bs63366
Contributor
Last weekend I went for a dive nearby and we wound up calling the dive b/c the vis was very bad. What are some things that people who live in areas known for bad vis do when you go out and your dive site is just soup?
What to do in soup?
- Thread starter bs63366
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Bob DBF
Contributor
Heading to the brew pub was my first thought.
If we do dive in poor conditions it is usually to practice skills. Nothing like trying to hover in 0.squat viz, divers do it but it is quite a trick as far as I can tell. Handeling safety gear, all the stuff you don't do when there is good vis and you are out sightseeing.
Bob
---------------------------------
I may be old but I’m not dead yet.
If we do dive in poor conditions it is usually to practice skills. Nothing like trying to hover in 0.squat viz, divers do it but it is quite a trick as far as I can tell. Handeling safety gear, all the stuff you don't do when there is good vis and you are out sightseeing.
Bob
---------------------------------
I may be old but I’m not dead yet.
I call it a treasure hunt. We dive. It's still a good day. You learn to slow down and you learn to truly navigate.
Normally In Vancouver you can dive down and get below the plankton or river run off, then the viz improves and you end up with a night dive.
Sometimes you'll end up on the bottom in zero viz, at which point the dive becomes a chance to practice some skills or its off to the local pub
Sometimes you'll end up on the bottom in zero viz, at which point the dive becomes a chance to practice some skills or its off to the local pub
I've been at 120 with zero vis and heavy coastal surge looking for an anchor following the rode or anchor chain. It dropped off a sheer to god knows where so I called it. As it turned out my buddy was really ready to be on the boat again and I probably waited longer than I should have to call the dive. In the conditions with a really strong surge we had to hold the chain or we'd have been gone I was very comfortable but he wasn't and with the situation he didn't have an easy way to alert me to how he was doing. The only way I am sure as to the depth is my computer told me on the way up the chain. All in all a poorly thought out dive that could have turned really ugly. I didn't know enough about the site to make good decisions and I felt he was as strong of diver as another buddy I commonly dove with, again my bad so I guess what I'm saying is if the conditions are really poor and there isn't a really good reason to do it go fishing instead. It takes a lot more planning and different gear to be safe on the dark side of the moon.
- Messages
- 7,660
- Reaction score
- 4,717
- # of dives
- 200 - 499
Extremely low visibility diving rarely has a lot to offer, more like an ordeal. However, if you constantly avoid diving in poor conditions then you are likely to feel very uncomfortable when you do find yourself in a silt-out etc. IMHO do the occasional bad viz dive with your locals. Great time to poke around on the bottom with a good light. I tend to be more aware of other sensory input in crappy viz dives. Pressure changes, dry suit inflation, underwater sounds all seem more intense. Improves your regular diving skills. And you can always brag about how bad the viz was at the pub.
When I can't see the bottom before I hit it, and my buddy has to swim so close to me that I kick him constantly, I call the dive and go out to lunch. We had a bunch of days like that this spring.
robint
Contributor
use it for training.... learn to trust your compass. And use it for stories on the boat another day "...you think this vis is bad, one day I was diving..."
robin
robin
diver 85
Contributor
flots am
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,226
- Reaction score
- 1,859
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
Relax and enjoy it, and navigate slowly by feel. It's only stressful because you're trying to navigate visually where there are no visual references.
I dive with a float, so I can have a depth reference, and keep near the slope to shore so I can tell that I'm near land and not drifting off somewhere.
No-viz dives are incredibly relaxing, once you stop trying to see.
flots.
Similar threads
