I am a shallow diver...

[sabbath999]

I admit it... some of the best dives I have ever done have been shallow. Several of them have been EXTREMELY shallow, as in 6 feet of water or less.

I recently had a fantastic dive in 6 feet of water, at Ginnie springs in the spring run between Devil's Eye and Little Devil. I shot some of the best pictures I have ever taken there, and we spend about 40 minutes a foot off the bottom with probably 4 feet of water above us just chilling as the afternoon sunshine came through the trees and painted the bottom with light.

Here's a shot I took with my el-cheapo Intova digital camera, no flash, no nuttin, with a bit of post processing to clean it up:

The water depth was about 5-6 feet.

People might say "well, why not just snorkle it?"

Well... SCUBA is simply more fun than snorkling... DUH! Seriously, though, when taking pictures or just communing with nature, there's nothing like hovering weightless mid water (even though that water is only a couple of feet above and below you), hanging out and being one with the world around you. As a photographer, I can just hang there or settle to the bottom if it is sandy and wait for the fish to get used to me being there to the point where they ignore me... works great.

Shallow diving is, in some ways, a lot harder than diving at 50 feet below sea level, since you actually need a bit of buoyancy control and one bad breath will take you to the top or bounce you off the bottom.

Anybody else really enjoy being a shallow diver?

 

[Rhone Man]

The problem with really shallow diving is even small changes in your depth can have great changes to your bouyancy.

I did my drysuit course in about 10 feet of water. It was tough, but once you cracked bouyancy control at that depth, going deep was easy.

There is also the conundrum - for a 10 foot dive, where should do your safety stop?

 

[pnw_diver]

There is also the conundrum - for a 10 foot dive, where should do your safety stop?

At the surface? ;-)

 

[tstormdiver]

I have to agree! Some of my most memorable dives were in less than 6ft of water. 1 was the reefs surrounding Sipadan Island- the sheer amount & colors of the fish & reefs was mind blowing. Also for me was the spring run of the Devil's system at Ginnie. While the more advanced cave divers in our group did their thing, I puttered around the run practicing valve drills, buoyancy control & chasing those little fresh water flounders around for an hour & a half. I had an absolute blast! I find that practicing in less than 5 ft of water help me to fine tune my buoyancy control better than any thing else I've ever done.

 

[TMHeimer]

Shallow dives are convenient. This is when I dive solo. Also good for shell collecting. Snorkelling is OK, but you're constantly up & down.

 

[sabbath999]

& chasing those little fresh water flounders around for an hour & a half. I had an absolute blast!

 

[BioLogic]

I've got to give honor here to the Mill Pond outside of Jackson Blue. Ok, the cavern was more exciting, but that mill pond was like swimming in a freshwater aquarium. I felt like one of the little fishes myself, slipping just over the tops of those amazing plant beds. Clear water, dancing lights, gently waving greenery, the occasional turtle...if I wasn't a cold weenie I'd still be in there.

 

[tstormdiver]

Exactly!

 

[Notso_Ken]

No conundrum. For a 10' dive, the entire dive is a safety stop.

Ken

The problem with really shallow diving is even small changes in your depth can have great changes to your bouyancy.

I did my drysuit course in about 10 feet of water. It was tough, but once you cracked bouyancy control at that depth, going deep was easy.

There is also the conundrum - for a 10 foot dive, where should do your safety stop?

 

[TheWetRookie]

Shallow dives are fun My shallowest dive is 4', cruised around a bay for about an hour with a buddy, it was great and we saw lots.