Open Water Certifications – Cold vs Warm

[Darren Dodge]

As a diver that first certified as a skinny 18 yo kid in Newfoundland in January of 1985 under conditions of 46 degrees with a 7mm wetsuit and regs and masks freezing up around me, then fast forward 28 years to re-certifying in 82 degrees of water temp at West Bay, Grand Cayman Island a few weeks ago, I can definitely say that the relaxation factor of being able to comfortably fine tune buoyancy and such does make a difference in learning....or maybe it's just that I have a few more years of confidence that I didn't have back then even tho I was wrapped in neoprene..lol. I'll agree that there will be some adjustment to a wetsuit again, but not enough to believe that there should be a different course for cold water.

 

[Quero]

Cold starts in the upper 40's when you have to go to full thermal undergarments. The 30's just plain hurt.

It's all relative, isn't it? I was in a wetsuit for those Galapagos dives, and because I was cold 18 minutes into every dive for 12 days while on that cruise, I subsequently did drysuit training in 38° water in northern California in order to never feel that cold again, so I've been there. And it wasn't so hard--certainly no harder than coping with currents here in Southeast Asia.

Every single one of my Open Water students struggles with and complains about current on training dives as well as getting back on a bucking boat in deep water since the boat can't come super close to the island for pickups because it risks drifting into the rocks with the current. And this is current I hardly even notice any longer, but to a new diver or one unused to currents, it can be quite stressful. Cold water and warm water diving do present different challenges, yes, and the warm clear water helps make overcoming these challenges less onerous, but there are still challenges. It seems, though, that when most SBer think of warm water, they're thinking of the bathtub that is the Caribbean. One of my recent divers here in Thailand (where to my mind the currents are no more than moderate) and who is a DM candidate in Colorado wrote this to me after his trip here with four very experienced divers six weeks ago:

This was not your typical Caribbean dive-in-an-aquarium type of dive trip and we all thought that was fantastic. Some challenging dives with the current and viz (or lack of viz), no doubt, which made it really fun.

So maybe it's that the challenges in warm water make it "fun" whereas the challenges in cold water make it a "PITA" as a currently-running thread title describes it!

 

[TMHeimer]

Quero, I agree with all you say. I was half kidding about the wetsuit pants. Stuff like that isn't really different, just annoying. Last week I mistakenly used my 5 fingered gloves instead of the 3 fingered mitts (much less in dexterity), as the week before the water was 50F, but it dropped back to 41 last week. There are just more hassles in cold water--the camera, as you said. I don't dive dry, but I would imagine it's no big deal if you get the training/help and do it right. Thick wetsuit compression/expansion is obviously a difference in cold water, especially when shallow or near the surface. But with proper weighting this was no problem for me early on. Now I'd really have to concentrate to notice the difference from my 7 mil to my shortie. As you said, with proper suit and weight the skills are identical. No need for different OW certs., just logic.

 

[lowviz]

...//... So maybe it's that the challenges in warm water make it "fun" whereas the challenges in cold water make it a "PITA" as a currently-running thread title describes it!

Can I report you to Marg for 'baiting'?

 

[TSandM]

I do think there is value in spreading the confined water time out over the three weeks that our shop does it. I know from taking riding lessons as a teen, when I didn't own a horse, that I would make surprising progress between lessons, despite being unable to practice. I remain convinced that the unconscious mind works on these things, given time to do it.

On the other hand, if you gave me the SAME schedule we have, and warm, clear water, I'm quite sure I could turn out a better diver than graduates our classes. Cold water presents many hurdles for students, and you are right that they don't get the same bottom time that they could get if they were less stressed, both mentally and thermally. But we only take 2 divers into the water at a time, and do as many skills as possible DURING the tour portion, so we really try very hard to maximize actual dive time.

I think the transition from murky, cold water to warm, clear water is easier than the reverse, if everything else is equal. But I've said it many times here -- any diver entering water that is unfamiliar is a kind of beginner, and each environment has its own challenges that can reduce an experienced diver to fumbling around.

 

[Quero]

Can I report you to Marg for 'baiting'?

You certainly can! But right now she's at an airport or on a plane from her cold Canada to the warm Caribbean, so I'm not too sure who she will think is doing the 'baiting' :blinking:

 

[lowviz]

...//... I would make surprising progress between lessons, despite being unable to practice. I remain convinced that the unconscious mind works on these things, given time to do it. ...//...

I so agree. Experience/Assimilation/Regurgitation/Correction (AKA Experience)...

 

[Quero]

I do think there is value in spreading the confined water time out over the three weeks that our shop does it. I know from taking riding lessons as a teen, when I didn't own a horse, that I would make surprising progress between lessons, despite being unable to practice. I remain convinced that the unconscious mind works on these things, given time to do it.

On the other hand, if you gave me the SAME schedule we have, and warm, clear water, I'm quite sure I could turn out a better diver than graduates our classes. Cold water presents many hurdles for students, and you are right that they don't get the same bottom time that they could get if they were less stressed, both mentally and thermally. But we only take 2 divers into the water at a time, and do as many skills as possible DURING the tour portion, so we really try very hard to maximize actual dive time.

I think the transition from murky, cold water to warm, clear water is easier than the reverse, if everything else is equal. But I've said it many times here -- any diver entering water that is unfamiliar is a kind of beginner, and each environment has its own challenges that can reduce an experienced diver to fumbling around.

I can agree with every word of this, and further, I can say that if you gave me the same clear, warm water I now have and no time pressure/the ablity to spread the course out over a month or so, I would also be able to produce better divers than the ones to whom I now award certs. We all do what we can with what we've got, and that goes for student divers, fun divers, and dive pros conducting courses. Regardless of how easy/hard it is to transition from cold to warm/warm to cold, this does not mean that divers trained in cold water are automatically as a result "better" divers than those trained in warm water. What really makes better divers is better training courses, no matter what the water temperature.

 

[eelnoraa]

I think the transition from murky, cold water to warm, clear water is easier than the reverse, if everything else is equal. But I've said it many times here -- any diver entering water that is unfamiliar is a kind of beginner, and each environment has its own challenges that can reduce an experienced diver to fumbling around.

This is exactly what I wanted to say. I started and trained in Monterey. When I went to Hawaii and Thailand, I feel the transition is easy. I may have, if lucky, a chance to dive a colder place later this year. I will keep this thread in mind, come back and report my experience.

 

[supergaijin]

Even though Quero makes a great argument, my personal observation is that a 'cold water' beginner (<20 dives) makes the transition to warm water faster than the other way around. Furthermore I think the critical point is around 'Safety Stop' depth.

In NZ wearing 7mm suits, I saw a lot more 'tropical' divers corking at the surface than the other way around. Control in the shallows is important, and for this reason alone, I would call a cold water beginner 'better' when changing climates. They have more awareness/experience of the radical expansion of neoprene in the last 25'.