Monterey OW Cert

[Blueringocto_73]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll be able to talk to the instructor about the wetsuit to see what he suggests. I have heard that bringing a cooler with a few emptied 2 liter bottles full of hot water is beneficial, for pouring down the wetsuit before each dive.

I was considering a dry suit rental, but that probably won't happen due to fit/extra drysuit training. But it's a possibility.

And an excess of towels besides the winter coat and blanket. Get dry and inside a vehicle with a hot beverage as soon as possible. Can't imagine making the mistake of getting hypothermic/shivering and ruining a cert/dive day.

 

[flyingDiver75]

Monterey practice for rental suits seems to be a 2-piece 6.5 - 7.0mm "farmer john" which puts a lot of bulk over the core coupled with a 7mm hood. If you're in the 150 - 180lb range, expect somewhere between 30 - 35lbs of weight with an aluminum tank which will make shore entry / exits a workout.

We had a group dive trip in Monterey last week with 52F water. All of the group, except myself, dove with rental 2-piece suits and appeared to stay reasonably warm on both dives. I dove a dry suit - which is definitely warmer - but does require more investment in time, training, and money. I also only needed 26lbs of weight with the same AL80 rental tanks.

 

[runsongas]

i used a full 7mm and a 7/5mm hooded vest for certification. i did my cert around july so it was pretty easy to warm up on the SI by just getting some sun.

 

[raftingtigger]

Bathrooms at the end of the parking lot have pay hot showers also. Thumbs up on the hot water down the suit. Do it before the dive and after, just don't burn yourself.

Hundreds of divers train and dive at the Breakwater in Monterey. Generally it is only us regulars that are in drysuits - but then again my average submerged time is 70-80 min per dive. You will do fine in a wetsuit, just make sure it fits.

 

[spoolin01]

I froze my butt at Breakwater in Monterey on my first day of cert dives. For dive 2, in early Nov., 10 of us hung essentially motionless on a static line on the bottom at 15' for 45+ minutes (over an hour in the water) while the one instructor made their way down the line of 10 for each skill. By the end everyone was blue and shaking so badly the simple drills were hard to manage.

I was wearing a 1/4" farmer john, and it was the most painful thing I've experienced underwater to this day.

Get the most suit you can lay your hands on, unless you are really immune to cold.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

I'll more than likely be in the same boat. Shaking badly and feeling slow/narced even at shallow depth. Even with hot water down the suit.

Someone needs to invent a core "wrap" made of a non-buoyant material that goes on, under the BC. For those without a dry suit.

 

[mmerriman]

bring a small cooler with warm water. soak your gloves and hood between dives. Also -chemical handwarmers are good. and a raincoat with keep the wind off you and keep you warmer between dives.

 

[Blueringocto_73]

Ok, sounds like a plan. Anything and everything to keep from freezing. The only trouble with the dive is going to be the cold. Lots of mental toughness needed.

But once the cert. comes through I can be more selective on "when" to put myself into cold water locations. The California coast will warm a couple degrees after I get my cert.

When I was doing my swim conditioning in the pool today. There were 2 divers practicing OW drills. After the dive I asked the male if he was training a student(female). He told me she was his mother and was getting back into diving after an accident.

The whole family was diving the Channel Islands when she had a barotrauma/blown ear drum. So she's in the recovery phase. I hope she's able to get back into it.

 

[Neilwood]

Wimps - I did a bunch of dives ( earlier in the year at 8C (46F) in a 7mm suit (Scubapro definition 5mm) for 45 minutes each and was ok.

The difference might have been that one of the non divers had built a huge woodpile and had a roaring open fire going on the shoreline.



On a more serious note, once you have passed your OW dives, you can (and probably will) buy more suitable thermal protection (thicker wetsuit, drysuit etc). The thickness of the suit affects how quickly the water trapped by the suit loses heat but the prevention of flushing is how well the suit retains the warmer water - the sum of the two decides how warm a suit will be in the water.

Boots, gloves and hood make a huge difference to how cold you will feel underwater as a lot depends on how much the suit flushes as to how cold you get. The Scubapro suit I own is pretty good at sealing at the openings which along with gloves and boots that overlap the suit minimise the flushing.

 

[chris_the_brit]

My experience getting certified in Monterey (about 3 years ago) was much like spoolin01's: very unpleasant.
Hopefully you won't suffer the same. But if you do have a rough time, don't let it put you off diving here. You'll find the right combination of gear to feel comfortable with the cold, you'll get used to low vis, and you'll have a great time because the diving here is simply fantastic.