Late-season (cold weather) diving

[Hawkwood]

As long as there is no ice forming and we can keep warm between dives, we can dive late into the year. We will have a hiatus between the time the ice starts to form and it becomes thick enough to support weight.

I'm off on Friday for a couple of dives. Water temp is around 4C, but the surface temps on Friday should be about -4C. There is a cook shelter and we have lots of fire wood. No fooling around between getting up and out of the water and hustling to the cook shack.

 

[archer1960]

I don't think it's uncommon. A lot of people can and do suffer through diving in a wetsuit in New England usually until about around this time of year. There is no hard cut off date but for most people they tend to be miserable when they get out of water depending on wind and air temperatures. It is certainly possible provided you can quickly change into warmer clothes or jump into car/cabin with heat. Most people in wetsuits this time of year will typically only do one dive. A lot of people do polar plunges in a wetsuit for Christmas and New Years.

I myself did it for first 4-5 years or so until I got a drysuit. I told myself that diving a wetsuit was fine and I suffered through it. Now I wouldn't even think about going near a wetsuit this time of year but I mostly dive dry year round with exception of late August/early September.

I watch people in wetsuits brag about their cold tolerance only to see them climb back aboard the boat shivering and blue. Yes, they can do it but it's not ideal. Right now the water temperature is 47f (~8c) but it's really the air temperature that's the problem.

On the boat for instance we typically do not allow wetsuit diving after November. We highly discourage wetsuits for all but the most cold-tolerant people after October. The conditions are just too unpredictable especially if you happen to be floating in the water for a long time waiting for boat to pick you up. What if there was an emergency and the boat couldn't pick you up right away? Hold long do you think you could make in a wetsuit until hypothermia sets in?

Yeah, I can see how boat diving could have very different requirements from the shore diving I do. I got nice and warm (a bit over-warm, actually) on the surface swim back in yesterday; the dive leader over-compensated for the current, and we came up a ways from our intended exit point. Needing to just float waiting for a boat would have been a very different situation for sure. I'm sure I would have been fine for at least an hour, but beyond that it would be a little iffy, and our water was significantly warmer than yours.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Late fall and winter are my favorite time to dive. Water temps in Puget Sound never go above mid-50's, and it's 48-50F right now depending on where you go ... with surface temps running somewhat lower than that. It'll get down to mid-40's by March, and then start going up again in late April/early May. I prefer diving this time of year due to (a) better vis, (b) ease of finding a parking spot at my dive site of choice, and (c) some of my favorite things to see are critters that tend to be more easily found this time of year.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[archer1960]

Late fall and winter are my favorite time to dive. Water temps in Puget Sound never go above mid-50's, and it's 48-50F right now depending on where you go ... with surface temps running somewhat lower than that. It'll get down to mid-40's by March, and then start going up again in late April/early May. I prefer diving this time of year due to (a) better vis, (b) ease of finding a parking spot at my dive site of choice, and (c) some of my favorite things to see are critters that tend to be more easily found this time of year.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Your winter water temps are much warmer than ours, but your summers are cooler. Our winter water temps might go down to ~35F or so by Feb, but in late summer will be ~70 - 72.

 

[rivers]

This question is just pure curiosity on my part, to see if I'm somewhat typical, or more of an outlier in my tolerance for cold water.

How many of you keep diving "late" into the season? I am in New England (Northeastern USA for those of you from other parts of the world), and the water here was 54F (~12.5C) on Sunday when I went out on a shore dive with a small group from a LDS. The water was the same temperature from the surface down to our deepest point at 64' (19.5m), so we don't have to deal with a thermocline. There seem to be only 4 or 5 regulars now that we're getting into late November. I have been certified for about 1.5 yrs, and just started diving local waters this past summer; all my previous dives were in the tropics. I have 10-12 local dives since June. I have planned all along to keep diving until I decide the water is too cold for me, then shut it down for the winter (a dry suit isn't in the budget for this year). But so far, I've been comfortable in my 7mm suit, 5mm booties, and 3mm hood and gloves. I am going to use some heavier gloves next time out, but my hands weren't unbearably cold this time, just a little uncomfortable.

From what I've experienced so far, I think I'll probably be comfortable down to ~50F (10C) or so before I shut it down for the winter. Though I might go out on New Years day just to say I did...

How many of you keep diving recreationally in similar conditions?

There's an end to the dive season? My local quarry usually bottoms out at about 4*C, the sea around 7*C, and a few of the shallower inland sites may very well freeze over.
I'll most likely even do a few 40ishm dives with a bit of deco so as soon as the weather improves, water temperature warms up a bit, and the boats are going further afield, i'm dived up enough to enjoy some dives with vis before the plankton bloom hits and dredging resumes.

 

[archer1960]

There's an end to the dive season? My local quarry usually bottoms out at about 4*C, the sea around 7*C, and a few of the shallower inland sites may very well freeze over.
I'll most likely even do a few 40ishm dives with a bit of deco so as soon as the weather improves, water temperature warms up a bit, and the boats are going further afield, i'm dived up enough to enjoy some dives with vis before the plankton bloom hits and dredging resumes.

Well, there seems to be for many divers around here! The numbers of people who show up for group dives go way down after about the beginning of October. During the depths of winter, most of the fresh water freezes over (though often not thick enough to walk on except near the shore), and even many of the protected salt water coves will get iced over. In a cold winter, even the salt water may freeze thick enough to walk out on.

 

[DogDiver]

That's why I moved to Florida. I can dive 72 degree water with 150 feet of visibility every day of the year. [emoji41]
Within a 30 minute drive.

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[Hawkwood]

That's why I moved to Florida. I can dive 72 degree water with 150 feet of visibility every day of the year. [emoji41]
Within a 30 minute drive.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got me beat.

 

[jbomb001]

I'll stop when the ice is too thick for my saw...
Although right now I'm fighting a cold so I've been grounded for 2 weeks and will likely be done for at least one more week
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[Jumana Ameeri]

wow you guys sure do have alot of cold tolerance.. i wish i could do that!
a 5mm wetsuit in 18C was too much for me to handle February of this year.. then i tried a 3mm in 25C and i did feel quite shivery towards the end of the second dive! in my country winters get down to 15C that could be the reason why