Is New England the toughest place to SCUBA for recreational divers?

[TeddyDiver]

I know some guys who dive in Norway. They face all of the above, plus it's a night dive half the year!

And day light the other half so all the night dives are winter dives...
Greetings from the Barents sea

 

[JimJam]

I once dove approx. 3 miles from New York city, in the foul armpit of Long Island sound. I was diving on the remnants of an old wreck, the most significant piece of which was the black iron boiler, which was sticking straight up out of the mud. Visibility was non-existent, light was non-existent, and at one point my buddy was non-existant, just the faint glow of his light even though he was only 3 feet away. I was swimming slowly with my arm out in front of me for fear of running into the boiler, which I never did find. I ended up thumbing the dive because the conditions made it not worth continuing. This is somewhat typical of diving in Long Island Sound. I would say most definitely that if you can dive there, you can dive anywhere, shore entries aside.

 

[Cecil]

Let's list the challenges of NE diving; cold, low vis, death defying rocky entries/exits, current, surge, surf, hostile locals/police, and hostile UW critters. Now where else are all of these things also present. Northern Europe, Alaska and here everyone else are just wusses .

 

[cerich]

I would vote for Iraq as being a tough recreational place to scuba dive...

 

[dbulmer]

Do PADI do a Mine Clearing Specialty?

 

[mer]

A place that is cold/low vis will give you preparation for diving in warm and clear, but not the other way around. Other than that you get used to what conditions you normally dive in. i.e. in New England we deal with a lot of rough water, but not alot of current. When I travel to the St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario area, they complain about 1(m) waves, whilst I get my *** kicked by the current.

If your dive involves the below qualities, you need experience in those enviroments to feel comfortable:
- mildly cold due to thicker suits, gloves, hoods
- cold--brain numbing even in a drysuit
- low vis
- surge
- rocky/climbing entries
- current
- rough surface conditions
- channel diving (tankers overhead)
- kelp or other high entanglement risk

The more environments you have experienced, the easier it will be to dive in a new environment. But experience does a diver make.

 

[Hank49]

Let's list the challenges of NE diving; cold, low vis, death defying rocky entries/exits, current, surge, surf, hostile locals/police, and hostile UW critters. Now where else are all of these things also present. Northern Europe, Alaska and here everyone else are just wusses .

Damn, I always miss out on all the fun. Why can't it be like that here?