Is it safe to dive in the rain?

[NorCalDM]

One of my more memorable dives was in the Philippines during a rain storm. You could here the rain hitting the surface and the lightning was lighting up the reef which at first I thought it was somebody's strobe until I looked up. The boat ride back was a little exciting.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of my most memorable dives was during a heavy hail storm at Lake Tahoe. Getting into my wetsuit was bad. The restrooms there had corrugated plastic roofs. It was louder than many fireworks shows. Once geared up, we ran to the water while getting pelted by hail. Underwater was really cool. The hailstones reminded me of bullets shooting through the water like in a James Bond film.

 

[GreggS]

My wife and I were diving at a local quarry last year so didn't think anything about it when we started our second dive of the day. When we ended the dive we found it was pouring rain. Didn't even know it until we got shallow enough at the entry point to see the rain hitting the surface.

 

[boulderjohn]

Immediately after getting certified many years ago, I took the AOW course in Cozumel. Back then, a night dive was required. We did it from shore, diving an airplane wreck. It had been a beautiful day, and we geared up as the sun was setting. It was just starting to get dark when we entered the water and headed out toward the wreck. We had a great dive, and when we got back to shore and surfaced. we were greeted by a beautiful starlit night. I took my gear apart and headed out across the parking lot by what was then the only cruise ship pier to catch a taxi. The parking lot was FULL of water. WTF? I got to the road, and there was water everywhere. When I got into the taxi, I asked if it had rained. Oh, yes, it certainly had. There had been one hellacious thunderstorm, with torrents of rain. Back at the hotel, my wife confirmed it all.

Years later, back in Cozumel again, we surfaced from a great dive to see the boat crew dressed out for foul weather, but it was a sunny day. We learned that while we were enjoying our dive, there had been a storm so bad that it had sunk 5 boats. My wife had been in a restaurant, and she had to climb on a table to escape flooding.

 

[scubadada]

My son and I did a night dive at Turtle Reef off Grand Cayman, while my wife and daughter had dinner at the Cracked Conch. While we down, an intense thunderstorm passed over. The lightning lit up everything, over and over. By the time we finished the dive, the storm was mostly done. We all went back to our accommodations and my son and ate our Cracked Conch take-out. An exciting evening

 

[TMHeimer]

As mentioned, the only inconvenience really is the non diving part. How easy is it for you to get undressed and dressed again without getting soaked? I'm not too bad off with a van.
But, as you and others said, be very wary of possible lightning. I did start a dive once at a beach when it wasn't even raining and when I started my surface swim back to shore there was thunder and they were clearing the beach. All I thought about was that metal thing on my back.

 

[fisheater]

I did my first two OW certification dives in a driving "film at 11" rainstorm in Monterey. All the other classes cancelled and my fellow students did a no-show, so it was just me and my instructor. It was coming down so hard that we had to walk past the Coast Guard filling sandbags to get into the water.

I LOVED it. Underwater was great and watching the large raindrops penetrate the surface was like a scene from Saving Private Ryan.

 

[rx7diver]

You might get wet.
If you dive in an area with runoff you may get hepatitis, but at least you can dive.

Wait! Max & Merry have a new avatar? What's up with that??!!

rx7diver

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

How do you think I came up with my username?

 

[Alekseolsen]

B

How do you think I came up with my username?

By testing the Pee-valve with bad results