Greetings from Alberta

[cat]

Hello all. New to diving (SSI OW plus a couple of fall shore dives in Tobermory), old hand at almost everything else to do with water (water chemistry, water biology, water sports of various flavours). Got into SCUBA after years of cajoling by various friends (you know who you are - and thanks!), ostensibly so that I could go spy on benthos in their natural environment without having to hold my breath for long periods of time. Found out that it's also fun. Wheee!

So now I'm hooked and plotting to find out the answer to the question that is uppermost on the mind of many a new Canadian diver (especially those of us who did wetsuit OW in the beautiful, murky and 4-6 degrees C mountain park lakes). "What's *warm* water like?"

 

[Rooster1]

welcome to the board cat

 

[DiverBuoy]

Warm water is awesome. Diving in Southern California isn't bad all year long. In fact it can get into the low seventies in the hottest parts of the summer. However, this time of year it can drop to the lower 50's and in rare cases colder in late February. Though I'm quite sure not nearly as cold as your area can get

Anyway I went to the British Virgin Islands in Caribbean last month and fell so deeply in love with diving in the 83 degree water, I turned around a booked another trip for the end of this month - Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.

Anyway take some time to read some reports about warm weather in our Travel Locations area. And if you care to read my report on my 4 dives in St. Thomas ... JUST CLICK HERE

Welcome to the best board on the web

 

[cat]

DiverBouy bubbled:...

Warm water is awesome. Diving in Southern California isn't bad all year long. In fact it can get into the low seventies in the hottest parts of the summer. However, this time of year it can drop to the lower 50's and in rare cases colder in late February. Though I'm quite sure not nearly as cold as your area can get

Umm, that's not quite as cold as it gets here- I've measured down into the minus C range in some of the saline lakes in winter - not that anyone would bother diving in those for recreational purposes.
50F is about 10C and I did my OW in water that was... somewhat cooler. This wasn't cruelty on the part of my instructor, BTW (ok, it felt like it at the time, especially as the only suit he could find to fit me was ancient, collapsed and gave about 6-7 mm total protection instead of the double-7mm), there just aren't any reasonably deep lakes close to Edmonton, so those of us who don't opt for tropical or Victoria OW get to do our OW in the photogenic, but somewhat chilly (for July) lakes in Jasper National Park. The surface water in Lake Beauvert was cold enough that you couldn't really feel any thermal stratification between the surface and the presumably 4-degree water at the bottom and at the vents (the famous Medicine Lake drains into this one via underground undiveable passages) .
Umm, I should point out that the conditions were somewhat unusual for July - the surface water had been warmer the previous week, as had the air temperature.

Oddly enough - I actually got a bit too warm diving at Tobermory (in early Oct. - I'm a freak of nature) while wearing a 2-pc 7 mm wetsuit - so now I'm wondering what to wear if I trot down to Florida this Feb.

 

[DiverBuoy]

In So California it doesn't often drop into the 40s. Perhaps you were thinking of your local Canadian region regarding temperatures below 50?

 

[cat]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
In So California it doesn't often drop into the 40s. Perhaps you were thinking of your local Canadian region regarding temperatures below 50?

How far and how deep does it stay that warm, though? I thought the Japan Current kept things down there a little cooler than at the same latitude on the East Coast. I've swum/snorkeled the Pacific (sans wetsuit) as far as central Oregon and it was still pretty cool, even in August.

My local region has lakes that are too shallow for OW cert., so those that don't opt to certify elsewhere (west coast or tropics) end up doing our OW dives in the Rocky Mountain National Parks. The lakes there are deep enough for certification, but are not far removed from the glaciers that feed them, so they tend to be a. cold! and b. full of glacial till (which gets stirred up by all the novice divers). Makes for an interesting couple of days - and a very sincere compass dive test (can't see landmarks through the rock flour).
I suppose it's better to learn in cold, murky water (if you plan to dive cold, as I do) than to learn in warm water and find out the hard way that you can't handle harsh conditions, right? Mind you - our instructor wore a drysuit

I'm interested in doing some diving down in NoCal or SoCal at some point this spring - what's the timing on the diatom bloom where you are?
thanks, cat

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Hi Cat! Welcome to the best board on the net!
Ber

 

[DiverBuoy]

Thermoclines
Of course we do have thermoclines, though they aren't as noticeable within scuba limits because of mild - heavy surge most of the year. Unlike lakes these temperature drops are relatively minor. East Coast is definitely warmer. I used to brag year-round about never getting cold, but many instructors do go dry after years of instruction.

Red Tide
Red Tide or algae blooms not caused by man-made pollution tend to occur very randomly. We had 2 last year (Late spring and late summer) and 1 the year before (summer). At least in the Laguna beach areas.

Rock Flour
Cool wording!

 

[cat]

DiverBuoy once bubbled...
Red Tide or algae blooms not caused by man-made pollution tend to occur very randomly. We had 2 last year (Late spring and late summer) and 1 the year before (summer). At least in the Laguna beach areas.


Rock Flour
Cool wording! [/B]

Thanks. It's cool stuff - just so long as you don't ingest too much of it (as many an alpine hiker has found out the hard way - rock flour has... laxative properties). Annoying to dive in, though - easily stirred up, scatters the light a lot (thus the jewel-coloured lakes) and takes a looong time to settle again.

Red Tide is usually a dinoflagellate bloom (hmm, might be rather interesting - algal toxins are among the things I've studied over the years, though I don't really want that kind of first-hand experience ).
I meant the diatom (these are the ones with the pretty silicon "shells") blooms that can murk up the water in spring and fall (when the nutrients are highest in the water column). I know when they happen off the BC coast, just wondering what the timing was like down there. They can *really* muck up the visibility. Maybe you don't have them there because the seasons aren't so strongly delineated?
Hey - if you had 2 red tide blooms last year where you are, I hope no-one you like is eating local shellfish - those toxins can last a long time in things like clams.

cat

 

[MissAmberDiva]

Hello and welcome to the board!!!