Bucket List Diving

[Eric Sedletzky]

Someone skirted around it a little but if the partner/family are not into diving they will enjoy the warm water destinations more. Most of them would prefer enjoying the sun and swimming on a tropical beach more than what is offered in the colder locations. Easier to get your dives in if the family is happy with the destination too.

Well hold on now, there are a lot of cold water locations that offer topside attractions in many locations for the non diving members of the family.
Monterey, CA has a whole town of shops, wharfs, scenery, great restaurants, beaches.
Mendocino, CA has art galleries, restaurants, shops, boutiques, beaches, and unbelievable scenery.
Depending on where you leave from for the Channel islands, Santa Barbara, CA has a whole beach side town they call the Riviera of California, with tons to see and do and world class beaches.
Ventura, CA is OK topside for a day and also has beaches but things are broken apart geographically.
L.A. and San Diego are big metropolises with lots to do and see and both have beaches but geographical logistics can be a challenge (nothing is close).
I heard about Scapa Flow so I did a search and saw there is a very quaint town there and showed my wife who is about as non diving as it gets. She was all over it because she loves to explore and walk around old European villages with windy cobblestone streets better than laying out by a pool or on a beach at some isolated resort. But at the time we didn't have the money but now we do so we might go there.

I have a feeling Norway would be worth checking out too because she would love to go to Norway. I have relatives in Sweden so we could swing by there and see them too. I'm the type that would befriend someone somehow through SB or some other venue and set up some diving with locals at their favorite local spots. This to me would be preferable over going to the tropics and diving on a routine cattle boat.

 

[KenGordon]

A lot of people equate dive quality with personal comfort (warm).

However, there are people who will go to any length to dive in whatever locations warm or cold because they want to see unbelievable underwater life and the logistics part is just a minor inconvenience to them. The problem is there aren't enough of these adventurers to support and industry in those locations.

That is not a problem, that is an advantage. Go to a popular warm water destination and you will be told how much better it was 20 years ago.

Supporting an industry is not always a good thing. This is especially true if the customers have no idea or concern about conservation.

It is obviously good that people see there is stuff to look after under the water, but it is not for free.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Well hold on now, there are a lot of cold water locations that offer topside attractions in many locations for the non diving members of the family.
Monterey, CA has a whole town of shops, wharfs, scenery, great restaurants, beaches.
Mendocino, CA has art galleries, restaurants, shops, boutiques, beaches, and unbelievable scenery.
Depending on where you leave from for the Channel islands, Santa Barbara, CA has a whole beach side town they call the Riviera of California, with tons to see and do and world class beaches.
Ventura, CA is OK topside for a day and also has beaches but things are broken apart geographically.
L.A. and San Diego are big metropolises with lots to do and see and both have beaches but geographical logistics can be a challenge (nothing is close).
I heard about Scapa Flow so I did a search and saw there is a very quaint town there and showed my wife who is about as non diving as it gets. She was all over it because she loves to explore and walk around old European villages with windy cobblestone streets better than laying out by a pool or on a beach at some isolated resort. But at the time we didn't have the money but now we do so we might go there.

I have a feeling Norway would be worth checking out too because she would love to go to Norway. I have relatives in Sweden so we could swing by there and see them too. I'm the type that would befriend someone somehow through SB or some other venue and set up some diving with locals at their favorite local spots. This to me would be preferable over going to the tropics and diving on a routine cattle boat.

I guess it is a matter of definition... I don't actually consider California to be cold water diving. Anything I can dive in a 5 or 7 mil Wetsuit isn't what I consider cold. Again different for different people. When I think cold water diving I think more of water temps like the PNW, Vancouver Island, Norway, Greenland, Netherlands yeah Scapa Flow.

Anywhere you need an ax to get through the first few feet of water it too cold for me :cold: I didn't enjoy winter in Canada anywhere the cold white stuff falls out of the sky and doesn't disappear on contact with the ground

 

[gkrane]

I guess it is a matter of definition... I don't actually consider California to be cold water diving. Anything I can dive in a 5 or 7 mil Wetsuit isn't what I consider cold. Again different for different people. When I think cold water diving I think more of water temps like the PNW, Vancouver Island, Norway, Greenland, Netherlands yeah Scapa Flow.

Anywhere you need an ax to get through the first few feet of water it too cold for me :cold: I didn't enjoy winter in Canada anywhere the cold white stuff falls out of the sky and doesn't disappear on contact with the ground

You are definitely tougher than me. In Cali after a dive in a 7 mil my fingers are numb, feet are numb, and my face is numb. This is with gloves and a hood in 50 degree water. Not sure how that wouldnt be considered cold.

