Cold water snorkeling

Hi all

I'm planning to do a bit of Basking Shark chasing this year to attempt to snorkel with them and get them onto film, so I wanted to ask a few questions in a bid to get better prepard.

I'm most likely to encounter them when the water temperature is 10 - 14 C (50 - 57 F), so I'm obviously going to need some kind of exposure suit, but to enable me to maximise my time filming I will need to be able to sustain a speed of around 3 knots for as long as I possibly can(!), which means that I will need a degree of mobility.

So the questions...

1. Would this be possible in a drysuit? And if yes, would it be possible in my 6mm neoprene one (O'Three), or should I look for a lighter membrane type? (The only problem I see with that would be that I'd need additional layers under the drysuit anyway so it may equal itself out).

2. If a drysuit is a no no, then what wetsuit would give me maximum protection with enough mobility and the least drag? Normally for diving in water that temperature I wouldn't even consider going in without a 7mm 2 piece, but this may also be too bulky. Also we will be out on a RIB, so it's not like I'll be able to change into anything warm between or after being in the water.

3. What type of fin would be best suited for this use? I actually want to get these ASAP to do a bit of training in the pool over the next couple of months.

I've toyed with the idea of using a DPV with some kind on lanyard, but I'm not sure how the sharks would react to that and even so it would still be very difficult to film and use the DPV at the same time.

I've never attempted to snorkel in these conditions so any help and advice would be really appreciated.

Cheers, Simon

check out www.eliossub.com and get yourself a professional tailor made freediving suit, maybe 5mil, 5.5mil, or 6mil at the most as you'll be workin in the water (these suits are sooo much warmer than any wetsuit you've ever worn per mil of thickness), high pants, hooded jacket sans zipper, closed cell outside to glide through the water like grease (this suit will also dry near instantly at the surface for warmth during your boat rides), and open cell inside or superstretch lining.. the open cell you'll need a cream rinse/water mix to put on but you'll be virtually dry after the dive.. for the fin.. if you want speed, get a good mono fin and start working on finning technique.. there's no fin faster.. just ask the professional finswimmers.

Well, I would take a slightly different route on fins. As former Finswimming Director for the Underwater Society of America, and having used monofins quite a lot, I don't think they will be the best for videoing the basking sharks. Because monofins require a dolphin kick, it will be hard to keep the video camera steady when you film the sharks. A flutter kick is probably better for the filming, but isn't quite as fast as the dolphin kick. I would use free diver's fins (the long ones), or a fin like the Plana Avanti (the newest one with four channels), as these "bifins" (in finswimmer's talk) make for easier times getting into and out of the boat.

Concerning wet suits, I like the Harvey suits Kobalt Proflex suit. A good friend and dive buddy of mine has one, and really likes it. I would find a dealer and get one custom fit, without zippers. I also do like the attached hood on the jacket and beavertail design over the bulkier torso design depicted. I'm pretty sure that they still will make these for you. Also, get a suit with slightly thinner arms (5mm instead of 7 mm). Get good boots, and wear the leg of the wetsuit outside the boot (need to pull them up over the boot) so they don't fill with water and freeze your feet. Here's Harvey's Dive Suit's website:

http://www.harveys-divesuits.com/coldwater/index.asp

Good luck,

SeaRat

yeah,,, I was kinda slammin' on the monofin... I have a ton of freediving fins..and the plana avanti quattro pro's as John mentioned.. they're very popular in the underwater hockey arena because they are shorter than longblades and very fast. I've done underwater speed tests using an underwater speedometer and these impressed me.. almost as fast as the best of my long blades, but weak for some reason getting off the deep bottom (finning technique maybe??) but the fins I reach for the most for all around abusing are the cressi gara's hf2000...a great popular fin.
Don't disregard a custom fit elios sub suit... you can have one for around $200u.s. or so shipped to your door and there isn't a custom suit that's made of that quality at that price anywhere...

get the 5mm custom Elios. Getting a typical scuba wetsuit will require 7 mm and/or extra layers of neoprene which will make you very bouyant and thus require much more lead for a similar warmth. I have a custom 7mm elios suit and when freediving in those temperatures, I literally have to deliberately let water into my hood and run down my neck to prevent overheating.

About the fins. It depends on how good of a swimmer you are. If you are relatively strong, and have no ankle problems, the long freedive fins would probably be best.

Hi guys and thanks for the feedback!

I've already got Quattro fins and find them great for diving and they give a lot of speed when I've needed it, but I've never got on with them that well while snokeling at the surface (not freediving). I was wondering if they would be the same as the long freediving fins at the surface and if so I may aswell stick with them.

As to the wetsuits then I'll look at all the options. I hadn't realised that there were so many different ones specifically for freediving so thanks for the info, it really is appreciated!

Cheers, Simon

P.S. Would I still be able to use the Elios or Harvey suits for diving, or is there a particular reason why I wouldn't be able to?

Simon,

There is no reason you couldn't use the wet suit you pick for scuba diving. The reason people in colder water get dry suits is that the scuba divers suffer from two additional heat loss situations. First, they usually do not move a lot (swim), and so they don't build body heat from muscular action. Second, scuba divers breath colder air than a snorkel diver. Air that is depressurized looses heat (just as air that is pressurized gains heat). Remember the equations that are used for pressure (Charles Law) states that:

P1V1 = kNT

and therefore

P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2

When the pressure lessens, the heat is lost, and scuba divers breath colder air. But a good skin diving wet suit will also work well in most scuba situations. This is also dependent upon each diver's physiology and body fat content too, so it's something you will need to evaluate.

SeaRat

Plus the Scuba air is drier, so it also cools your lungs even more as it sucks out the moisture from them. When Scuba diving in cold water, I would always switch to a snorkel on the way to shore or the boat (when practical), because I felt the snorkel air was much warmer and more comfortable.

I use the Elios suit for Scuba diving and it works fine.

The there's the biggest reason for a drysuit in cold weather.... Changing down afterwards can be brutal.

I have always been impressed with how comfortable I can be skin-diving wet in cold water.

Pete

John C. Ratliff:

Simon,

There is no reason you couldn't use the wet suit you pick for scuba diving. The reason people in colder water get dry suits is that the scuba divers suffer from two additional heat loss situations. First, they usually do not move a lot (swim), and so they don't build body heat from muscular action. Second, scuba divers breath colder air than a snorkel diver. Air that is depressurized looses heat (just as air that is pressurized gains heat). Remember the equations that are used for pressure (Charles Law) states that:

P1V1 = kNT

and therefore

P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2

When the pressure lessens, the heat is lost, and scuba divers breath colder air. But a good skin diving wet suit will also work well in most scuba situations. This is also dependent upon each diver's physiology and body fat content too, so it's something you will need to evaluate.

SeaRat

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your cold tolerance will be the deciding factor for what suit you will need. for example i was freediving a couple weeks ago in 34 degree water. i was able to maintain body temp for 40 min. this was while wearing a 7/5mm semi dry suit. many suggested i wear a farmer john, but since i was excercising i was able to maintain. it sounds like you will be doing the same.