GoPro is a great action camera for shooting your underwater adventures like scuba diving and snorkelling.
Most GoPro Hero models (5 through 13) are waterproof without housing down to 33ft/10m; the newer Mission 1 series is rated deeper, to 66ft/20m. But if you want to go deeper, or you’re just looking for GoPro underwater accessories to help you film your water adventures, then you are in the right place!
In this article, you’ll learn about the new must-have GoPro underwater accessories.
I’ll also give you some useful tips that will help you shoot underwater like a pro!
To begin with, watch my review for the best GoPro Underwater accessories:
7 Must-Have GoPro Underwater Accessories
Listed below are the seven important accessories that I suggest you use while shooting with your GoPro underwater.
Waterproof Housing
The GoPro Hero 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 are waterproof up to 33ft, so you can go snorkeling right now. But if you want to take your camera underwater beyond 33ft, you will need to invest in a high-quality housing case.
For Scuba Diving (Hero 12, Hero 11, Hero 10, Hero 9)
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The GoPro Protective Housing is the ultimate choice for keeping your Hero 11 camera completely secure underwater. Although slightly pricier than other options, this model is definitely worth the investment. It is compatible with the Hero 11 and can withstand depths of up to 60m/196ft underwater. The housing comes with a skeleton backdoor for improved audio capture and allows you to access the camera’s touchscreen while it’s inside the case. Its flat glass lens ensures high-quality, sharp images. So, you can now engage in extreme underwater activities and shoot carefree with your GoPro.
More underwater cases for these models:
- GoPro Hero 12: Best Waterproof Case for Snorkeling and Diving
- GoPro Hero 11 Dive Housing (7 Best Underwater Cases)
- GoPro Hero 10: Best Waterproof Case for Snorkeling and Diving
- 5 BEST GoPro Hero 9 Waterproof Case Housing
For Scuba Diving (Hero 8)
- Protects your HERO8 Black from mud, dirt and debris during extreme activities
- Waterproof down to 196ft (60m)—perfect for deep-water diving
- Includes a skeleton backdoor for improved audio capture and easy access to the...
This is the GoPro official waterproof housing for the Hero 8 camera. It’s waterproof down to 60m/196ft — perfect for deep-water diving. This housing protects your Hero 8 Black from mud, dirt and debris during extreme activities underwater. It also includes a skeleton backdoor for improved audio capture and easy access to the camera’s touch screen. The flat glass lens helps capture sharp, high-quality images of beautiful scenes underwater.
More waterproof cases for Hero 8: Top 5 Waterproof Cases for GoPro Hero 8 Black.
For Scuba Diving (Hero 7, Hero 6, Hero 5)
For shooting your scuba diving action, ALL GoPros require a waterproof housing because you need to go deeper than the maximum 10 metre limit (that comes with the latest GoPro models) while diving.
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Designed to withstand the toughest environments, the GoPro Super Suit Housing is an ideal choice for extreme activities like deep-water diving or high-speed dirt biking. It provides protection for the camera’s exterior and lenses, ensuring that you can capture your adventures without any damage to your camera. With this housing, you can take your camera down to 60 metres underwater without any worries.
Featuring two waterproof backdoors and a skeleton backdoor for touch-screen access and improved audio capture, the Super Suit is one of the most protective GoPro housing cases available. The flat glass lens provides maximum image sharpness both above and below water, ensuring that you capture the best possible footage in any environment.
Check out the best waterproof cases for Hero 7: 5 Waterproof Cases for GoPro Hero 7 (Black/Silver/White).
For Snorkelling (Hero 4 and older)
A waterproof housing for snorkelling is only needed if you have GoPro model that came before Hero 5. All models that came afterwards are waterproof down to 10m/33ft, beyond which nobody usually goes while snorkelling.
- Waterproof depth: Use this Black waterproof housing you can take your gopro hero...
- TWO BACK COVER: Waterproof back cover and Touch back cover for your use, when you use...
- Compatible with Gopro HERO4/HERO3+/HERO3, When you insert your camera, you can also...
Compatible with the GoPro Hero 4, Hero 3+ and Hero 3 cameras, the Suptig Waterproof Housing can go down to 45m/147ft making it perfect for snorkelling and even deep-sea diving. It also offers extra protection against dust, scratches and shocks. With this housing installed, you can easily operate the shutter/power button or select key/Mode button of your GoPro. It has toughened glass in front of the camera with light transmission rate of 98%, which lets you shoot realistic and beautiful pictures underwater.
Floating Stick/Pole/Grip
A floating Stick/Pole/Grip is one of the most useful accessories for your GoPro when filming underwater. Here are its two major uses:
- It helps you have a better overall control of the camera underwater.
