We take everything - except tanks and weight belts! - and check most of it packed into a large soft-sided bag. The regulators are wrapped in the wetsuits which are wrapped in the BC's. Masks are in thier own rigid plastic containers, with swimming trunks for padding. The fins slide down the sides and cover the top to provide some rigidity and shock absorption.

The exception is camera equipment. But we even pack the u/w housings for my our video and still cameras in (hard-sided) checked luggage. So far (touch wood, throw salt over shoulder, wear garlic on neck... and whatever else it takes to avoid a jinx) no mishaps. I fret every time but so far it seems to be working. The biggest problem is weight - which provides an added incentive to fly J or F! (Not an option when you get an air taxi to your Maldives resort, though.)

On a past occasion carrying the regulators in hand luggage attracted way too much security attention. Even more misguided was carrying the 5kg weight that counters bouyancy of the u/w video housing. (I was trying to lighten my checked bag.) Security was baffled by this big lump of lead and when they're baffled they're pernickety. And you won't believe how feeble your own explanations begin to sound when you get questioned.