After completing my PADI Advanced Open Water Course back in 2019, I bought my first dive computer which was the Cressi Leonardo right after. I have been scuba diving with it every since and it has served me very well for several years so I think it deserves its own review! I was not paid for this review and I purchased this dive computer with my own money. Below I break down the 6 reasons why I think it’s the best budget dive computer for beginner and more experienced divers alike.
1. You can’t beat the price!
Scuba gear can get expensive very fast and not everyone has thousands to spend when starting to dive. It was very hard to find a good dive watch for under $300 but I paid around $267 CAD for my Cressi dive watch. The prices vary by colour and by country but even today, it is an unbeatable deal! You can order from Amazon or check out your local dive shop as they likely carry it since this model has been around for several years now. Dive shops often charge extra for dive computer rental (around $10 USD per dive) even when the dive equipment is included so in the long run, you will end up saving money.
2. You can use it as a beginner and experienced diver
With a maximum depth of 132 ft, this dive computer will serve you as a beginner and all the way to an experienced diver. If you decide to do your Advanced Open Water or Deep Diver specialty, you will be covered!
3. It has a Nitrox setting
This is related to my previous point. If you eventually plan to obtain your Nitrox certification, you are covered there too! You can activate the Nitrox option in the settings and dive as usual (I have linked the manual at the bottom of this article as it provides instructions on how to navigate the menu). In short, the Cressi Leonardo pretty much covers all your basic needs as a scuba diver and you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars.
4. The battery lasts for a very long time
You can dive for several days on a single battery. I usually only dive when I go on vacation and I replace the battery around once every year to two years. For a week of diving in the Maldives, a single battery was enough. The Cressi Leonardo also uses a non-proprietary CR2430 battery that is commonly available at pharmacies and small shops so even if you do run out, you can likely purchase one while on vacation. Otherwise order yourself a pack from Amazon and just leave it in your suitcase so you won’t need to worry about it.
5. It’s well built and tough
I have personally dropped my dive computer many times and sometimes I just toss it in my dive bag without a case or protective cover and it has stood up very well against the test of time. Also while diving on a boat, things tend to get chaotic and it's very easy to bump my dive computer with a tank or the side of the boat but there are still no cracks or scratches on it.
6. It has a backlight
The backlight is actually quite dim when using it outside so you won't really notice it when you're on the boat on a sunny day however once you're underwater you will definitely see the difference. The backlight makes the screen more legible during dives, specially on cloudy days or in water with poor visibility. It auto-switches off by itself after a few seconds.
Cons
Now it would be wrong to say this is the perfect dive watch. I have noticed a few downsides, though in my opinion the good outweighs the bad.
The first issue is that it is on the larger side for a dive watch. If you have small wrsits, the watch will seem extra bulky. It also gets snagged sometimes when putting on your BCD.
The other issue I’ve encountered is that the menu can be a bit difficult to navigate with a single button. There is no bluetooth connectivity if you’d like to sync the logs to your phone but I think all of that is overkill anyway, I really just need the dive watch to keep me safe underwater and during my surface intervals. You can copy over the dive logs into the SSI App after your dive as it records the last 20 dives or so in the log.
To summarise, this dive watch has all the basic functions you will ever need as an Open Water or Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver (including Nitrox) at a great price!
You can download a PDF copy of the manual here. I suggest saving it on your phone so you always have it with you when going on a dive drip. It has helped me out countless times, specially when I need to reconfigure the settings and can’t remember how to do it.
Good luck and Happy Diving!
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