Keeping in mind that this is BASIC scuba...

[jeckyll]

Peter: don't give away all the reasons to dive up here. Parking at the dive sites is tight enough already

 

[String]

While I take frequent trips to warm water destinations, the reality is that cold water diving is MUCH more interesting IF you are a critter watcher.

Colder waters have more nutrients therefore support more life - in fact thats one reason the visibility there IS worse. Clear blue water where you can see 100s of feet unless its on a coral reef is sterile,lacking in nutrients and therefore life.

 

[goodive]

Here in the PNW we dive sometimes in the vis, when you couldn't see your elbow till you get deeper. It is not for the faint-hearted, but it makes you a better diver. I dove with an Aussie instructor with over 2000 dives, who never dove in the cold water and it was a struggle for him the first time. He got a hang of it pretty quickly, he was a very good diver. But he came here to snowboard, so he disappeared to Whistler. Sometimes the vis is great, especially in the winter and especially if you get away from the Fraser river silt. On the west coast of Vancouver Island you could get 100 feet vis. And you could see some amazing flora and fauna in the ocean around here. In my profile, there is a picture ( not very good quality, taken from the video) of myself with a sea lion, taken at the Hornby Island, which is one of the smaller islands between the mainland and the Vancouver Island. Some of these guys are 2000 lb. In the video, there is a shot of one of the sea lions stealing the mask from my buddy Tony. He got it back after about a minute without it. Good mask replacement exercise.:glasses: We do have some nice, big wrecks around here too. Sometimes I dive fresh water lakes, but that is just for a practice or to rinse off my gear.
And one more nice thing. Nobody around here dive with his knife ready to attack some unfortunate OOA diver.

 

[seaducer]

Water that is limited in visibility is often that way because of a high nutrient content. Lots of nutrients means lots of sea life. It can rival the color and intensity of the tropics, and the schools of fish can overwhelm you. Sharks to be had as well. One of the most beautiful sights to see is a large colorful sea jelly illuminated by divers on a night dive. Don't have those kinds of jellies in the Caribbean, at least not that I have seen. Oh yeah, in the summer it is not that cold and we get tropical fish up here too.
And aside from just looking at them, there is catching and eating them. Flounder, fluke, tautog and striped bass are high on the spearfishers hitlist. On most wrecks there are more mussels than you can lift with a 100 pound bag wearing a dry suit after a night of bad Mexican food. And scallops. And loster. Oh the lobster. Those spiney ones are wimpy and tastless.

For wreck divers, the best wrecks are the ones that were not sunk on purpose (unless it was during a war, then it counts twice), and there are far more of those in places that are cold and dark, like the Northeast and the Great Lakes. Wreck diving is a very popular discipline that attracts divers of all experience levels. Some people start diving JUST to see them and maybe pull a souvenior from the deep. There are divers that have never, and have no desire to gaze in wonder at a reef. They just want to splash over a U Boat or other wreck, it becomes an obsession that rivals drug addiction. Just ask Richie Kohler and John Chatterton what that feeling is like.

And finally, if you love diving, I mean really LOVE it, you will do it where ever and whenever you can. Warm and clear, cold and dark, its always better down where its wetter.

Edited to add, sometimes the limited vis makes diving MORE fun, more magical. What is just on the limits of the gloom can blossom in your imagination and be just as much a part of the dive as reality. The un earthly feelings you get are like the butterflies you felt going for your first kiss, only it happens every time I dive here. I love the Caribbean and spend alot of money to dive there. But I don't get that magical feeling anywhere else.

 

[captain]

And finally, if you love diving, I mean really LOVE it, you will do it where ever and whenever you can. Warm and clear, cold and dark, its always better down where its wetter.

The correct answer.

 

[seaducer]

At this point in my limited experience, I do not need a reason other than it is a chance to breath underwater!!!

Forget "limited experience". This is reason enough for just about all of us:cool2:

Peter, I counted 3 possibly 4, but I couldn't ID them off the top of my head...

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

If you dive in the cold (anywhere you need a 5mm or more) and where vis is typically less than 10ft, why do you dive?

I'm also a Torontonian. I have never dived where the visibility was less than ten feet, so no comment on that. But I will say that I have no idea what a 5 mil wet suit feels like.

I took my AOW in the St. Lawrence River and rented a 7 mil wet suit with a 7 mil hooded vest. I can say quite honestly that I hated it. It was bulky and restrictive. And I had to load myself down with lead to submerge. Ugh! I bought a dry suit and let me tell you, it makes a HUGE difference.

You're warm, you're dry, and there's nothing like being dry between dives if you dive in the Spring or Fall. And the buoyancy? Dry suits don't compress like neoprene, so you don't have to weight yourself down just to submerge and then fill your wing with air to compensate for the suit being crushed at depth. It makes diving easier, not harder.

So, with respect to "cold" water, a dry suit solves the problem. As to why... Well of course you dive your home turf. It's more than just availability. If you love your homeland, you want to look around, to see what's there. I like travelling to dive, but there are beautiful wrecks and walls right here at home to enjoy. And the viz is terrific, so that is not an issue.

Here's a little taste:

Warren Lo's Cold Water Pictures

p.s. Someone else mentioned the magic of limited visibility. Viz in the St. Lawrence has been good for the last decade due to Zebra Mussels. However, on that first week-end, My instructor and I did a drift onto and off of an easy wreck. the instructions were clear: line up at the stern of the boat, jump in, touch the head if you're ok, then submerge IMMEDIATELY.

I did so, and my instructor buddies up with me at 10' and we started to descend, leveled out. I could see the bottom of the river, and it felt like we were flying over it as the current carried us downstream. Then ahead, emerging from the gloom... A ship, lying upside-down with its broken mast splayed out...

My eyes were the size of saucers as I exhaled and tried for a poinpoint landing right off the stern. It was like sky diving without the sky or parachute, and knowing that if you miss the target you carry on down the river. What a rush!

 

[Anti-Hero]

I have a question for those who are fairly new but choose to dive in less than optimal conditions.

If you dive in the cold (anywhere you need a 5mm or more) and where vis is typically less than 10ft, why do you dive?

What do you get out of it? What are you doing there?


I really am curious as I know I will never ever dive cold or with low vis. Seems quite pointless to me. I do want to know what would make some that just took this sport up do it though..

I understand that some people are just going to dive where ever they can due to their financial and geographical restraints.. but what is down there that pulls you in?

I drive typically 3 hours for the closest ocean dives, some days the viz is nice, other times it's pea soup.



You just answered your own question: "I understand that some people are just going to dive where ever they can due to their financial and geographical restraints.. but what is down there that pulls you in?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I really like diving in our local San Diego waters. Water temps are in the 50s. Typical vis is 10 -15 ft. We see a lot of interesting things. Check out the latest Divebums Pictures of the Week to see what local UW photographers stumble across.

 

[--tom--]

I try to dive warmer waters once a year. In real terms, it's boring compared to Monterey. Less variety of creatures, often less color. Then there is the unexpected, creatures that have no business shallower than 1000' but you see them in 30'.

Oh, by the way, the real lobsters are in Southern California and they are spiny. The best that the NE can get are saltwater crawdads.