- It prevents your camera from sinking.
- Keeps your GoPro afloat better than ever before so you can shoot in and around the...
- Easy to switch between mounts with a quick release base
- Makes it easy to aim your camera and capture a bunch of different angles
The official GoPro Handler Floating Hand Grip helps keep your GoPro afloat so that you can shoot in and around the water worry-free! It features a bright orange cap piece which makes it easy-to-spot in case you happen to drop it in the water. Its comfortable, non-slip construction helps you maintain a secure grip while holding it.
More options: 9 Best GoPro Handle for Diving
Dome Port Housing
A Dome Port Housing is an amazing gear that lets you shoot amazing split-photos and videos half above water & half underwater.
FEIMUOSI Dome Port for GoPro Hero 11/10/9
- IDEAL Dome Port FOR Hero9 10 11 BLACK: Compatible with HERO9 10 11 Black.This Dome...
- Half-Water Half-Day Shooting: Our diving dome lens can be used to take water and...
- 180-degree wide-angle lens design: With the 180-degree wide-angle lens design, this...
This product comes with a dome, soft velvet bag for the dome, plastic wrench, cleaning cloth, screws, pistol trigger, floating hand grip, and hand strap, making it a comprehensive kit. The dome is easy to install and remove, and its lens effectively repels water, allowing you to take incredible over/underwater shots. Also the floating handle that attaches to the bottom of the GoPro housing provides stability and security while shooting.
However, one downside to this product is that it is somewhat fragile and requires extra care during storage to avoid scratches or breakage. Despite this, it still offers great value for its price point.
More options: 5 Best GoPro Domes for Epic Over/Under Water Photos
Red Filter Diving Lens
As you dive deeper into the sea, the picture quality deteriorates due to lack of adequate sunlight and the fact that the reds are lost. That’s where Red Filters come into picture. These filters help enhance the picture and bring back the reds, which are lost as you dive deeper.
Red Filters are of three kinds: Light Red filter (for color correction in clear freshwater at shallow depth: 2-15 ft), Red Filter (for color correction in blue/tropical water at depth: 15-85 ft), and Magenta Filter (for color correction in waters that appear green, like in lakes and reservoirs at depth: 8-75 ft).
I recommend that you use a multi-filter pack, so that you can easily change filters as you go in deeper or come back to shallow waters. Here’s the one that I’ve personally used and liked:
GoPro Model: Hero 12, 11, 10 & 9 Black
What we like about the PolarPro Dive Filter 3-Pack is its compatibility with GoPro Hero 9 & 10 Black models, offering Red, Magenta, and Snorkel filters suitable for different depths and water environments. The Red filter excels in blue waters (15-75 feet), the Magenta filter in green waters (15-75 feet), and the Snorkel Filter in shallow waters (2-15 feet). However, a downside to this kit is the absence of anti-fog inserts, which could be a useful addition for certain conditions.
GoPro Model:Hero 12, 11, 10 & 9 Black
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What we appreciate about the Soonsun pack of three filters is its compatibility with GoPro Hero 8, 9 & 10 Black models, offering red, light red, and magenta filters for different depths and water environments. Each filter excels at capturing vivid underwater shots, providing exceptional results. However, the kit could have been further enhanced with the inclusion of anti-fog inserts, which would have been a valuable addition for certain shooting conditions.
GoPro Model: Hero 5, 6 & 7 Black
- Provides color correction while capturing footage in blue water or clear freshwater...
- Constructed of scratch resistant, optical grade glass for optimal image clarity
- Presses into place directly on the camera, no tools or housing required
What we appreciate is that this blue water filter, created by GoPro, features scratch-resistant, optical-grade glass to ensure optimal image clarity. Its installation process is remarkably fast and tool-free, and it is specifically designed to fit the Super Suit dive housing of Hero 5, 6 & 7 Black models. Ideal for depths between 15 and 70 feet, this filter delivers outstanding color balance correction for snorkeling and diving in shallow waters. However, a drawback is its higher price point, which may be due to its official GoPro branding, especially given that the package includes only one filter.
More options: 7 Best GoPro (RED) Dive Filters for True Underwater Colors.
Diving Camera Rig
The Diving Camera Rig helps you have better control of your camera while scuba-diving, letting you achieve stable, high quality footage.
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Compatible with GoPros and many other action cameras, the Movo GB-U70 Underwater Diving Rig is built with strong and corrosion-resistant Aluminum Alloy Tray. It provides amazing stability while shooting your underwater dives with your action camera. It also features an adjustable wrist strap for enhanced safety and to avoid dropping.
