For those afraid to take the plunge...

[3-Ring Octopus]

Okay okay...how is freshwater more challenging...this I have to hear...

The ocean around here changes with the season too....

Cold saltwater is better than cold freshwater anyday....

Come on out, do it easy...that water's fine!

Cheers,
Austin

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Less newbies to muck up the vis.
Can dive for fun since students don't generally want to get cold.
Better vis in general
Only thing I have to dry when I get out is my hair.
Loading the car in a dry suit when the wind is blowing and it's raining is much better than doing it the same way wet.
Less chance of local hooligans messing with cars.
It seems quieter and not just because of the hood.
I'm more relaxed and focused on my skills.
I actually see more since the drysuit dictates a slower pace.
I sometimes have the entire 1200 acres of lake to myself and can go where I want with out fear of boats or jet skis.
It feels so good afterwards sitting down with a nice hot cup of tea in front of a fire and reflecting on the dive.
Seeing the looks on students faces when you tell them you have had to brush the ice or snow off your gear for the next dive.

 

[crazyTomato]

6) there is nothing in the water that will try to eat me or sting me

Oh come on! It's what makes scuba diving in salt water so interesting in the first place!!!!!!!!!!

As for the link to the "The Joys of Cold Water Diving", methinks my heart is too faint for it.....though interesting read, thanks.

Now, cave diving....I'm warming up to that (maybe)!

 

[kf6alc]

Why do I cold water dive? Monterey is only an hour away...

 

[VWGuam]

Learned to dive under submarines in winter in Connecticut in 95. Drysuit in winter.
Dove above the artic circle in a wetsuit...ONCE.
Currently dive in Guam in shorts.
Plan on being in San Diego in 08 for about 3 years. Shopping for a Drysuit.
Adapt and Overcome!

 

[Spongebobscubasteve]

I have only ever dived cold water. I qualified in Cape Town, the Atlantic side at that.
I am so used to it now that I almost look forward to the thrill of the cold water filling my suit. I love how the feeling starts to bleed back into me feet after 45 minutes and I LOVE cracking that first beer on the boat after the dive feeling the hot sun start to electrify the nerve endings of my cold skin!
Aaah! I can't wait for my next dive.

I will probably be back on here waxing lyrical about how much I loved Sodwana and it's warm water when I return from my trip! LOL!

 

[do it easy]

Okay okay...how is freshwater more challenging...this I have to hear...

The ocean around here changes with the season too....

Cold saltwater is better than cold freshwater anyday....

Come on out, do it easy...that water's fine!

Cheers,
Austin

The challenges of freshwater-
Freshwater around here usually requires more neoprene and weight, so the buoyancy shifts faster as depth changes.

The bottom tends to be silt or munge, so proper control and fin kicks are needed to not silt out the place and blow out the vis. These are not sandy bottoms that settle in a matter of seconds, this is clay that hangs for hours when it gets disturbed. Also, there usually isn't much current or water movement, so the sites don't get scrubbed out.

Because of the algae and silt, freshwater tends to have limited visibility, so navigation can be harder. Most freshwater divers would consider 20' of vis a great day.

These things are not unique to freshwater, you can have them in saltwater too, but I don't think it's the norm. I've heard that Oregon has the worst saltwater diving conditions , so these might be par for the course for you as well.

 

[Ice9]

Cold water diving makes you appreciate a hot tub. Even though I dive a dry suit, so I am much less bothered by cold water than the “wet” divers who still dive wetsuits, I have to admit, soaking in a nice hot tub afterwards is great.

Doesn't this increase the risk of DCS?

 

[nymbus]

Three things:

Jumping into a hot tub right away can increase your risks of DCS because it speeds up your cardiovascular system, which pumps more nitrogen more quickly through your body, and potentially out of solution. Waiting an hour before getting in reduces this slight risk. (This is the same reason that exercising right before or after is not a good idea either).

Also- Three Ring, you and I do an awful lot of diving and you still insist on salt water as being the most interesting and difficult type of cold water diving. There is a reason that I am equally fond of freshwater... other people on here are right, it can be more difficult, or at least another interesting type of diving:

1. Vis can move from many feet to literal blackout, there is no flushing current to wipe away the damage your fins do.
2. The bottom is almost always a fine silt or thick mud, both of which require more careful byoancy control.
3. Freshwater generally (at least in the winter,) can have a mean termocline. I love the feeling when part of my body is warm and the other half is freezing!
4. It is still- quieter than the ocean. Less boat traffic, less ambiant noise. Sometimes bubbles are it.
5. Conditions don't change as quickly. There is a certain security in this, it makes night diving or deep diving a bit more predicatable.
6. You can dive them anytime. They aren't tide or fair-weather dependent.
7. It's how I clean my gear after a long weekend in the salt.
8. Less weight on a whole. Despite the cold, you really should be able to drop 4-6 lbs just by being in the less-byouant salt water.
9. Less life, but the stuff you do see can be just plain odd. Furthermore, there are a heck of a lot more man-made or man-sunk stuff in freshwater.

There you go... reasons I like freshwater too.

 

[nymbus]

Opps... the third thing-

My assumption is that adding weight would only happen if moving between a (much)warmer body of salt water and a very cold lake. If the temperature is nearly the same in each, you should need more weight in the salt... not adding to sink in fresh.