cold vs warm water diving

[Walter]

I agree, however, all else being equal, I find that having thinner exposure protection makes diving seem easier to me under similar conditions. For example, in warmer waters I don't have to wear as thick liners in my drygloves, which makes for better tactile sense.

Sure, that's exactly right. Unless I'm hunting or diving wrecks, I don't wear gloves at all until the temps drop into the 40s. All else being equal, is rarely understood. Cold water quarry divers often hear about how much easier warm water diving is, then they travel to Florida and get their clocks cleaned by currents and seas. Someone used to diving in the North Sea would be prepared for currents and seas. Cold water is not the same every where, we find a great deal of variety. The same goes for warm water diving.

 

[micboucher]

It's all good to me as long as I'm in the water!

I haven't done much diving in warm water other than Maui and I do most of my diving in Monterey now. I like both for different reasons. I like warm water diving because of the comfort in a thinner wetsuit and no hood/thick gloves, but I also like the diversity of fish and other marine life, such as turtles, mantas and sharks. But the diversity of life in Northern Calif is amazing too...just different. The thicker wetsuit and extra gear/weight is definitely worth it for me! Although a drysuit would make it much more comfortable. Soon!!

 

[Bructer]

Up here the water temps really dont change as all the lakes are glacier fed. We have a lake about 20mins from my house which is glacier fed from the bottom so makes vis 100' or more all year round. You can take your reg out and have a drink whenever you want. We take a couple trips a year as a treat to Vancouver Island to dive what I consider the best diving in the world.

Here is a pic from monday in Banff Alberta.

Cheers,

 

[Bructer]

And just to add, your beer stays perfectly cold after a day of diving.


Cheers,

 

[sarita75]

That looks positively chilly!

 

[JeffG]

Up here the water temps really dont change as all the lakes are glacier fed. We have a lake about 20mins from my house which is glacier fed from the bottom so makes vis 100' or more all year round. You can take your reg out and have a drink whenever you want. We take a couple trips a year as a treat to Vancouver Island to dive what I consider the best diving in the world.

Here is a pic from monday in Banff Alberta.

Cheers,

Which lake has 100' vis?

 

[Bructer]

Which lake has 100' vis?

For-Get-Me-Not in Kananaskis.....end of highway 66.


Cheers,

 

[JeffG]

For-Get-Me-Not in Kananaskis.....end of highway 66.


Cheers,

Thats what I thought.

Thanks.

 

[Rick Inman]

I like cold water diving. What I don't like is the cold air that comes with it when you get out - at least, in my parts, November through April.

Cold water brings with it more skills, more gear, more prep time... and I like the skills, the gear and the prep. It also means less people, and I like that, too. Also, cold water divers (at least those that seem to really enjoy it) are a different breed, and I seem to like the personalities of those types of divers out of the water.

I try to hit a warm water destination once a year, and the beaches are real nice. The fish are pretty, and there is lots of diving that's so easy that almost everyone can enjoy it. But somehow I always find myself searching out locations off the beaten path, maybe farther away or harder to get to or down some crazy goat trail, where other people won't go.

Last year in Hawaii the swell was up and the diving locations were limited, so my wife and I spent a day at 2-step (Place of Refuge). The place was packed with vacation divers and classes sporting rental al80's and disposable cameras. We set up our chairs and read books and watched the parade all day. Finally, the sun went down, and an hour later we were all alone (except for some locals across the street having their own good time). That's when I made my dive.

I did a surface swim out past the reef and dropped down onto the sand bottom with my 24w HID and lighted up the sparse stuff - like the garden eels. Nice dive.

I donno. I guess I'm just looking for a different kind of experience than the usual crowd. I did the night Manta dive and after 10 minutes I was bored. Just kneeling there in the sand in a circle of divers watching the trained fish do their show, somehow didn't do it for me.

A guy was kind enough to take me on a dive at Monastery North in Monterey CA last year. It was a trimix dive to 150'. We saw a shark. I saw hydrocoral for the first time. The wall at 150' that drops off into forever was amazing. We were the only people on the entire beach. Another guy took me scootering, out past then usual places the swimming divers go. It was fall and the water temps were down but the vis was up. This summer I did dives past 200' in 48 degree water to places humans have never seen.

Those were some of the best dives I've ever had.

Cold water, baby!!

 

[jeckyll]

The thing is that it's very individual.

One of my more enjoyable and memorable dives was in cold water, in 3 - 4 foot vis with a new buddy. Mind you, a very skilled new buddy.

Great dive, lots of stuff to surprise you, great challenge to *ahem* "navigate" a "known" site, find really cool stuff you didn't know was there, practice well beyond average buddy / team skills, see 4 foot orange anemones, almost ran into parts of a rail car (those wheels are HUGE!) and finally do a 'proper' ascent after blowing a bag. Awesome dive.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the 80+ feet of vis in Port Hardy and the sea lions, dolphins, Browning Wall, 5 foot tube worms etc ... But sometimes the accomplishment feels nice