How long do you wait to shore dive after a rainfall?

[gsk3]

A friend and I are curious, how long do you wait to shore dive after a heavy rain like the one we're getting right now? And is it because of the vis, or because of the potential health hazard?

 

[FrankPro1]

There are many more knowledgeable people on this board, but typically I wait anywhere between 24-48 hours before diving unless its the first rain of the season or after a heavy downfall. My reason would be for health hazards more so then bad vis. Now with the long intense storm were currently having I would wait substantially longer then that. Probably 4 days or more? I'm not sure.

I've got a buddy visiting from Florida and he really wants to get some diving in during his stay. If the rain tapers off like its supposed to on Wednesday, I'll probably meet up with him on the 26th or 27th and see if conditions are do-able. I would not pick a sight which has any outfall pipes, drainage areas or close to any other major run-off zones. In my area that would probably mean Christmas Tree, Honeymoons or Neptune's Cove being the most ideal sites to dive.

 

[diver_doug]

This isn't based on any scientific evidence, just what seems right to me and what I do:

Light rain: 1 day
Moderate/heavy rain: 2 days
Heavy, multi-day raining (like what we've got going on now): 3-4 days

 

[pfulks]

i just wait for decent viz. Sometimes just after a storm its great viz, other times it sucks. Depends.

 

[gsk3]

I guess a related question would be whether the frequency of rains affects things. For instance, there's a 40% chance of rain this weekend. If it rains again on Saturday, say, does that mean you'll still go diving Sunday?

 

[Rainer]

Shrug. You have a dry suit. Don't drink the water. I'd go diving basically as soon as the vis is decent. Take a shower when you get home.

 

[Teamcasa]

Like Rainer, I have a drysuit so I just go whenever wallet lines up with conditions. But more to the point, I'd wait 2-3 days after a rain like this.

 

[liuk3]

This isn't based on any scientific evidence, just what seems right to me and what I do:

Light rain: 1 day
Moderate/heavy rain: 2 days
Heavy, multi-day raining (like what we've got going on now): 3-4 days

That's pretty much what I do as well.

 

[ligersandtions]

I generally wait till the surf will let me in....quite often, with rain comes large surf and choppy surface. When you have that, vis is definitely going to suck. If we had a glassy day, but it was pouring, I'd still probably go diving.

If all else fails, hop on a boat

Like Rainer said, if you have a drysuit and don't plan on drinking the water (I'd avoid s-drills or mask drills), I'm not entirely worried about it.

 

[liuk3]

For clarification, I was taught by my dive instructors and local surfers to avoid the water after heavy rainfall primarily for health reasons. I used to live with a surf instructor, and she used to tell me stories about how the surfers would all get sick around the same time being in the water on the same days potentially because of contaminants in the water. I'm also not crazy about soaking my equipment as well as myself in the runoff. Not saying that I've never shore dive after rainfall, but in general I do give it at least a few days for the ocean to wash the runoff out to sea. Plus, viz usually gets all mucked up anyway from the storms as well. So, the combination of contaminants and crappy viz usually don't make it worthwhile for me personally. As previously posted, I would much rather boat dive than shore dive after a heavy storm like we're currently experiencing.