 

[Kharon]

Maybe I'm one of the very few on scubaboard that doesn't care about cold low viz with currents and dicey conditions to get to see great stuff.

A somewhat strange statement from someone who is not certified and has no dives???????

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A somewhat strange statement from someone who is not certified and has no dives???????

Yeah, right.

---------- Post added October 27th, 2015 at 09:37 AM ----------

I guess it is a matter of definition... I don't actually consider California to be cold water diving. Anything I can dive in a 5 or 7 mil Wetsuit isn't what I consider cold. Again different for different people. When I think cold water diving I think more of water temps like the PNW, Vancouver Island, Norway, Greenland, Netherlands yeah Scapa Flow.

Anywhere you need an ax to get through the first few feet of water it too cold for me :cold: I didn't enjoy winter in Canada anywhere the cold white stuff falls out of the sky and doesn't disappear on contact with the ground

I don't really know if there is an official temp scale to define the line between warm and cold. Maybe that would be a good topic to start a new thread about?
I just know that California is considered cold as a whole, even though sometimes in Southern Cal the water gets up in the low 70's in some spots and to me this is warm, as in 3 mil. Where I dive it's cold 45 to 50 degrees. This year is an exception, it's up in the low 60's up here due to El Nino.

 

[gkrane]

Yeah, right.

---------- Post added October 27th, 2015 at 09:37 AM ----------


I don't really know if there is an official temp scale to define the line between warm and cold. Maybe that would be a good topic to start a new thread about?
I just know that California is considered cold as a whole, even though sometimes in Southern Cal the water gets up in the low 70's in some spots and to me this is warm, as in 3 mil. Where I dive it's cold 45 to 50 degrees. This year is an exception, it's up in the low 60's up here due to El Nino.

The only time I ever encountered water in the 70's in So Cal was at the surface when I was surfing, never at depth. I would consider any temp that can cause you physiological problems in a short amount of time without wearing exposure protection cold water.

 

[robint]

I used to think that cold water diving would be colorless and bland. Then I did a few dives in New England and was totally blown away by the plant life and marine animals. The marine life that you see in cold water is so out of the ordinary and rare that cold-water diving turned out to be a far better experience than a lot of "tropical diving" everyone raves about. Keep in mind that New England is no where close to some of the best cold-water diving there is. After New Englad, I have a strong preference for cold water in comparison with tropics though tropics are easier and convenient.

I don't think there is a place that generates a fair amount of tourism from cold water diving because most recreational divers associate cold water diving with pure discomfort. Some of the places that I have heard get mentioned as top cold water destinations are:

Galapagos (Of course!)
Browning Pass
Poor Knights Island
Iceland (Silfra gets mentioned a lot. I would love to hear from people who have done ocean dives)
Great Lakes (If you are into wrecks)
Channel Islands
Norway

If anyone else has something to add to the list, please go ahead.

Palau should be at the TOP of your list.... seriously. Mind blowing diving every dive. More fish than you ever thought the ocean could hold, vertical walls, sharks every dive, mantas on some dives, big fish little fish colorful fish, crazy schools of fish that block out the light, freaking amazing stuff.
go here: Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet - The Ultimate in LiveAboards

Chuuk-Truk Lagoon should be second on your list. WWII fleet of wrecks, all covered in growth and zillions of fish. Every dive a wreck dive.
go here: Scuba Diving Truk Lagoon Aboard Odyssey. The best way to explore Truk Lagoon in Micronesia

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Palau should be at the TOP of your list.... seriously. Mind blowing diving every dive. More fish than you ever thought the ocean could hold, vertical walls, sharks every dive, mantas on some dives, big fish little fish colorful fish, crazy schools of fish that block out the light, freaking amazing stuff.
go here: Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet - The Ultimate in LiveAboards

Chuuk-Truk Lagoon should be second on your list. WWII fleet of wrecks, all covered in growth and zillions of fish. Every dive a wreck dive.
go here: Scuba Diving Truk Lagoon Aboard Odyssey. The best way to explore Truk Lagoon in Micronesia

Palau and Chuuk are awesome dive destinations but I would not consider either of them as cold water Robint :blinking: Cold water for me is anything that requires me to pull out my drysuit. 80 degrees and above? No way.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I guess we all have different bench marks below 8 C 47F is my dividing point for Cold water diving during summer months. I consider our water range from 15C 59F to 21C 69.8F to bridge the "temperate to warm range" Above is Tropical and some of that water is actually TOO WARM!