What do you do over the winter?

[TMHeimer]

Do you at least dump warm water in your wetsuit before getting in..

Jim...

No, but in Nov.-April I only do one dive in a day right from the house and gear up in the basement. Tough part is gearing down after, especially taking off the wetsuit.

 

[Hoag]

Winter is when I typically do the bulk of my diving although it means that I can not do as much diving as I would like to do. There are few things better than a trip to the Caribbean in March to interrupt the "winter blues".

 

[Marie13]

Looks like I'm going down to Mermet the end of January for a day or two. I've also been doing some private sessions with my instructor to improve my kicks and buoyancy.

 

[sunnyboy]

Winter diving is very good here but when the temp drops below zero (like today) the "getting into and out of the drysuit" is definitely not fun. Water temps today was 48F which is the lowest so far (was 50F last Friday). Still, it's worth it as winter is also when the viz is best.

 

[TMHeimer]

Assume you mean 0C in BC. Can't be that tough with a drysuit. My planned dive for Sat. here looks like the exact same water & air temps. Getting out of the wetsuit won't be fun. From what I read though, your winter water temps. won't get a whole lot colder like here. Then again, we did have mid 60sF this past Aug./Sept.

 

[sunnyboy]

In the water it didn't seem cold at all, even with the temp drop from last Friday.

But the drysuit only keeps you warm when it's on. Changing into / out of the undergarments in minus degrees C is not fun, esp. if there's a wind. Today the big shock was after the dive when I took the hood off. Brrrrr!

In Alberta we used to drive to Nov/Dec diving plus Feb ice diving in the undergarment so you only had to don the drysuit. If this cold weather remains long, I may start doing the same here.

 

[Octopusprime]

For those of us in cold climates, what do you do over the winter diving-related? Even a weekend trip to Florida, for example, is not in my budget. My LDS is looking at scheduling pool time (have to rent time at local park district indoor pool) for certified divers wanting to keep the rust off. I've also located several other LDS with onsite pools where you can reserve time when they don't have classes. I'm doing that next weekend for 2 hours with a buddy. $10/hour including tank rental and weights.

What else do you do besides as much pool time as possible? I dove our local quarry on the 30th (closing day), and as a diving buddy says, my gills are drying out already! . I've got a number of YouTube videos on my to be watched list.

Looks like your in Chicago Burbs. There is 2 places that are drive able. Galboa in OH. it is closer but colder water. the other is Mermet springs .. it is in IL but it is about as far south as you can go. Water Temp there is consistent fast 40 ft there year round. they have warm showers to warm up in the winter. keep the dry suit on and warm up. I dove their Jan 2015. usually air temp 20-25F but we pulled in and 5F air temp.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Scuba dive as I do in summer.

 

[TMHeimer]

Scuba dive as I do in summer.

I see by the Sydney temperature tables that your June low is 55F. So you must dive year round because you always have summer.....

 

[KeithG]

For those of us in cold climates, what do you do over the winter diving-related? Even a weekend trip to Florida, for example, is not in my budget. My LDS is looking at scheduling pool time (have to rent time at local park district indoor pool) for certified divers wanting to keep the rust off. I've also located several other LDS with onsite pools where you can reserve time when they don't have classes. I'm doing that next weekend for 2 hours with a buddy. $10/hour including tank rental and weights.

What else do you do besides as much pool time as possible? I dove our local quarry on the 30th (closing day), and as a diving buddy says, my gills are drying out already! . I've got a number of YouTube videos on my to be watched list.

Still reading through the thread...but in general we only dive in the winter. But we utilize a plane ticket to the Caribbean. Next trip is Bonaire in late Feb.

We are warm water vacation divers.