Should There Be a "Cold Water" Course (not Ice Diving)?

[DOkie]

I get it. I really do. But it still boils down to equipment. After that it becomes personal responsibility. If a warm water diver comes here, decides to take the plunge without proper equipment (i.e. regulator) and doesn't do the research on the dangers of cold water diving, then that is their choice. It would be no different if I decided to dive in the kelp forrests without properly doing my research. Never been there, don't know what the danger for entanglement is, aquatic life, etc...

I just find this thread very frustrating. For someone to actually say that vacation divers have no business diving in cold water (along with many of the other comments) have been very disheartening. Who determines what cold is (what exactly is cold??) and if we get to this point, then I say fresh water divers shouldn't dive in salt water, salt water divers shouldn't dive in fresh water, quarry divers shouldn't dive in open water, wreck divers shouldn't dive reefs, tech divers shouldn't do shore dives, commercial divers can't dive for fun, and cave divers should never, ever, ever.... Dive in sunlight....

 

[under water]

DOkie,
I didn't see anyone say that vacation divers shouldn't dive in cold water. I just saw people saying that they might need to learn a few more things to be good divers in cold water. The OP just suggested that those be put together as some kind of class. It should not be a requirement to dive in cold water.. just as a REEF course should not be required for me to look at fishes. I mean I'm not going to look away from the fish because I have not done my fish ID course yet, but I might enjoy them more if I knew more about them. Yeah.. I know it's a crazy analogy.

In a way to are lucky because you learned in what most of the folks here consider a more demanding environment.

 

[dannobee]

Who determines what cold is (what exactly is cold??)...

Generally, 50 deg F (10 deg C) is considered the "cold water" cutoff point.