Ocean water temps vs inland lake temps?

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NJMike

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Location
Northwest NJ
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I'm looking to buy my first wetsuit and am trying to get the best one for my planned diving in the future.

I'm trying to determine how the water temp off the east coast, say from NJ to SC, compares to the water temps in inland lakes like Dutch Springs, PA.

Anyone?
 
A lot of inland lakes or flooded quarries, like Dutch Springs, never get very warm below the thermocline. Lets see... the last time I dove Dutch Springs was on May 4, and the temperature was 46 degrees at 70 feet. At that depth I don't think it gets more than a few degrees warmer than that.

The temperature in the ocean, however, tends to be much more uniform (i.e. thermoclines are less dramatic) on account of currents, etc... In the summer time you could be comfortable in a wetsuit all along the east coast, though it still might be chilly up north in less than a 7mm.

Since you asked about South Carolina, the last time I dove in South Carolina (moved here a week ago, haven't gotten wet yet), was on March 15, and the water was 55 degrees at 50 feet or so. March is pretty early in the season, but I was comfortable in a 7mm and a hood.

For more specific information, here is a great site:

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/

Hope that helps.

-Nick
 
Well being in Maine (a bit north of your stated region) the answer may be "it depends".

The ocean is generally considered to be colder during the summer and this is true to a certain depth. The ocean churns and while it gets colder with depth it is not as dramatic as the thermoclines you find in fresh water.

In July I can make a shallow fresh water dive here in the upper 70sF but the same dive at 70 feet may be 45 degrees F. That same day in the ocean I will enter in the mid 60sF and may find the low 50S at depth, a lesser spread. In the winter it's all cold. I make summertime local dives in everything from a 2mm shorty to full 7mm W/2X on my core.

Pete
 
Going dry is a safe bet for the widest range.

Gary D.
 
I spent 12 years of my diving in that area and got most of my certifications there. For your 1st wet suit you can't go wrong with a 7mm 2 piece farmer john. In warmer water if you get too warm, just unzip it and let some of the water in to cool you off. Now the drawbacks - lots of weight to sink it, very stiff, hard to get into, you feel like the stay puff "marshmellow man". Eventually, many divers in the North Atlantic go dry.
 
Dive dry and dive April-November.

On April 1st of this year Dutch was 40deg. I was dry and warm. If I was wet there would have been no diving for me that day.
 
Thanks, all. I should have said that my diving season would run from May to September. I don't know if that would have changed any of the answers.

Sounds like a 7mm suit would do it. I am looking at Pinnacle suits since my LDS carries them and seems like they are a good brand.

I haven't looked at dry suits yet. Since I'm just getting back into diving, I'm not sure if a dry suit would not be beyond my capabilities right now. I may be wrong, I just don't know enough about them yet, but I believe they are a lot more expensive, right?

Thanks to everyone.
 
NJMike,

Since you are diving in the Northeast, it would probably be a good idea to at least look into drysuits. When I first started diving I figured it would be a long while before I got into drysuit diving. As it turned out, my AOW dives took place in a cold, dark quarry in Virginia (Rappahanock), and I complained enough that the shop owner offered to teach me drysuit. I dove with a drysuit through the rest of my AOW class and bought one a few weeks later. Have only done two wetsuit dives since then - and about 30 drysuit dives.

As for capabilities: I think it is a huge misconception that a drysuit is for "experienced" divers only. My first drysuit dive was dive #28, and I loved it. If you end up going dry, you'll likely never go back.

That being said, yes, drysuits are usually far more expensive. In my case, I bought a used Harvey's Tri-lam off of ebay that had new neck and wrist seals, and fits me pretty well. At less than $600, I think I got a great deal.

My prediction is that if you become an avid diver in the northeast, you will eventually get into a drysuit - unless you truly want to dive only 5 months of the year. What are you going to do for the rest of the year? SB gets boring if you aren't doing any diving :)

-Nick
 
NSDiver:
My prediction is that if you become an avid diver in the northeast, you will eventually get into a drysuit - unless you truly want to dive only 5 months of the year. What are you going to do for the rest of the year? SB gets boring if you aren't doing any diving :)
-Nick

I can agree with that statement even though I prefer to dive wet when it's comfortable. The drysuit should be coming out in the next few weeks.

In Canada it's commonplace to OW certify in a drysuit so it's not really a high end skill. It does add some to the task load but it gives back in comfort and less thermal distraction. I got mine last November going into my first winter, I had about 70 dives then and though it took a few dives to iron out my configuration it was fairly seamless.

Pete
 
Guys, thanks for the added comments. I suppose if there were no differences in cost, I'd consider a dry suit without a doubt.

But since I'll be getting ALL of my equipment over the next few months, I don't want to add up the total cost any more than I have to.

However, if a dry suit is in the cards, it might impact the decision on which wetsuit to buy now...
 

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