Cold Water Diving Skills

[Nudgeroni]

I took my checkout dives in warm waters, but living in CT, plan to do a lot of diving up here in NE. I am going to repeat the checkout dives with the rest of my class in a couple of weeks (any chance for more diving can't be a bad idea). It will be a great chance to keep working on basic skills with a fantastic instructor.

So...

What skills are particularly important in cold water vs. warm water? Clearly visibility is an issue, and buoyancy control is tougher with a 7mil. But a couple threads here have stated that diving in cold water is considerably more challenging than in warm water, and I want to do my best to prepare myself.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Homunculus]

well, you said it yourself - low visability and buoyancy control. also, being in a much thicker wetsuit (more restrictive movements) may be a challenge. Better bouyancy control comes with experience, i'm still struggling with it a bit. Development of better navigation skills and being more aware of the environment will help with low visability. getting a perfect fit for the exposure suit is crucial if you want to stay warm in NE waters.

 

[TSandM]

Low viz makes keeping a buddy pair together more challenging, so you need to have better situational awareness and a commitment to "diving to stay found", as my friend Claudette puts it. You also need better navigational skills because you can't SEE where you are going. Direct ascents in very turbid water are also challenging, because you are devoid of visual clues for orientation (this one was very hard for me).

Buoyancy control in thick neoprene or in a drysuit is more difficult than in a thin wetsuit. In addition, very cold water means you decompress less efficiently, so good buoyancy control on ascent is even more important.

Proper thermal protection in cold water is critical. You can jump into the ocean around Cozumel a little light on exposure protection and your dive will just be a little shorter than usual. In 46 degree water, you can get hypothermic VERY quickly, and it's not fun at all (BTDT).

The good news is that there is a lot of life in cold water, and if you get good at diving in cold, low viz conditions, your warm water trips will be magically easy!

 

[Brandon]

The good news is that there is a lot of life in cold water, and if you get good at diving in cold, low viz conditions, your warm water trips will be magically easy!

Yep =) I think cold water critters are way cooler than warm water ones - who cares if we don't get big schools if bright colored fishes? Look in the rocks - TONS of good stuff hiding down in there.

I need to snap some pictures of the area of our reef I nicknamed the "Metridium Forest" It's beautiful. It's a 20' x 50' plateau on top of a 30' high wall that is loaded with TALL metridium, probably 1-2' tall.

It is something else to go from drysuit diving to warm water diving. Going from 100 pounds of gear down to 40 makes you feel very free and at ease. IMHO, it makes for much more relaxing vacation dives.

Sort of like the baseball player putting weights on the bat for his practice swings...

-B

 

[scubadobadoo]

Mask removal is one huge one frequently overlooked in cold water. That cold water may literally take your breath away causing a panic and a bolt to the surface. Practice breathing witht your face in the water and your reg in your mouth with your mask off in the SHALLOWS while you are standing up or on your knees with a buddy watching you. Then you can slowly graduate to clearing your mask in the shallows

and then finally a mask removal drill in the shallows while a buddy watches you.

Panic, IMHO, is one of the biggest killers and this cold water skill sneaks up on many warm water trained divers causing major panic. I have seen it and experienced it as I was in your same situation until i started diving in the NE.

Have fun, just take it slow, and only concentrate on one new thing each dive. For example, your first dive will be all about weighting and getting the new and thicker gear on. You'll be just fine!

Now, go out and get Jerry SHine's book, "A SHore Diving Guide to New England" at bluesperepubs.com and get out and dive!!!

 

[cap_bert]

As said, thermal protection is the major difference between warm and cold water diving (obviously), viz to a lesser degree, but good viz can be found in cold water as well. The added thermal protection of a 7mm wetsuit with hood and sometimes shorty or a drysuit can add to the feeling of being restricted in movement and perhaps impact your SAC rate. Getting used to finding and manipulating your gear with a 5 or 7 mm glove on can be difficult to get used to as well, however you get used to it. For some, none of this is an issue. However, for others it is enough to keep them out of the great world of cold water diving. I hope that you enjoy this area as there is great diving to be had in NE and in cold water in general. Good luck with your checkouts.

_bert

 

[TSandM]

Oh, the tip about mask skills is a GOOD one! Big difference between lovely warm water on your face, and the shock of ice water on the eyes.

 

[SteveFass]

One for me is avoiding heat sickness. The air is hot, but the long boat ride, all the protection, and a crowded boat ... you have to think about it and suit up quickly.

 

[Tom725]

The biggest difference is the equipment. 7 mil wesuit or a drysuit can cause bouyancy problems but like most things in diving the more you do it the easier it is.

The good news about mask clearing is your eyes will not burn from the salt water if you are in a quarry or lake. Does not apply, of course, to cold water ocean.

I love cold water in the Midwest and all the colorful fish..... brown and green are colors aren't they?????

There are warm water divers and then there are divers. I never heard of a cold water diver who could not make the transition to warm. No so the other way.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I love diving cold water and do it frequently alone in local quarries (what we call pits) where viz changes from 60 ft to 5 ft in a couple days. I look forward to ice diving a pit this winter cause its supposed to be spectacular. anyway the best advice I can give is get good exposure protection (i dive a hyperstretch 2 piece 7mm) and get comfortable with your gear. The hardest thing for me was trying to use my fingers with 7mm gloves on. BTW I flush my mask on almost every dive to get my face used to the water temp.