Where have you seen the best visibility ever seen?

[Eau_Girl]

There is not much life, because it is too cool to live in fresh water. But in very cold salt water, we can see much life as in Antarctica.

When I dove Silfra the water was 3C (in June but it's consistent year round). I am looking at my log and it says viz 150+m.

We did some sea dives in Iceland. Viz was 3-5m, 3-4C but did see some life. We dove thermal chimneys (hot 90C water bubbling out of the structure). The large chimney was covered with small starfish and mussel-like critters. In my dive log I noted wolf fish, anemones and small prawns.

 

[miketsp]

Methinks we have some BSers on this thread. Unless of course the word visibility is being abused.

Theoretical Maximum Secchi Depth

If you could lower a Secchi disk into absolutely pure water, the theoretical maximum value would be between 70-80 meters (230-262 ft).

Secchi Records

Deepest Recorded Secchi Depth
80 meters on October 13, 1986 in the Weddell Sea, near Antarctica (W.W.C. Gieskes, C. Veth, A. Woehr-mann, and M.Graefe, EOS, 1987). Citation courtesy of Hendrik Buiteveld

"about 70 meters:" is reported in the Sargasso Sea, using a 1.2 m disk. Mahon Kelly, (Personal Communication)

66 meters (217 feet) in the Sargasso Sea (Taber and Dubach, 1972)

53 m (174 ft) in the eastern Mediterranean (Berman et al. (1985)

44 m (144 ft) was obtained in Crater Lake, Oregon, using a 1 m diameter disk. Larson (1972) At the same time, Doug recorded 39 meters (128 ft) with a 20 cm disk.

 

[Tomeck]

When I dove Silfra the water was 3C (in June but it's consistent year round). I am looking at my log and it says viz 150+m.

We did some sea dives in Iceland. Viz was 3-5m, 3-4C but did see some life. We dove thermal chimneys (hot 90C water bubbling out of the structure). The large chimney was covered with small starfish and mussel-like critters. In my dive log I noted wolf fish, anemones and small prawns.

Yes, I also dove thermal chimney Sýstran in the fjord Eyjafjörður, it is very spectacular.

 

[knotical]

Theoretical Maximum Secchi Depth

Agreed.
There are estimates and there is evidence, and the two might not coincide. See also my posts toward the end of this thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...discussions/187734-2008-my-quest-150-viz.html

 

[Saltwater Junky]

Where have you seen the best visibility ever seen?

For me, the best visibility ever seen was Silfra in Iceland. Silfra is a fault betwwen two technonic plates America and Europe in the national park Þingvellir. Water is fresh, the temperature is 37°F (3°C) and the visibility was more than 330 feet (100 meters):

The pics are sweet. I'm envious! :banana: Will have to put it on my list planned overseas dives.

 

[Tomeck]

The pics are sweet. I'm envious! :banana: Will have to put it on my list planned overseas dives.

Thanks. Dive in Iceland is very easy and spectacular, if you are not sensitive to the cold, but Iceland is very expensive for all.

 

[Tomeck]

For me it has to have been Roca Partida, which is about 300 miles SSW of the tip of Baja California. Roca Partida is a rock that sticks up out the deep pelagic ocean. The water was so clear that it was hard to estimate distances, but we could see the bottom which was about 300ft below!

Here is a picture of some divers hanging in the blue. Click on the image for more details.

Nice picture! Is the visibility in Roca Partida often exceptional?

 

[spt29970]

Nice picture! Is the visibility in Roca Partida often exceptional?

I have only been to the Revillgigedos once, but as far as I know the vis is usually exceptional. Consider the geography. Roca Partida is 70 miles from Soccorro Island, which is 250 miles from land. The sea floor is 11,000ft deep, and an ancient volcano rises from the sea floor and comes to within 300ft of the surface. Roca Partida is the basalt lava plug of the volcano that comes from 300ft below to 110 feet above the water. It is as vertical a wall as you will find, and it is in the deep pelagic ocean. There are no sources of runoff or silt. The water is blue, blue, blue. Here are a couple more. Click on the images for more details.

 

[Tomeck]

I have only been to the Revillgigedos once, but as far as I know the vis is usually exceptional. Consider the geography. Roca Partida is 70 miles from Soccorro Island, which is 250 miles from land. The sea floor is 11,000ft deep, and an ancient volcano rises from the sea floor and comes to within 300ft of the surface. Roca Partida is the basalt lava plug of the volcano that comes from 300ft below to 110 feet above the water. It is as vertical a wall as you will find, and it is in the deep pelagic ocean. There are no sources of runoff or silt. The water is blue, blue, blue. Here are a couple more. Click on the images for more details.

Very interesting!

 

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

The best vis I've ever seen was on the back wall of the Molokini Crater, Maui...I have no idea how to estimate but it was easily more than 100'