New diver trying to determine divable conditions

Hey everyone:
Jim here with a question for those who have been diving for a long time.

What are some good ways that you use to determine if today is a good diving day or not??
Such as info re: visability, surge, red tide, bad weather approaching, large waves, etc.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Jim

jwjkswanson:

Hey everyone:
Jim here with a question for those who have been diving for a long time.

What are some good ways that you use to determine if today is a good diving day or not??
Such as info re: visability, surge, red tide, bad weather approaching, large waves, etc.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Jim

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Kind of a loaded question. Where do you live? Best way is probably to call the local dive shops that have boats going out and ask them what the conditions are like. They usually vary from reef to reef depending on a lot of factors.

Check the satellite pictures of the area you plan to dive. Get the forcast. There are surf reports available too.
But any time you go to a new area, it's a good idea to dive with a local who has experience there. Tides can be a big factor affecting currents. Water temp is another important consideration as to the proper exposure protection.

jwjkswanson:

Hey everyone:
Jim here with a question for those who have been diving for a long time.

What are some good ways that you use to determine if today is a good diving day or not??
Such as info re: visability, surge, red tide, bad weather approaching, large waves, etc.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Jim

Click to expand...

If there are warnings out for weather or water conditions, don't dive.

If there are small craft advisories, don't dive

If you look at the water from shore and think "I wouldn't want to be out on that in a little rubber raft", don't go.

If you have to ask yourself "Should I go?", the answer is "No!"

The penalty for calling a dive that might be questionable is that you don't get to dive. The penalty for diving when you're in way over your head is quite severe, and sometimes fatal.

The real decision is "Can you handle yourself, your equipment, your buddy and an equipment failure in those conditions without endangering your life?"

Go slow. Be conservative. As you dive more, you'll see what you can easily handle, and then maybe next time, try something a little more challanging, if you want to.

Terry

Web Monkey:

If there are warnings out for weather or water conditions, don't dive.

If there are small craft advisories, don't dive

If you look at the water from shore and think "I wouldn't want to be out on that in a little rubber raft", don't go.

If you have to ask yourself "Should I go?", the answer is "No!"

The penalty for calling a dive that might be questionable is that you don't get to dive. The penalty for diving when you're in way over your head is quite severe, and sometimes fatal.

The real decision is "Can you handle yourself, your equipment, your buddy and an equipment failure in those conditions without endangering your life?"

Go slow. Be conservative. As you dive more, you'll see what you can easily handle, and then maybe next time, try something a little more challanging, if you want to.

Terry

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Great checklist Terry, I'm glad you threw in the intuition one. If you or the dive don't feel right, just say no!

You can't always do this, but the best way is to dive with someone who understands the local conditions and learn from them before you try it on your own.

jwjkswanson:

Hey everyone:
Jim here with a question for those who have been diving for a long time.

What are some good ways that you use to determine if today is a good diving day or not??
Such as info re: visability, surge, red tide, bad weather approaching, large waves, etc.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Jim

Click to expand...

If you are in a coastal area of the US, marine conditions are broadcast non stop. Online you can locate the closest NOAA buoy and monitor its transmission (also 24/7).

When looking at the seas by yourself, use an object or better yet a fixed structure to estimate the motion of the seas. Don't just look at wave height but also their period. Look in several directions, what appears like calm waters to the east may actually be serious white caps when you look west.

Wind speed by itself is not relevant. It is the interaction of the speed / direction of the wind with the current and waves.

Everytime you go out and is nice, look up as much data as you can. Of course do the same when things are not as good, or when the dive boats cancel their trips out. After a while you'll know what X feet seas with a Ymph wind does to your area.

Be suspicious of people's estimations. Very few people can estimate vertical distances worth a darn, it is even worse when it comes to current speed. Measuring devices for current are expensive and bulky but you'll be surprise how many bets you can win from divers that swear they had 3+ knot currents when in reality it was only 0.8 maybe a whole 1.0 knot. Devices to measure win speed are cheaper and very portable, however people don't get so worked up about wind speed.

As far as visibility, it would be a good idea that you get used to the average of your area. For some people 10 feet of viz is a miracle worth a celebration, for others 10 feet is unheard off since bad viz for them is shy of 50'. In this matter is also good to doubt other people's estimated range of viz. To get used to dimmensions underwater, carry a cloth tape with you, or mark the line on a reel every X feet. After several measurements paying attention you'll be surprise how close you can estimate.

NOAA has bouys all over the coastal US that give real time wind and wave action. Here's the one out of Pensacola that I look at all the time:

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42039

But more importantly, its what you feel comfortable with. If you look at the conditions and don't feel comfortable, don't dive. Its really that simple.

Good question,

I have to agree with Terry, if that little voice in your head makes you pause and ask if this is a good idea, chances are it's not.

From this I can speak first hand.

Far too localised to say. Some combinations of wind and tide may render site "A" unusable but be perfect for Site "B" on the other side of the island etc.

Typically when deciding what we dive each weekend we factor in the weather, specifically the wind speed and direction, the tide times and tide heights (springs,neap,slack water time etc), the sea state predicted, the surface visibility and the weather for the previous few days (if its been blowing a gale visibility on expose sites likely to be awful etc).

"perfect" diving would be no wind, sea state smooth and neap tides but that very very rarely happens.

Conditions on site are one thing, conditions safely getting to/from the site have to be considered. Example a wind-against tide sea is much rougher than the other and can make a journey hard or even dangerous. Enoumous spring tides can mean a site is off limits due to currents even though the weather itself is ok. Other things like is the forecast for the weather to change through the day (ie you may get out to a site but can you get back?). Finally we have to weigh up the experience of the divers for the day. A site thats diveable for experienced divers may not be safe to put trainees or inexperienced divers on in the same conditions.

In short, picking the best dive site takes a fair bit of planning and research for a given day.