Learned the hard way

[Peter_C]

My girlfriend had the opposite experience. She was drysuit trained from the beginning, and had only done cold water dives, until we went to Hawaii. She was amazed how easy the shore diving was on Kona, and how light the gear was, and how quick it was to get ready.

Don't give up on cold water diving, there is a lot to see. Get someone local to show you the ropes for your area. A dive club would be worth meeting up with too.

 

[wspalding]

I appreciate the encouraging words. I haven't given up, just recognized I need to start small and work my way up to some of these sites.

 

[porgyhunter]

Maybe try Sandwich beach on cape cod....No rocks to to stumble or slip on....and if there has been a south wind for awhile decent vis

 

[rhwestfall]

Great post... Ones like this always gets me thinking. I dive almost exclusively here in the Great Lakes, yet yearn for a trip offshore in the Carolina's. Big ocean in not an experience I have..... I wonder how I would cope????

 

[otis24]

I had the opposite too. I'm used to dry suit diving on low vis on Northern California.

I did a few dives in Hawaii a couple years ago. I remember looking up from about 80 feet and being able to see the boat. I thought Holy Crap! That's far away!

 

[DavidInNH]

As a NE diver, I'd agree with Back Beach or Old Garden Beach in Rockport. They both have easy entries and can serve as a good place to figure out your weighting. Even if you are over-weighted, you can easily leave some weights back at the shore or even put them back into your car (as it will be parked nearby).

At both of these sites, you can stay within the beach area and stay shallow until you feel comfortable with your equipment, exposure protection and weighting.

You might also get in touch with some local clubs and/or shops as they often do group dives that you might join them on.

As I've said many times: "I'd rather dive warm water than cold water, but I'd rather dive cold water than not at all."

Good luck.

 

[Malpaso]

During my OW classes, my instructor said more than once, if you dive in New England you can dive anywhere. I really couldn't grasp what he was saying until I dove the Caribbean. I can't even imagine what it would be like going from warm to cold.

I'll offer up a vote for Pebble Beach in Rockport for getting used to the water and conditions here. The entry is a nice gradual slope, and parking is close. It is nice and sandy to start, but there are three "reefs" at regular intervals so it's not so boring a dive.

 

[DavidInNH]

Yes, I forgot to mention that one as well. Since you can park right there (usually), and since the beach isn't too far to cross to the water, it is an ideal place to do weighting checks. If you have too much weight, you can remove it and bring it back to your car if you're afraid of it getting stolen.

 

[jjdig]

I agree with OGB or Back Beach for sites with easy entry. Folly Cove is a great dive but unless you do it high tide you are climbing over bowling ball and larger size rocks to get in and at pebble beach the surge can be rough.

 

[Benign-Chaos]

Glad you're giving it another go on Saturday. Looking forward to meeting you. All of my dives with the exception of 8 in Key Largo have been NE shore dives. Going to FL opened my eyes as to how effortless diving could be! Lol.