fppf
Contributor
You need to go under the ice for the good vis.
Antarctica as a dive trip....who's done it? Who wants to do it?
- Thread starter ewaiea
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
zahgurim
Contributor
I'm interested in heading there, and have just started checking into options (for doing a trip in maybe 2 years?).
OP
ewaiea
Contributor
Obviously we'd all love to hear a trip report once you go there....but I'd love to hear about details as they come about in reference to the planning of the trip as well. For example, which charter companies are you looking at going with?
I doubt I'll get there any time soon, but hopefully in the next 10 years. Maybe just set aside a little bit each year in hopes of doing it maybe for my 40th b-day (turning 30 this year). Of course if Al Gore is stating Antarctica is going to be all liquid by then......HEHE...we'll see.
Keep us posted!
Diving Antarctica is one of my goals and I don't have 10 years to plan it.
I have a friend who was a research diver in Antarctica for several years. Yes the visibility does get up to 600 ft, but it can also be in the 30-40 ft range.
I've dive tended for researchers in Antarctica (McMurdo sound) and let me tell you, that was a frustrating experience. I got to sit in a fish hut for an hour waiting for the divers to surface and hand me up their gear whooping and shouting about how amazing the dive was.
I did get to hop in the hole with a mask on though (I hopped RIGHT back out). There was also an observation tube sunk through the ice with a little plexiglas room at the end of it. I must've sat there for at least two hours watching giant jellies drift by and the occasional curious weddel seal. I would qualify the viz as "infinity". Which is to say, the limit was the distance that light could travel through clear water.
I did get to hop in the hole with a mask on though (I hopped RIGHT back out). There was also an observation tube sunk through the ice with a little plexiglas room at the end of it. I must've sat there for at least two hours watching giant jellies drift by and the occasional curious weddel seal. I would qualify the viz as "infinity". Which is to say, the limit was the distance that light could travel through clear water.
OP
ewaiea
Contributor
I have a B.S. in Marine Biology and I've considered going on a one year sabbatical from my IT job and being a research aid in Antarctica, but honestly, I think I'd get alot more enjoyment and fun diving out of it if I just pony up the funds one year and do it as a 2-3 week trip. I'm turning 30 this year, I'm thinking that if I do plenty of other destinations that are higher up on the bucket list throughout the next decade, maybe when I turn 40 or thereabouts I'll buck up and do Antarctica. I have to do a few drysuit dives ever couple years in cold water on the west coast to keep my skills up - if my interest level is still there I'm thinking that the Southern Ocean will be in my future.
Dom@DiveAdvice
Contributor
One of the better operaters offering Polar dive expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctica is a lady called Marlynda at Waterproof Expeditions. She cut her teeth working with Oceanwide Expeditions before staring her own company in partnership with the fols who make the soem fo the best wetsuits/drysuits in the industry. Special thing about her trips is that they have small groups, usually accompanied by a highly experienced photo-pro, and they have a container on the deck where all the equipment is kept and in which you kit up. Very very professional and she has a good website with most of what you need to know - waterproof-expeditions.com Dom
Similar threads
