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

[The Chairman]

Even manatees stay in water above 68

When the ocean waters are too damn cold, like a manatee, I often head for the springs (caves). So far, that's not been the case yet. I love my Key Largo home!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

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!

I can relate to that. Anybody who has dived with me when I have been forced to wear a wetsuit has had to get used to me muttering my litany of "I hate wetsuits... I HATE wetsuits.. I REALY HATE wetsuits..." ad naseum

I'd rather be a bit cold than feel like the Michelin Man.. I hate the restrictions but then even in Canadian winter I wouldn't wear snow suits, snowmobile suits or long johns. Fortunately(??) I have enough bioprene and cold tolerance that I can wear my sharkskin here as long as water temps are consistently in the 17C(63ishF). I must say that the hyperstretch Acqua Lung 5 mil I bought in Calif last trip is the most comfortable suit I have ever had. I can ALMOST get it on with only 1 muttered "I hate wetsuits".

I loved the diveskin in Florida (there were a huge number of stinging jellies about) but I did find myself looking for cooler spots on some of the dives.. the water there was just too HOT! Never thought I'd want to end a dive because I was too HOT

I have gotten a rough time on occasion for not wearing adequate thermal protection.. even been told it increases my risk of DCI I think a lot of people are so locked into the "need" for a wetsuit that they don't try without to find out the joy and freedom of movement lighter protections gives. Of course SA, bouyancy control and hairy entry/exits have different risks if you choose to "travel light"! One advantage of the Calif surf entries is that the sand is a lot softer when you get trashed than the rock ledges and shelves we normally dive off of!

Roughest exit we ever had was when a storm front moved in much quicker than predicted. We surfaced to huge swell and wave action. The dive boat threw us a line and we wound up "body surfing" in full gear as they towed us around an island to a slightly more protected area! Timing to catch the ladder even there was a challenge. Glad we didn't have any inexperienced divers on that one!

 

[The Chairman]

I remember a dive off of Venice Beach. There were a ton of the Medusa Jelly fish. These guys are big, purple, Looooooong and pack a wallop. I was the only one in a bathing suit and tshirt. Somehow, I was also the only one to escape getting hit. Everyone in a skin or wetsuit were in agony and some didn't make the second dive because of it. Being so exposed, I had GREAT situational awareness from the start. I knew I was a prime target so I made sure to avoid them all the time. I couldn't afford to be lazy, not even for a moment. The others got hit on the face, the hands and the ankles, anywhere that was exposed.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Are you talking about these ones?

I was fascinated with them. Couldn't resist getting among them to get pics esp trying to get shots showing the sunlight shafts in the water. I was lucky the only time I got "hit" was on the surface getting back on the boat. Everyone was moaning about them but I was delighted with the photo ops... see now you know I am strange:doh:

sorry about the hijack... but I will try to bring it back on topic.. :blush: Jellyfish are only one of the things that may contribute to task loading in the warm tropical waters. One of the other dangers is complacency easy to misjudge distance being able to see your buddy does not mean your buddy is close enough to allow you to assiste each other in an emergency!

 

[The Chairman]

Are you talking about these ones?

Nope, those are humble Moon Jellies. Very, very mild sting. The only one that ever really got my attention was when it swam up my swimsuit. That was a dive where I had a DSD (Discover Scuba Dive) with a 12 year old and he could not equalize. Of course, he had drifted a LONG WAYS from the boat and I had to tow him back in... on the surface... got hit thirty+ times. I was focused on the kid and the kid alone. Look at how short the tentacles are!

Medusas or Sea Hornets/wasps are half the diameter and their tentacles are three foot in length. They are far more purple and they leave welts. Big nasty welts.

 

[Nitro91]

I reckon shore diving is definitely a test of your diving skill. sometimes the rocky and big leap entry into slamming waves and big surge can be a real challenge.
The exit is even worse, crawling on rocks with waves slamming behind you.

I always just dream of boat diving whenever i have hard shore dives.

 

[jar546]

The Moon Jellies stuck around very late last year in the Key Largo area. Most of our dives in November off the boat from the Spiegel to the Eagle and in between were full of them. No way in or out without touching them.

The only problem is that I was craving french fries on the way back in since all of us were sprayed down with vinegar.

 

[spectrum]

I reckon shore diving is definitely a test of your diving skill. sometimes the rocky and big leap entry into slamming waves and big surge can be a real challenge.
The exit is even worse, crawling on rocks with waves slamming behind you.

I always just dream of boat diving whenever i have hard shore dives.

Shore diving is certainly a skill. A big part of it is knowing when not to go so as to avoid much of what you describe.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was just struck by an irony. At the same time we are discussing whether or not a quarry trained diver can dive anywhere, the thread about the Tina Watson case is winding down, with the consensus being that because both she had had all her previous dives in a quarry and and her husband Gabe had almost all his dives in a quarry, neither one was anywhere near qualified to do the dive that took her life.

 

[Bob DBF]

Shore diving is certainly a skill. A big part of it is knowing when not to go so as to avoid much of what you describe.

If you can thumb the dive here you can thumb it anywhere.



Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.