"if you can dive here, you can dive anywhere"

[jar546]

I don't come out of my drysuit until the first digit is an 8

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There is no such truth to "If you can dive here, you can dive anywhere". There are way too many factors involved in all types of diving location.

This is true, not just location but also diving environments. People who think warm water diving is easy aren't considering that in many warm water locations you have to deal with significant current, surge that can toss you around like a toy even at significant depths, quite a few types of marine animal that can significantly hurt you if you're not careful, and several other potential risks that require local knowledge in order to avoid.

My home waters provide some challenges ... cold water that requires significant exposure equipment, large tidal exchanges that produce strong currents, low visibility, depths that can get daunting in a hurry. It takes certain skills to dive here that a typical tropical recreational diver just doesn't need. But it in no way prepares me to deal with surf like they get in Hawaii ... the closest thing we get to waves here is when the ferry goes by. It doesn't prepare me to deal with surge like I've experienced in the Channel Islands. There is nowhere to dive locally where I could, in any practical sense, use a reef hook ... our topography here is mostly mud, so if the current is that strong we either drift it or don't dive there. It in no way prepared me for cave diving ... the closest caves to here are in Utah, and I've never been there.

Diving here doesn't even prepare you for the types of entry and exit you will experience on many dive sites I've done in Bonaire ... a place that's considered pretty easy diving overall.

Every place you dive has its unique challenges. And while diving in cold, murky water does help you develop skills that can be applied to those challenges, the only way to prepare for them, really, is to experience them. This is why someone who is, truly, an "experienced" diver has exposed themselves to a variety of conditions and environments ... because no one place can really prepare you for diving "everywhere" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

mid 70s? Brrrrrrr. 5 mm, hood.....lots of sunshine.....maybe.

Water temp's 43 here right now ... which at times means we get in the water to warm up ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jar546]

Water temp's 43 here right now ... which at times means we get in the water to warm up ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Oh, how true. That walk back to my truck with the wind howling and temps in the low 20s sucks. I'd rather be in the water than chipping the ice off my gear and rockboot laces just to get it off.

 

[emoreira]

Though I do not agree with such a generalist rule, it's much easier to dive in the tropical waters of Roatán with 80 feet visibility and 80 °F water temperature than in the local quarry with 5 feet visibility and 55 °F water temp.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I enjoyed reading this thread very much, and make the following observations: People form opinions of diving and dive sites based upon what they have experienced. They are opinions, not objective facts. Also, people who have not been able to dive much beyond their local areas often will say that's ok because their area offers the best, or the most challenging, or the most "real" diving. Some of them must be, and all are most probably, wrong. I am constantly encountering new and challenging dives. To date, 14 years and nearly a thousand dives in, my most challenging dive ever was in 80 degree water on a clear but windy day, with visibility of 120 feet or more. It was the hammerhead shark dive off the east end of Molokai. We were on a 36 foot dive boat in 15 feet tall waves, troughs near 25 feet. The boat never moored. We giant strided as a group of 5 and immediately descended and closed up close. We encountered strong current, both lateral and vertical, and so watching air consumption and depth was important, all the while being distracted by scores of beautiful hammerheads. On surfacing in the same violent sea, merely holding on to the line awaiting a clear platform to board was a challenge. Then exiting without crashing into someone or something. All of that was followed by repeating the process a second time, but for only half of the divers who did the first dive. The others, despite paying a few hundred dollars for the privilege, "passed" on the second dive. Only experience divers with 100 or more ocean dives and experience in Hawaiian waters were allowed on the excursion. The dives were fantastic, but the challenge was enormous.
It was a bit different than a quarry dive.
DivemasterDennis

 

[jar546]

Agree Dennis.

Some of the hardest dives that I had were in the exact same place as the easiest. The ocean is a wonderful, changing place.

 

[RonFrank]

It always amazes me how much ego powers Scuba

15 foot waves with 25 troughs in a 36' boat? Fire coral that burns if you just look at it! :cool2:

I think the more variables the more difficulty.

Variables:
Current
Surge
Rough topside water
Difficult Entry/Exit
Excessive Exposure protection (5mm/7mm/Drysuit)
Excessive Weight
Cold Water (LT 70F)
Low Vis
Kelp

In FL you MAY have current and surge so call that a Two dive difficulty. Most days a Zero difficulty on say Molasses reef.

In CA you will have cold water, more weight, heavy exposure protection plus one may have surge, kelp, low vis, and current. Call that a Seven dive difficulty. (How do ya like my made up system? )

Current is only a factor if your not drifting. Fire Coral and Marine encounters are a factor the diver can control with a few exceptions (ask Steve Irwin).

Lets face it, most Divers do little outside a few vacation dives a year. The regulars on SB do not represent your average diver.

 

[The Chairman]

Only experience divers with 100 or more ocean dives and experience in Hawaiian waters without the sense God gave a goose were allowed on the excursion.

There, I fixed it for you. However, I would be quick to point out that if the opportunity were to arise, I would be first in line for such a dive.

Diving is truly an opportunistic sport... it all depends on the opportunities that present themselves and IF you are ready, willing and able to accept the challenges associated with that opportunity. My second rule of diving is that any diver can call a dive at any time and for any reason, NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Sometimes I call a dive before I get in the car or on the plane. Experience gives you the ability to know when to call the dive. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from making some bone headed decisions (mistakes) and learning to overcome them. A lot of people come to our sport for an adrenaline rush. They want to go deeper, colder, hotter, whatever just for the bragging rights. I'm too old (and careful) to try to chase rabbits for no good reason. However, give me a reason, a good reason, and I'll deal with the rabbits as I need to.

I often kid about water/climate being too cold to dive and yet I have yet to meet someone who is as cold tolerant as I am. Why is that? Well obviously, when you are built like a manatee, you can act like one. But even more important is that I really hate exposure suits. I own a couple of really nice ones too. A custom 3 mil from WetWear.com is almost tolerable and I also own a Fusion that's (get this) too small for my hands. I have really big hands from working in the automotive industry for 30 years. Still, I would rather dive in a swimsuit and my body has learned to cope. I haven't worn a wetsuit since I moved down here to Key Largo, but Elena has. In fact, she has dived with me in a dry suit with a hood while I splashed with nary a consideration for the cold except a windbreaker for between dives. Last year in California, she bought a 7 mil for me and I actually wore it when I dove in Catalina. I was incredibly uncomfortable in that I could barely move and I was HOT. If we dive it this year, I am bringing my WetWear suit and maybe a hood. To each their own and it's important for us to be in charge of our safety as well as our comfort. Yes, there was a lot of surf and the entrance and exit were a bit dicey. No different than some of the same conditions I have experienced in Florida off of Venice Beach looking for sharks teeth. At least at Catalina I didn't get any sand up my butt!

 

[jar546]

.........................
I often kid about water/climate being too cold to dive and yet I have yet to meet someone who is as cold tolerant as I am. Why is that? Well obviously, when you are built like a manatee, you can act like one.

Even manatees stay in water above 68