Most interesting or unusual cold water place you’ve dived?

[shoredivr]

Akureyri, on the north coast of Iceland. The water is cold enough there that wood-eating ship worms don’t exist, so I was able to dive the wreck of the Standard, a wooden ship from the 1890s that was in as good condition as the wooden wrecks here in the Great Lakes. Also dived Silfra, which was amazing visibility.

 

[Diesel_Diver]

You can also make a 30' dive, stay down for a long time and exit without having to swim.

Cool video , but those are mild tides google “ hopewell rocks”

 

[TrimixToo]

I haven't dived "cold" much at all, just Massachusetts and Rhode Island a little, and have never dived dry.
That said, I found the wreck (half-wreck really) of the small tanker CHESTER POLING to be both interesting and unusual. Interesting, because I like wrecks, and unusual, because I knew about the sinking and rescue of all but one of her crew when she went down in a winter storm almost 42 years ago. There is a long Coast Guard report you can find on line. I was a desk-driver in the Coast Guard in Boston then, and knew several of the Coast Guard rescuers, who absolutely risked their own lives in horrible weather off Gloucester (Cape Ann, Mass) to get to them, and pluck them out of 35-degree water in full-storm/snow conditions. Unfortunately one crewman couldn't stay afloat long enough. This was before the days of survival suits, just winter clothing.

So being able to see where the hull split in two (stranding crew on both sides of the break), how the hull bottom and sideshell steel was bent (or not bent, where it cold-fractured in tension), and the deck and davits area from which the crew had to jump in to that freezing water to get rescued (neither lifeboat nor inflatable raft turned out to be launchable or usable), was sobering to me.

Also sobering to me was how cold it was in a hot day in July. Water 60F surface, but 45F at 80-90 feet where the wreck lies. Which was bearable on first dive in rented 7-mil because I was so fascinated by the history and being able to see it, but way cold on second dive to where I was grateful (oh God yes) when my nitrogen ticks "made" me and buddy ascend. The thermocline back to 60F on the way up felt like a hot bathtub.

So I don't dive cold much, just mostly Florida and the Gulf. But that cold dive was interesting.

Several years ago while diving the Poling, I found a stack of cheap dishes in the galley. They hadn't been there on my previous dive...I'm sure they were a plant, left so that someone would come up proudly with an "artifact" from the wreck.

I laughed so hard, I almost lost my regulator!

 

[TrimixToo]

OK, I'll chime in with the Sohier State Park in York, ME, where Nubble Light is located. A shallow protected cove with slippery rocks to enter and exit, but not too difficult to get in and out unless the surf is high. Lots of variety ranging from the usual crab and lobster to the infrequent seal, and I once saw a torpedo ray there. (A torpedo ray looks like a fish grafted onto a flying saucer. They are electric and pack a 200V shock when full grown. Don't touch!) Also there is an underwater memorial to a local diver not too far from the best entry/exit point (to your left as you enter). It always seemed fitting to me to place a diver's memorial where only other divers would see it.

 

[207diver]

The entire coast of Maine has some great cold water diving we have plenty of shore access and with a boat your options are limitless. Southern Maine has enough lakes and ponds to keep you busy on those bad weather days.

This summer we did a couple of Wreck dives on Lake Champlain in Vermont and I would definitely recommend that to anyone in the area.

In reality all of New England has some incredible diving opportunities year round if you don't mind cold water and less then tropical visibility!

 

[Chris Owens]

Clear Lke in Oregon. Glacier fed with an underwater petrified forest. Even with a dry suit, 39° is painfully cold though!