New to Dving got certified in warm water and will be diving in cold

[drshorter]

I just got certified on Little Corn Island in Nicaragua ( http://www.dolphindivelittlecorn.com/ )and now I am back home in Oregon and will be diving in a vastly different water temperature. I was diving in 85 degree F water in Nicaragua and will be diving in considerably much colder water. Any tips for the cold water vs warm? Such as breathing? Kicks? Types of gear? I currently own an Aqualung look 2 mask and snorkel, I am looking into a pair of Tusa X-pert zoom SF-15 fins and after that a Suunto Vyper computer. Any suggestions on gear or order to buy or anything of that nature would be great! I plan on trying at least Nitrox and looking into wreck diving as well as photography as of right now.

Any tips and suggestions would be great!

p.s. Future goal in life is to one day dive the Great Barrier Reef

 

[UWRCN]

Hello and welcome to the great northwest waters. Gear here is still largely personal preference, with the mostly preferred dry suit. Sealed regs are a great thing for our water temp. Besides that i would recommend renting and borrowing different pieces of gear to find what suits you before buying. Look up NWDC (Northwest Dive Club) its a diving forum for us up here in the Sound. Cheers


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[Briteri]

Opposite for me... I'm in Ontario, doing my OW testing in Wiarton, ON (chilly water)where I will have to wear a 7mm. suit. Brrrr.... Then moving to Mexico (Yucatan) in january for 6 months to do warm water diving.

 

[drshorter]

Hello and welcome to the great northwest waters. Gear here is still largely personal preference, with the mostly preferred dry suit. Sealed regs are a great thing for our water temp. Besides that i would recommend renting and borrowing different pieces of gear to find what suits you before buying. Look up NWDC (Northwest Dive Club) its a diving forum for us up here in the Sound. Cheers


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I hear for the real dry duits you need to take special course on how to use it. Do most ppl around here just use thick wetsuits? Any suggestions on sealed regs? Ill check out the other forum as well.
Thanks

---------- Post Merged at 06:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:25 PM ----------

Opposite for me... I'm in Ontario, doing my OW testing in Wiarton, ON (chilly water)where I will have to wear a 7mm. suit. Brrrr.... Then moving to Mexico (Yucatan) in january for 6 months to do warm water diving.

Loved warm water just dove in a Tee shirt to avoid rash was awesome

 

[UWRCN]

You might see a diver who is not in class wear a wet suit, rare but it does happen. If you don't mind wearing at least 7 mils and a 7 shorty for cold days and longer dives, 14 mil over torso. If you do go the drysuit route, i would recommend a orientation by a good instructor. Some shops here will throw it in if you buy a suit from them. All in all there not hard to dive but different than a wetsuit. As far as reg's go scuba pro is very popular here along with aqualung, i prefer Apeks. Just make sure the one you get is environmentally sealed. Our temps can possibly freeze up a tropical reg. Besides that it mainly about breathing performance, weight, etc and money you want to spend and serviceability.

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[Kilili]

Compared to 85 degree water, cold water diving is a completely different beast. I suggest you start first with more training.

 

[Nwcid]

Search these 3 words and you will fill yourself with lots of good information, Drysuit, HOG, BP/W........

 

[gcarter]

Compared to 85 degree water, cold water diving is a completely different beast. I suggest you start first with more training.

I have to agree with this. I did my OW in Boracay and returning home to 14mm on the core, hood, gloves, lots of weight... let's just say it was a bit different and took some adjustment. I did this on my own in a (relatively) benign quarry environment before venturing back into "real" open water, but it would certainly have been quicker / less stressful with instruction.

 

[Wreck Wench]

Search these 3 words and you will fill yourself with lots of good information, Drysuit, HOG, BP/W........

I second this suggestion...do all the reading you can on these subjects and you'll be well on your way to knowing what you need to know for cold water diving. And check out the Dive Show in Tacoma in April! Its a great way to learn even more about your local diving!

 

[tracydr]

You can take a " Intro to Local Diving " class from your local dive store. Also, if you decide you want to dive locally, which I highly recommend, I would get a drysuit. You have some world class diving in the Puget Sound, just to the north.
I did like you, learned in TX, in a lake, with 80 temps and than moved to Puget Sound. I didn't take a class but I did get a lot of advise from the Ft. Lewis dive shop on the Army Base. Than I did a bunch of really shallow dives to play with the gear.
The drysuit class and an AOW class would also be helpful to get your bearings in the new environment. Especially because the AOW will probably include navigation.
Finally, see if you can find a local dive club. I know there are a lot of active divers in WA, there's probably plenty south of the border as well.