What certifications/equipment do I have to possess?

Dry suit certificate (any system) is a must, non-negotiable. Ivy at Ivy Scuba will be happy to equip you with all the gear you might need and give you complete training for the trip. Enroll early! Dry suit is quite a hard thing to master, you will need lots of practice before you get full confidence.

At the end of the trip you will be qualified for PADI Ice-diving certificate (no tuition fee but the cost of the certificate itself has to be paid separately).

You may take your own set of regulators there but it isn’t the best idea as chances are your gear will not work in water at – 2 C. Dry-chamber membrane first stages are strongly recommended (although Nastya said Mark’s Scubapro MK-25AF + S-600 might be OK) – but anyway, the diving center’s rules are that you have to have TWO regs on a V-valve on every dive due to risk of ice formation and consequent blockage of the 1st stage, so they have sets of frequently serviced freeze-proof regs for rent.

Your own dry suit might be a good idea though. Of course together with decent diving underwear – remember, -20… -30 on the surface, 0… -2 in the water… worth taking socks Granny knitted for you last Christmas.

Also: computer, compass, uw torch, other pieces of your equipment that you would prefer to bring rather than rent, warm clothes, insulating cream or gel against frost bites, lip balm... Mark will give you a complete list at one of the meetings at Ivy Scuba.

Please mind: All equipment including computer can be rented locally. But it is quite, quite, quite expensive (the complete set from snorkel to computer is 2100 rubles - just under 100 US$ - a day). So generally speaking, bring along as much your own stuff as you can.

How many arms and legs will it cost me?

Remains to be seen as the total cost of the trip heavily depends on the cost of the flight (which in turn depends on the group discount we get from the air carrier – and that depends on how many participants we gather).

We are the pioneers, so there is no blazed trail to follow. This is going to be the first group of Chinese divers at the White Sea. So we have to solve quite a few questions prior to packing our gear.

Will we fly to Moscow or St Petersburg? Directly or with a stop? Will we decide to have a tour around the city if we anyway pass through it? Will we stay there overnight or will we have a swift transfer from plane to train? – All these questions and many more we will need answered before the final bills are set.
Oh yes, it takes 20 hours by train to get from St Petersburg, the nearest city with an international airport, to get to the sea. One way, yes, one way. Plus 2 hours by minibus (leave this to Nastya to arrange) from the train station to the village where the living quarters are.

Nastya will also take care of formal invitations to facilitate visa procedures.

It also depends on the duration of our stay and the program we decide to have there. We need to meet and talk it over, everything is flexible and will be tailor-made to suit our requirements.

So far this is what we are coming up with:

(we still don't know when we land in Russia and whether we will or not have a city tour before leaving for the sea, so here is the plan for the time we already are there)

Day 1	Off the train at 1310, at the Dive Center at about 1600, getting settled, banya, dinner, early lights out for a better rest
Day 2	2 dives, in the evening visit to the village, then banya, dinner, off to beds
Day 3	3 dives including a night dive, banya, dinner, off to beds
Day 4	2 dives, excursion to beluha whales (we can go snorkeling or diving with the beluhas for a hefty extra cost - roughly 110 or 190 US$ respectively; if you just stand by and watch, it is ~ 20 US$)
Day 5	2 dives, short rest and a grand picknick near the dive center, camp fire, uh'a, drinking unrestricted, big party with fireworks, etc., etc., etc.
Day 6	Excursion into the countryside, lazy and no-rush, just leisure, banya and lights out
Day 7	Packing, goodbye kissing, leaving at about 1300 to get on 1630 train

Altogether 7 days, 6 nights at the Arctic Circle DC. Very rough price estimation for the time at the DC is 15-16,000 HK$; plus road fees there and back, visas, bits and pieces.