Blue Water versus Fresh Water Diving

[FIXXERVI6]

Lake Travis is by FAR my favorite dive spot here, lots of cat fish, some really BIG cat fish and some REALLY big carp, aligator gar, yea there is plenty of life out there its just not the same kind or density as blue water.

1. I've have seen great vis in travis before, its not always 0, sometimes you have to get away from shore, or away from people, or at the right depth to find the vis spots, granted they are not ocean rate but you CAN see fishies rocks rock cliffs etc.

2. I learned in low vis I'm used to low vis so to me this is a valuable skill I have from the start, I can dive vis so low I have to keep touch contact with my buddy and I'm ok with that, been there done that a few times, didn't turn the dive, took it for what it was and gained from it.

3. Cold can be fixed

4. Night dives in the lake are pretty nice, big cats come out and the gar come up too

5. Skills learned in low vis, dark, deep, cold fresh water transfer, I've never dove nice warm blue ocean but I know when I do, I'll love it, and I'll be fine, going the other way for people might not be so easy or confident, I feel that my experinece in bad conditions has helped "accelerate" my skills in the water.

6. practice; diving isn't like riding a bike, falling off a bike can bruise you, falling off your scuba skills can kill you.

7. bouancy, doesn't matter if its salt or fresh, if anything maybe dark cold fresh makes you sharpen the skills more, you have to take into account exposure suit and bad vis with your bouancy control.

8. If you really hate it that bad, just don't do it

9. Sitting at 30 feet with no visual reference in 10 feet of vis is COOL floaty!

What part of the lake did you dive?
Did you dive with a local group or someone that knows the lay of the land?
what WAS the vis?

 

[blueeyes_austin]

Lake Travis is by FAR my favorite dive spot here, lots of cat fish, some really BIG cat fish and some REALLY big carp, aligator gar, yea there is plenty of life out there its just not the same kind or density as blue water.

1. I've have seen great vis in travis before, its not always 0, sometimes you have to get away from shore, or away from people, or at the right depth to find the vis spots, granted they are not ocean rate but you CAN see fishies rocks rock cliffs etc.

2. I learned in low vis I'm used to low vis so to me this is a valuable skill I have from the start, I can dive vis so low I have to keep touch contact with my buddy and I'm ok with that, been there done that a few times, didn't turn the dive, took it for what it was and gained from it.

3. Cold can be fixed

4. Night dives in the lake are pretty nice, big cats come out and the gar come up too

5. Skills learned in low vis, dark, deep, cold fresh water transfer, I've never dove nice warm blue ocean but I know when I do, I'll love it, and I'll be fine, going the other way for people might not be so easy or confident, I feel that my experinece in bad conditions has helped "accelerate" my skills in the water.

6. practice; diving isn't like riding a bike, falling off a bike can bruise you, falling off your scuba skills can kill you.

7. bouancy, doesn't matter if its salt or fresh, if anything maybe dark cold fresh makes you sharpen the skills more, you have to take into account exposure suit and bad vis with your bouancy control.

8. If you really hate it that bad, just don't do it

9. Sitting at 30 feet with no visual reference in 10 feet of vis is COOL floaty!

What part of the lake did you dive?
Did you dive with a local group or someone that knows the lay of the land?
what WAS the vis?

Fixxer, I did the AOW course through UT Austin. We dove off that park by Mansfield Dam. Took it in the fall, so every weekend it would be a little bit colder going out. Grew to dread it, so much so that it put me right off diving for a couple of years. I had done a grand total of seven dives before, in WA and the Cook Islands. The whole time I was underwater, I kept asking myself "Why am I spending money to do THIS?"

Best vis we had was maybe 10'. A couple of times vis was no better than arms length. I saw a catfish. Once.

I did get some reasonable skills out of it...learned how to use lift bags, underwater navigation, first night dive first "deep" dive. But I cannot say that I enjoyed a single minute of the time I was under the water.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

In my opinion classes are not fun, they are for mainly learning, I didn't enjoy my classes in the lakes, granted I had fun but the diving was less then a blast, it was work, but thats ok, I was there to learn as much as possible.

When taking a class vis will most likely be bad like that always, training weekends kick up silt bad, thats when you get away from those groups, or go a different day.

For me diving is super relaxing, good vis bad vis, my cell phone doesn't work in either.

Maybe you should gear up and give it a few more tries with fun dives instead of just class dives, there are also other areas around here to dive, like Clear Springs Scuba Park www.clearspringsscubapark.com its not the ocean but there is life there and generally good vis, but its always cold, but as I said that can be fixed.

 

[jbd]

I did get some reasonable skills out of it...learned how to use lift bags, underwater navigation, first night dive first "deep" dive. But I cannot say that I enjoyed a single minute of the time I was under the water.

If you can put the skills learned to use, you will find that your ocean diving will be better. The good thing about diving is that you can dive where you want to. Cold, dark water is not for you, which is fine, there is plenty of warm clear water to dive in.

 

[The Kraken]

The point I was trying to make is that the skills you learned in fresh water are skills that are demanded in any diving environment.

I guess my feeble attempt at humor was lost . . .

 

[jbd]

The point I was trying to make is that the skills you learned in fresh water are skills that are demanded in any diving environment.

I guess my feeble attempt at humor was lost . . .

I thought your response was spot on.

 

[hermosadive]

...I didn't find the experience of a dozen lake dives helped my buoyancy control one bit....Emergency skills...the most challenging blue water dives I have dealt with featured current and surge. Neither of these things are present in lake diving.

1) Sounds like you don't want to dive cold fresh water. Save your money and enjoy your trips to warm salt water.

2) Diving in fresh water didn't hinder your buoyance control...its you not the water.

3) You sound young and inexperienced...my assumption, you may or may not change your views as you continue to dive. Just keep diving, wherever you enjoy it.

 

[alemaozinho]

I'm wondering what value people think fresh water diving experience has for blue water diving? I did an AOW course in Lake Travis, Austin after leaning to dive in Ningaloo, WA, and it was one of the most depressing experiences of my life. No vis, nothing to see, cold, etc.

What is the value of doing lake diving if what you are really interested in doing is blue water diving? I don't think the skills you learn in fresh water are readily transferable to blue water at all!

In the end, I didn't even log the lake dives into my dive log....

if you would live in the middle of nowhere with just a lake around for diving,then you would appreciate any microorganisms at one foot viz.............but you dove in one of the prime spots in this world and you are perhaps spoiled rotten now.peace

 

[StSomewhere]

For me diving is super relaxing, good vis bad vis, my cell phone doesn't work in either.

What he said.

 

[Rick Inman]

... blue water live aboard where I did nothing but dive for several days in a row.

Ah, vacation diver. That explains it. Yes, I agree that you should limit your diving to resort diving.