Keeping in mind that this is BASIC scuba...

[Tigerman]

I preferr going down in the cold water because its there and theres lots of it I havent explored yet. And cold water around here means better visibility rather than worse..

 

[RJP]

Because lobsters like it cold, dark, and wet ... and I like lobsters.

Yup, and as long as I can see a scallop an arm's length away I'm diving.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

I curious why people bother diving warm water.

Yeh - you need a thinner suit and less weight. But so what? There's more to diving than the thickness of the suit you have on.

I find coral becomes really boring after a while. A kelp forest on the other hand changes from day to day, tide to tide and season to season.

What do you get out of it? A coral reef is just a lump of carbonate rock, like a piece of concrete, and has about the same excitment factor.

 

[Puffer Fish]

In all the diving I have done, one of the three best dives was in your area. I got a lifetime's worth of memories from just one dive. I would guess we had 20 -30 ft of vis.

But even in the south, if you only dive in warm water, you will miss some great dives. In a month, if you night dive the Jetties in Destin florida (in the 50's), it is truly amazing...creepy, but neat to see. And typically not the best vis either.

As someone else said - often poor vis = lots of nutrients in the water = lots to see. Yes you have to get close but so what.

Cold, I agree. I gave up diving here PNW for many years in large part because putting on two layers of skin tight 3/8ths neoprene was just way to much work and at any significant depth it was like wearing a t-shirt in a blizzard. Now I have a dry suit and the cold is no big deal. More trouble to gear up than tropical diving, but the life around here is well worth the trouble. As much or more to see than most tropical diving I have done.

Do a search for Browning Wall, Dodds Narrows, Race Rocks or Quadra Island - cold water diving at its best. Life so thick that you can't see the rock it is attached to.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

The big difference is that cold water means you are diving in the seasonal seas.

Unlike coral reefs that remain much the same around the year, the temperate seas experience large changes in water temperatures and nutrients over the course of the year, and both the appearance of a dive site change and its resident flora and fauna can change dramatically with the change of seasons.

A dive at a site which had towering kelp forests earlier in the year may reveal dying kelp and a whole host of critters feeding off them a few months later, followed even later in the year with a whole new growth. More than once I have dropped down on a site that I have dived a dozen times before and found myself completely lost: familiar landmarks are hidden by new growth, while changes in the flora have revealed whole new areas previously unnoticed.

If I want to recreate the 'excitement' of a coral reef I would just put a lump of limestone in my bathtub, fill it with tepid water, add some salt and a few colourful but boring aquarium fish.

As for colour - nothing beats a deep cold water sponge garden.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[D_B]

I liked my dives in warm clear water, colors on the reef are beautiful and I love the "flying" feeling that clear water gives, but ...
I got a drysuit cause here is where I live ... here we have kelp forests and sea lions ... totaly awesome!

 

[ianr33]

I have a question for those who are fairly new but choose to dive in less than optimal conditions.

If you dive in the cold (anywhere you need a 5mm or more) and where vis is typically less than 10ft, why do you dive?

What do you get out of it? What are you doing there?

I practice sharing air. Sometimes I even do it with someone that is not related to me.You should try it sometime.

If you can dive in crappy conditions then Caribbean diving is easy.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

A few more reasons for diving cold water ...

With the possible exception of Indonesia, the diversity of life here in our local waters is better than anywhere else I've been diving. Granted it's not as plentiful (at times), but even after a couple thousand dives I am still finding creatures I'd never seen before.

And one really nice thing about diving in low-vis conditions ... it kinda forces you to pay attention and focus on your surroundings. Sometimes when the water's clear you tend to look so far ahead that you miss the treasures lurking just beneath you ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SkipperJohn]

nwgratefuldiver, incredible photos... did you shoot those?

Psyco... I too thought like you. I just got certified with plans to dive only on my caribbean vacations (at least once per year). Then after my 4 cert dives my local dive shop sponsored a beach dive here in NY (billed as a beach clean-up dive). I thought what the heck. I met these awesome people mid morning at a beach I have fished many times form my boat and many many more times roared past while watching divers walk into the water form there. For over 10 years me & my crew laughed at them thinking "this is NY, what the heck could they be seeing down there".
I walked in and was amazed. Almost immediately I was greeted by at least 3 species of fish I have caught form this area. Also, I saw butterfly fish! Now let me describe the conditions... It was COLD! My buddy was diving a dry suit. Vis they said was great. Yeah, 4 feet. And, current. Now, I'm not talking a little beach current, this was in an inlet and at the first sign of tide movement I had trouble holding position (& I've trained for triathlons without my fins!)
And how did all this affect me? I ran out and bought a 7 mil suit, getting a regulator, already got my computer... All this to dive the dark, cold, murky waters of New York. If I were to dive only on vacation, I would rent my rig for sure.
Oh, I even picked up a few old sparkplugs and a broken mask for my part of the clean-up.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

nwgratefuldiver, incredible photos... did you shoot those?

Thanks ... yes, I shot them. They're all either from our local mudholes (Puget Sound) or our neighbor to the north, Vancouver Island.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)