Are cold water divers better?

[=C=]

hmm...

 

[gcarter]

I started diving in warm water, and now do it in cold. The adjustment is huge. Ceteris paribus (LOL, saw the phrase in an earlier post today and had a major flashback to my university economics courses) I expect I will be a better diver for having had to make the adjustment. Significantly more gear distractions, wreaks havoc with bouyancy, air consumption...

I will be happy when I can say am instead of will...

I would expect that if I can make the skills second nature under cold water conditions, I would have a head start adapting to any new unfamiliar conditions.

 

[Thalassamania]

As Tim Cahill, writing in the old Sport Diver Magazine put it, warm water divers (in this case he was referring to his editors in Florida), "flop off their boats like dead tuna, into gin clear water the temperature of a urine sample." I believe the article was entitled, "On the Natural Superiority of California Divers." I'd love to be able to replace the copy that I lost.

 

[tengsr]

Cold water divers may not be as acclimated to drift diving hanging on a major wall so those are pluses for the warm water diver.

Overall I have to opine that the skills unique to cold water diving are more significant and so in a worldwide sense the cold water diver is more capable.

Pete

I did this just today for my first time, I guess I happened to show up there at the right time, and I decided to swim on my back for awhile. It was easy enough maybe 10 ft of vis at about 35ft. It was too fast though, I like to stop and wait for the rockcod to come up and eyeball me, then the perch'll see and and school of em appear all around you. Even going aways past my entry point and swimming back upcurrent I still had near 1000 pounds of air left. Maybe try and time it tommorow and surface swim twice as far

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Seriously. Since people obviously don't have the balls to state the obvious: Cold water divers are in a completely different league. About half my dives are in warm waters, and that stuff hardly requires any skills whatsoever.

Well then ... there's a couple dive sites in Komodo I'd like to introduce you to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Being from the Great White North and subjected to "cold waters" of Canada about the only thing I find to be more difficult is gearing up. Where i am from, especially this summer, the average temperature during the day has been in the 30C area or 86F. The water temperature below the thermocline gets to be less than 60F. So, donning a drysuit with the necessary undergarments and getting set up can be a miserable experience.

Yesterday's high here was 91F ... water temp was 53F. Getting into a Weezle Extreme and drysuit is always fun on days like that ... fortunately we only have to deal with it a few weeks outta the year ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

And finally, this is where you missed my point: Generalizations of the sort that are embraced in threads like this are essentially meaningless, and therefore whether a diver received training in cold water or in warm water has virtually no bearing on the skill level of an individual diver. What really matters, as others have said, is a range of experiences beyond the mud puddle conditions of quarries or bathtub conditions of the Caribbean. As an example, IMO the dive conditions in the warm, clear waters of Komodo present a greater challenge than the cold waters of Galapagos, and in fact among divers who get into trouble in challenging warm-water locales, many are cold-water trained.

I believe that down4fun summed it up best (emphasis mine):

I think that cold water divers think they are better divers.

... but down4fun's comment is also a generalization ... people think as individuals, not as a herd based on where they dive. For the most part, what people think is based on what they've experienced ... with a bit of ego thrown in for good measure. Everybody wants to think of themselves as a good diver ... some need to think of themselves as a better diver. I've found this to be the case regardless of where people dive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

... swimming back upcurrent I still had near 1000 pounds of air left ...

I am willing to concede that anyone who can swim upcurrent with half a ton of air strapped on their back is a way better diver than me ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Bombay High]

I believe the article was entitled, "On the Natural Superiority of California Divers." I'd love to be able to replace the copy that I lost.

Fair to assume that Mr. Cahill never dived the North Sea

 

[Bombay High]

Better divers? No. The diving is often more difficult and we need to learn more before we can dive in our environment. Years ago when I stated diving it was said if you could dive the northeast you could dive anywhere. I believe that to be true.

Having recently dived the Northeast US (Rhode Island) I would agree that conditions are challenging. Certainly not the most challenging in the world, but challenging. Cold water, currents and crappy viz. But I also met a couple of truly crappy divers (and a couple of great ones). 1 of whom has been a dive master for 10 years. He would not last a day in Komodo. I also had a diver with me who had never been in cold water before ( never below 26 degrees C outside a hotwater suit!! )
He dived wet, with 14mm core and 7mm hood and arms. Struggled the 1st day with the buoyancy and layers of rubber, but was TOTALLY at home by day 2. Great divers adapt. Period !