Are cold water divers better?

[MXGratefulDiver]

The best I've seen yet is about 40' in Panama (though once I did look up from 70' here in NS and see the boat). I can imagine that I will feel a little uneasy the first time I jump from a boat and see 100' to the bottom. When all you can see is the anchor line (and a buddy) going down it just doesn't seem that deep.

Had a day like that on a wall in Port Hardy, BC one time. Dropped off the boat and looked down. The top of the wall was 40 feet below me ... and I could see down the wall way deeper than I dared to go on recreational scuba gear. It wasn't uneasy at all ... it was exhilarating. My remember muttering into my regulator ... "Oh ... my ... God!" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AfterDark]

IMO the best divers are those that feel as at home in the water as they do out of the water. With that as a base everything else comes easier. Warm, cold, good vis or bad it's all water if one is comfortable in it, it doesn't matter.

 

[blackvans1234]

Who says warm water doesnt have bad vis?
9-17-2011 Datura Ave Lauderdale by the Sea Florida - YouTube

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Here's my noob take on things.

My opinion tends to lean to the assertion that cold water divers on average are better than warm water divers, with all other things being equal (e.g., number of dives, etc.).

Why? One of the main reasons is "Survival of the Fittest". In my Open Water course of five people, three people dropped out. One dropped out due to horrible visibility our first ocean dive; the others dropped out with equalization issues (potentially due to being uncomfortable and stressed). In general, people will feel more comfortable in warm water than cold water and thus, warm water locales have a higher diver retention rate. On the other hand, the divers who continue in cold waters usually are serious and determined. (Of course, warm water divers can be serious and determined, but I'm just saying that it's easier to be a casual diver in warm water.)

Secondly, I have to mention multitasking. Cold water divers just have more to do than warm water divers. In addition to the normal buoyancy actions, cold water divers need to balance drysuit adjustments and navigating in low visibility. Being forced to multitask often makes things significantly easier if one only has to concentrate on one thing.

Lastly, stress is a big issue. Cold and lack of visibility are major stress factors in diving. Cold divers are used to performing under stress. When a problem occurs, the cold water divers have already adapted to similar feelings of stress.

These three points don't necessarily make a better diver. But they create an environment that forces a diver to develop the traits necessary to be a good diver (e.g., working under stress, multitasking, etc.).

Obviously many other factors can be taken into account, such as individual diver characteristics (e.g., experience, personality, etc.) or dive locales (e.g., currents, surf, etc.), and there are also many outliers (i.e., divers who are just better), but I think on average, cold water divers learn the traits of good divers more often (and more quickly) than warm water divers.

 

[daz88]

blackvans....I SERIOUSLY hope you're joking about bad viz in the video?

 

[oldflounder]

I don't care where in the world you dive - we all have our scale of how we judge viz. For me REALLY poor is when I can't see my fintips. VERY poor viz is when I can't see my hand in front of my face. Any worse than this and I will call the dive unless I just want to beachcomb the bottom up close and personal. Though diving is not impossible - it just stops being fun - it borders on dangerous conditions. Search and rescue divers work in conditions where they can't see past their mask. What is your scale???

[I guess I am getting off-thread]

 

[TSandM]

I think diving can present different challenges in different places, and it's really hard to generalize about what environment gives you the broadest skill set. For example, I dive primarily in Puget Sound, which is cold water (but not as cold as the Great Lakes can be) and low viz (but not as low as the meg tooth hunters deal with). But our surface conditions are almost always very quiet.

I just got back from ten days in the Red Sea, where the water was deliciously warm. But we had very rough surface water in a couple of places, strong surface currents, and some real challenges getting safely into and out of the dives. My cold water diving experience really didn't prepare me particularly well for those types of issues; someone who regularly dives open ocean in warm water would probably be much stronger in those conditions than I was.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'd say that shore diving off of Northern California and Oregon, New England and Scotland is likely as rigorous as it gets. There may be other places that have challenging sites, but those are the most difficult combinations of conditions that I've seen. That said, there is not doubt that some of the mokes I dive with here might have some real problems with a dry suited, full face masked, doubles dive in the dead of winter off Cape Ann, but I'd like to see some of my New England buddies handle the local currents with a just a mask, a rig with a Hawaiian backpack, a ripped shirt, some Duck Feet and a pair of surf shorts.

 

[Hank49]

Cold water, bad vis, strong currents, rough seas. That makes for a rough assed diver.
But, being a warm water wuss my whole diving life, I have to say, I don't understand the fun in that kind of diving. If I was getting paid....yeah. but is it fun?
I go out and have to repair or check our pipeline here where the sea gets a little choppy and makes for vis of about a foot at times. I do it because I have to. Would I do it for fun? Even after not diving for a year? I doubt it.
So, I think warm water divers are better just because.....we're smart enough to have moved to a warm area with clear water.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Cold water, bad vis, strong currents, rough seas. That makes for a rough assed diver.
But, being a warm water wuss my whole diving life, I have to say, I don't understand the fun in that kind of diving. If I was getting paid....yeah. but is it fun?
I go out and have to repair or check our pipeline here where the sea gets a little choppy and makes for vis of about a foot at times. I do it because I have to. Would I do it for fun? Even after not diving for a year? I doubt it.
So, I think warm water divers are better just because.....we're smart enough to have moved to a warm area with clear water.

Everybody's got their own idea of fun, I suppose ... but if it wasn't fun, I wouldn't do it so often.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)