Why dive in a quarry? Should you log them

[HantsDiver]

Rubbish to you but clearly not everyone. Dives in the local quarries - cold, maybe dark, questionable viz - are good for those of us who want to dive the Great Lakes.

I'm diving virtually every weekend, 2-4 dives. $20 entry fee to quarry plus gas and air fills. That's a bargain over an ocean trip I might be able to do once a year. I have Lake Michigan in my backyard and get a 2 tank dive for $110 and a little more than an hour's drive. Lake Huron is 6-8 hours. I'll be diving there in late July. I'm a native Great Lakes gal, not some ocean only snob.

Read back what I said - and calm down. I'll point out the important bit "unless you have no chance of getting into the sea".

I'm not an ocean only snob. I'm someone who has dived all over the world, who has done more dives in quarries than you will probably ever do in total. I've earnt the right to an opinion on such things - if you didn't take everything as a direct challenge you might even learn a little.

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[Doby45]

One other real qucik point. Just got back from a week in St. Martin and while there my wife, mother-in-law and 10yr old daughter decided to do the "Sea-Trek" experience. (they all three thoroughly enjoyed it) While they were doing their "Sea-Trek" my buddy, father-in-law and myself were diving in the same area to get some Go-Pro footage and to enjoy the experience with them. Well as we were waiting for them to go through the instruction we surfaced so as to not burn air. they finished their instruction and then saw us in the water and waved and were chatting while they were waiting in line to get in the water. Well there was a very nice DM/Instructor that was standing with my wife and upon seeing that we were together he started questioning me. Why are you wearing that (I was in BPW) and how many dives do you have and on and on. Finally he bedazzled me by saying he had thousands of dives. Saying most all of them had been done right there. The water was crystal clear, 86 degrees and 25ft deep. I will take my less than 200 dives worth of experience over a thousand of those bathtub 20min dives..

 

[Schwob]

I am getting a clearer picture of why people dive quarries. Still does not seem like the kind of dive that I would log personally, but that is easy for me to say as I will probably never dive in one, and at least now I get why others might. Thanks for the replies.

Well, maybe you are near an ocean...
OK, I'll try to make up an example:
But if you live e.g. near the great lakes and happen to e.g. not really like cold water diving and happen to not want to buy a drysuit and put up with all the added expense and just want to dive in the Ocean in some warm place when you have a chance and maybe you can do that only once a year or sometimes every only other year...
How do you stay reasonably sharp on your skills?
The local quarry.
And you need to log it, otherwise, when you finally make that trip to the Ocean again someone may not want to let you on the boat or rent you tanks or... because you don't have any recent logged dives...
So, even if on was thinking that quarry diving isn't all that exiting, there still may be reasons to log it - even for mostly ocean divers...

And then, as Marie already pointed out: If there is no local shore diving other than the quarry - that's your only local low cost diving option then... - and it is what it is
So, you "practise stuff"... or watch catfish... or...

 

[HantsDiver]

Well, maybe you are near an ocean...
OK, I'll try to make up an example:
But if you live e.g. near the great lakes and happen to e.g. not really like cold water diving and happen to not want to buy a drysuit and put up with all the added expense and just want to dive in the Ocean in some warm place when you have a chance and maybe you can do that only once a year or sometimes every only other year...
How do you stay reasonably sharp on your skills?
The local quarry.
And you need to log it, otherwise, when you finally make that trip to the Ocean again someone may not want to let you on the boat or rent you tanks or... because you don't have any recent logged dives...
So, even if on was thinking that quarry diving isn't all that exiting, there still may be reasons to log it - even for mostly ocean divers...

And then, as Marie already pointed out: If there is no local shore diving other than the quarry - that's your only local low cost diving option then... - and it is what it is
So, you "practise stuff"... or watch catfish... or...

I log nothing and have never ever had this happen to me. I don't feel the need to and don't enjoy sitting there writing inane details down. Some people enjoy doing so and get something out of it and that's fine.

However, if it were to happen I'm sure I could magically get a logbook and start writing stuff down retrospectively. How is anyone going to check? You can either dive or you cannot - what is written down means nada.

 

[Joneill]

Read back what I said - and calm down. I'll point out the important bit "unless you have no chance of getting into the sea".

I'm not an ocean only snob. I'm someone who has dived all over the world, who has done more dives in quarries than you will probably ever do in total. I've earnt the right to an opinion on such things - if you didn't take everything as a direct challenge you might even learn a little.

Your last sentence is a little bit silly really. I'm happy to engage with you or anyone about diving sites and locations. I just want to know about your diving experience and what you have to gauge good/bad from? Before throwing insults around you need to figuratively take the armbands off and learn to swim.

Actually, your posts seems silly one - the insults started with you saying that the quarry dives are "total rubbish" and that anyone choosing a quarry dive over an ocean dive (conveniently ignoring the fact that many are not close to oceans or other large bodies of waterto dive in) would "need their head checking" (I assume you meant to say "have their head checked ", suggesting they are crazy - nice).

Maybe try dropping the attitude and realize not everyone has the same likes and approach to diving that you do - you might learn something too....

 

[diver0008]

I don't mean this in an attacking way at all. I'm just curious. What is your personal criteria for deciding what you would log versus not? I enjoy learning how different people view diving, so my interest in learning what your criteria are and how they would (possibly) result in not logging a quarry dive is genuine.

That is valid. I have never dove in a quarry. Only oceans and lakes, so my view is without experience. A quarry seems like training ground. A closed, controlled environment. Like a big pool. For skills refreshing or training. If I went into a pool or the lake at the cottage to practice something or try out a new piece of gear , I would not note it. To me, it's practice for diving, not an actual open water dive.

 

[HantsDiver]

Actually, your posts seems silly one - the insults started with you saying that the quarry dives are "total rubbish" and that anyone choosing a quarry dive over an ocean dive (conveniently ignoring the fact that many are not close to oceans or other large bodies of waterto dive in) would "need their head checking" (I assume you meant to say "have their head checked ", suggesting they are crazy - nice).

Maybe try dropping the attitude and realize not everyone has the same likes and approach to diving that you do - you might learn something too....

Go back a page and read the part where I say "unless you can't get to the sea".

I'm yet to meet anyone who chooses to dive in quarries out of choice. They are second choice and second rate.

 

[doctormike]

Quarries are total rubbish - and are fine for training people in something they have not done before because they offer benign conditions. By this I mean they have no currents and generally you know what you are going to get.

Unless you have no chance of getting into the sea I think you'd need your head checking if you chose to dive in them. I've done around 800 dives in quarries during training. Never have I particularly enjoyed them or felt like they offered anything like the quality of the ocean.

 

[stuartv]

That is valid. I have never dove in a quarry. Only oceans and lakes, so my view is without experience. A quarry seems like training ground. A closed, controlled environment. Like a big pool. For skills refreshing or training. If I went into a pool or the lake at the cottage to practice something or try out a new piece of gear , I would not note it. To me, it's practice for diving, not an actual open water dive.

What about lake diving? Do you log them? If so, what's the difference between a lake and a quarry that has filled in with water?

 

[CptTightPants21]

What about lake diving? Do you log them? If so, what's the difference between a lake and a quarry that has filled in with water?

That was my thought as a well, but when he says lakes you probably means the great lakes, which is more like an ocean