is it cold up there or what?

[asmackofjellyfish]

I dive a Pinnacle Polar "Semi Dry" (oddly, I'm not semi-dry at the end of the dive) in Victoria on Vancouver Island (about 40 km south west of Vancouver). It was a little cold, so I've been wearing a 3mm shorty underneath. To be honest, I have done two dives in a day in the fall and been okay. I've been fine diving in low to mid 40s for one dive in the winter and I wasnt cold enough to end the dive early. The worst part was getting out in the cold air, and its not usually that cold here in August. Also, despite all the dry suit advocates, there are still a lot of people who dive wet up here in the summer. I suspect you might get away with it for this trip.


Good luck.

i am trying my hardest to get my wife to agree on a family vacation to vancouver. if i get the thumbs up, can i get away with diving a semi-dry with a 3mm underneath in early aug? im not ready for a dry suit yet.

 

[cjfox]

It really depends on how sensitive to cold you are. I dove for years in a wet suit, I even remember chopping away ice from the boat in the marina to get out for a dive in the winter (that was cold). A dry suit is nice, but for a few dives on vacation, a wet suit is no problem in BC.

 

[DiverDebbie]

mid 50's is alot warmer than down in chicago in aug. i got 45 degrees on my computer while diving the dredge ship. i had a 7mm farmer i rented. i was fine. hopefully it will be in the low to mid 50's. then again that wasn't the surface temp right?

Dry suits are always more comfortable here, but if you dove in 45 degree water in a 7mm and you were fine, then you should be fine here in August. It's in the low 50's now and I just had some students out in wet suits. They were mostly chilly after the dives, which isn't such an issue in the warm month of August. Then the water temps are around mid to even high 50's (depending how deep you go as well).

Don't let all of us dry suit woosies scare you

 

[PrincessOfPower]

Yeah cjfox hit it dead on. If you're a "cold" person (and you'll know if you are), then you may find a drysuit makes for a more pleasurable diving experience around here. But it's certainly not a must.

 

[ekewaka]

my fault, i was asking about BC.

Because 40 F in BC is colder than 40 F in VA, right?