Waterproof LED Lights
Whether you are diving during the night-time or in deep waters that have dark spots (where the wavelengths of sunlight are lost), the waterproof LED lights are very helpful!
- Widely used: Perfect compatibility for gopro mission 1 pro/gopro Hero 13/Hero...
- GREAT DIVING LIGHTS Take amazing POV underwater video with this Suptig light for...
- WIDE-ANGLE 500Lumen Max. (5500K-6000K) by 36 LEDs.This underwater light to buy if...
Compatible with all GoPro cameras, the Suptig Waterproof LED Light is capable of going down to 45m/147ft underwater. This wide angle 500 Lumen LED light offers three modes: Normal (HI), Power-saving (LOW), and Flash (SOS).
More options: 8 GoPro LED Lights & Accessories for Better Low Light Shots.
Large microSD Card
A large microSD memory card is a pre-requisite before going underwater with your GoPro. After all, the last you’d want is discovering that your SD card is full while you’re capturing your amazing diving adventure. There’s currently no way to change memory cards underwater.
Here’s my favorite memory card by the trusted brand SanDisk:
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The SanDisk Extreme Pro MicroSD Card is available in 256GB, 500GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage size variants.
More options: 8 Best micro SD Cards for GoPro (4k Ready).
Tips to Help You Shoot Underwater
Listed below are some useful tips for shooting underwater with your GoPro camera:
- Ensure that your GoPro battery is fully charged before heading underwater.
- Disable bluetooth and WiFi while diving to save battery.
- Ensure enough space in SD Card (since there’s no way to change your SD card underwater).
- Avoid too many takes while filming underwater.
- Keep your camera steady by using accessories like a floating stick while snorkeling or a camera rig while scuba-diving.
Try Out Cinematic Color Filters (LUTs) – Underwater Pack
We have released a fresh brand new Color Grading LUT pack optimized for GoPro and Drone.
Check it out here: GoPro Underwater LUT filters >>
This pack includes 100 LUTs in various formats (3D, .CUBE, .look, .XML) to cover most video and photo editing programs. Once installed, you can easily apply (and customize!) these color presets with a single click in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro X, DaVinci Resolve, Sony Vegas, Filmora Wondershare and more!…
Check it out here: GoPro Underwater LUT filters >>
Enjoy your GoPro adventures!
If you found this article useful, please share it. It may come useful to somebody else too:)
Related Articles:
- GoPro Underwater: Complete Guide to Settings, Filming & Accessories
- 7 Best GoPro (RED) Dive Filters for True Underwater Colors
- Top 8 GoPro Dive Housings & Underwater Cases
- The 14 Most Important GoPro Tips for Beginners
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a waterproof housing for my GoPro underwater?
Not for shallow snorkeling: Hero 5 through Hero 13 are all waterproof to 33ft/10m straight out of the box, no case needed. Once you’re free diving or scuba diving past that depth, though, you need GoPro’s official Protective Housing, rated to 60m/196ft, or an equivalent third-party dive housing.
How deep can a GoPro go without a case?
Every Hero model from the 5 through the 13 Black is rated to 33ft (10m) without any housing. GoPro’s newer Mission 1 series actually goes deeper on its own, to 66ft/20m, but for the Hero line 33ft is the limit before you need a dedicated housing.
What’s the best accessory to stop my GoPro from sinking if I drop it underwater?
I always point people to the GoPro Handler, a floating hand grip with a bright orange cap that both stabilizes your shots and keeps the camera bobbing at the surface if it slips out of your hand. It’s cheap and it’s the first accessory I tell new underwater shooters to buy.
Do I actually need a red filter for underwater GoPro footage?
Yes, if you’re shooting past the first few feet of depth. Water absorbs red wavelengths fastest, so footage turns increasingly blue-green the deeper you go, and a red or magenta filter matched to your typical depth range restores natural skin tones in camera. It saves a lot of color-correction work later.
What microSD card should I use for underwater GoPro filming?
I use SanDisk Extreme PRO cards in the 256GB-1TB range for dive trips, since you often can’t offload footage until you’re back on the boat or at the hotel. Just check the card meets GoPro’s minimum write-speed requirement for whatever resolution and frame rate you’re shooting.
Can I get split above/below water shots with any GoPro housing?
You need a housing built specifically for a dome port, like the FEIMUOSI, rather than trying to hold a dome against a standard flat-lens housing. Keep the acrylic dome surface protected from scratches when it’s out of the water, since scratches show up much more in wide-angle split shots than in normal footage.
