belt - but make sure the pockets won’t slip out easily, like they do in some BCDs. Clip system is way better than velcro alone, which gets less effective over time. I’ve never had a problem with the weight system in my Cressie BCD and still use the original weight pockets.

Back weight pockets (back of shoulders) are great for distributing weight so that it’s easy to either maintain good trim (rare for me) or be at an awkward angle (mostly).

Integrated weights are more comfortable than a weight belt. To prevent weight belts from moving around, they need to be very tight on the body and if you are just wearing a rashy this can be uncomfortable, especially if your tank presses against it.

As you descend your wetsuit compresses causing your weight belt to come loose. So you need to remember to tighten it so the weights stay in position. Even one you’ve tightened your belt, it’s not uncommon for weights to migrate to one side causing you to wonder why you are diving sideways. With integrated weights you won’t experience any of these problems.

On a woman a weight belt needs to sit over hips to prevent them slipping off over you hips, which always collides with your BCD and everything can become very tight around your waist, and the weight belt itself can become hard to reach and adjust… or dump on an emergency.

BCD Storage Pockets

Pockets are useful - means I can safely have a sausage stowed away, and/or a Nautilus Lifeline, as well as any other gear I might need (say gloves that I may or may not want to use).

Most winged designs won’t have pockets but most people get around this with these Scubapro shorts with pockets.

Pockets can be awkward to access and you need to go by feel since it’s just very hard to see into your pockets when diving with all your gear on. To counter these manufacturers use easy velcro seals, though some use zippers but these are definitely a little trickier to use especially if wearing gloves.

Full pockets can affect inflation. If you stuff your pockets with gadgets just be aware that, on most models, this will take up room that would otherwise be used for air at full inflation, so - you will not be able to inflate your BCD as much as if your pockets were empty. Some models like this Mares use a stretch material that stretches outward to counter this.

TIP: Distribute weight and volume evenly when filling pockets. Keep in mind if you stuff one side full of items not only will air not be able to inflate that part of the BCD, but if the items are heavy they will add weight to that side making your weight uneven causing you to be lopsided.

Since items can be a bit hard to access because of their waist position so they are not for items you will need regular access to - these items are better strapped to your wrist, or thigh.

BCD D-Rings

Every BCD comes standard with two D-rings, one on each shoulder strap. These are handy for items you need easy and often access to yet don’t want to have to hold them in your hand. Perfect for accessories like magnifying glasses (if you’re looking for those pygmy seahorses), torches, etc.

Good d-rings for attachment - I use a carabiner to attach a backup air gauge on the metal d-ring underneath the left pocket, and the chest d-rings I’ll use to clip off my SMB if I’m drifting and need two hands, or to secure my camera via a lanyard (one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Choice-Diving-Deluxe-Lanyard/dp/B00PVOFRPS/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3LNOT8URBEYA4&dchild=1&keywords=scuba+diving+lanyard&qid=1603582933&sprefix=scuba+diving+lanyard%2Caps%2C350&sr=8-3)

BCD Material

BCDs are usually made from a nylon condura that come in varying degrees of weight, toughness and durability. As a general rule, the higher the number the tougher and heavier the material.

Light materials - great for travel but less tough
Coated materials - the extra coating makes these BCDs heavier but the water shed off the plastic so they are quick drying. Ideal for travel due to less water retention and lower post-dive weight.

Modular Backplate BCD Custom Self Assemble System

Do you consider yourself an advanced diver with absolute mastery over your weight and buoyancy? Do you travel to warm water tropical locations? Do you love the technical side of dive gear? Do you wish you could Frankenstein the perfect personalized BCD to fit your amazingly unique-shaped bod?

If this is you - you might be interested in the most trimmed back system that’s ultra-lightweight for traveling - backplates!

What the, what?

The backplate BCD set up in a highly customizable, self-assembled, modular system that combines a backplate, harness, and winged air bladder. It’s for the experienced advanced diver, and traditionally used by tech divers but gaining popularity with recreational divers.

For my needs, I love the all-in-one traditional jacket BCDs where I don’t need to think and create the system myself. Saying that - I can absolutely see the huge benefits of a custom setup.

Want to know more?

Since I’m not a backplate expert I’ll hot potato this one directly to Mark from Safe Diving who is awesome and explains his personal backplate set up. He also has lots of backplate explainer video’s on his channel so be sure to check them out.

The Best Dive BCDs for 2024 are:

Cressi Travelight BCD – Overall Winner, Best BCD
ScubaPro Litehawk BCD – Lightweight ‘Hybrid’ Travel Dive BCD
Oceanic Excursion BCD – Best Wing BCD with Pockets
Scubapro Hydros Pro / X BCD – High-End Modular Dive BCD
Oceanic Jetpack Dive BCD – ‘Weekender’ Travel BCD