Blue water drifting ascents and safety stops, quite common here, also bother most people who have done all their diving from shore and were able to do their safety stops with a hard bottom under them for reference or who do their ascents on the anchor/mooring line of their boat. I've had a fair number of people become disoriented in these conditions and find it quite a challenge.
That's one reason I teach that mid-water nav dive in my AOW class ... people who are used to shore diving all the time can develop what can almost be called a phobia about doing free-water ascents. And the same can be said for people who have only ever used a line (anchor, mooring, or buoy) for ascending ... they've based their ascent skills on having a visual cue close at hand ... often relying on something they can reach out and grab ahold of if needed ... and don't quite know what to do when it's not there. But like any other skill ... a bit of practice and they adapt.
Slowing down when there's a current, riding it and steering with the fins is a huge issue. All the divers I've had from cold water just kick, kick, kick, kick without pause, and they don't know how to use fins as rudders instead of kicking to achieve directionality. To be fair, new warm-water divers also have to learn this, but at least they've got a notion of it by the time they're certified if they've learned to dive here. When I was on Bonaire, though, we didn't do drift dives, so maybe that example doesn't count.
I think that's more true of inland divers who learn or dive regularly in places where there's no current. Dealing with current isn't a cold/warm water issue ... people who dive pretty much anywhere in salt water have to learn how to deal with it ... as do those who dive in rivers. Where I live, most of the best dives involve current, and can frequently be drift dives along walls. And we can experience 15+ foot tides ... as we will next week-end ... so divers are taught from the beginning how to plan their dives around tidal exchanges, and the current they produce.
Drops and pickups from unanchored boats are the norm here in this warm-water locale. Even though our boats usually cut their engines when doing drops and always do so when doing pickups, many shore divers get pretty stressed out the first time they have to do a giant stride off a boat that's still moving, and they have even worse stress when they see that boat bearing down on them for the pickup. I always gather my group and give them clear instructions just before the pickup about what to do, otherwise they find themselves pushed way back behind the boat and unable to swim to the ladder because of the backwash. Again, after doing it once, it's generally okay.
Oh goodness yes ... had to deal with that in the Maldives doing our hot drops, and one guy in our party almost took a nutty when he thought the boat was going to run over the top of him on a pickup. From where I was (on board) at the time it was pretty clear the boat driver knew exactly what he was doing, but from the water ... to a guy who wasn't expecting it ... I could see where it looked pretty scary.
And taking off from Bob's Maui story, I've had cold water divers come here and confidently tell me they are fine diving in what we consider heavy seas, that they dive in much worse conditions where they come from. What they don't understand immediately is that our boats are not designed for heavy seas and they buck much worse than boats that are designed for those conditions. Boarding our round-bottomed boats in heavy seas is extremely challenging.
I suspect that has less to do with water temps than local boating traditions ... but I do see your point about the differences in boat construction. Brings to mind my first trip to Menjangen Island off of northwest Bali ... it's the only time I ever dived from a boat where you had to toss your gear in the water and gear up next to the boat ... there wasn't even space to put your fins on before backrolling off the boat. You held them in your hands and put them on in the water. Climbing back on board using the motor as a step was a real experience too. Here at home, nobody in their right mind would dive off a boat like that ... and it took some getting used to.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
---------- Post added June 15th, 2013 at 06:39 AM ----------
I think a lot of this attitude stems from cold-water divers travelling infrequently to the tropics and only gaining exposure to diving under optimal conditions - very sheltered diving arranged for the tourist industry and planned to keep them safe, comfortable and maximize enjoyment, without great demands.They leave from their short, sheltered tropical holiday in the assumption that
all diving in the tropics is as benign and undemanding.
I've had far harder, more demanding dives in the tropics than I ever had in temperate waters - especially (as I mentioned before) in the monsoon/typhoon seasons, during which tourists rarely arrive... they were, of course, bath-water warm dives though...
I'm sure if I took a one-week vacation to Puget Sound during prime diving season... and enlisted the wisdom and support of an expert local diver to select the most benign and optimal sites on any given day and restricting diving only to calm, sheltered sites with optimal visibility... I would find that diving quite undemanding. Would I be correct to assume that this very limited experience was representative of the full scope, or even the norm, of diving in Puget Sound?
If not, why would divers assume the same of any other diving location that they had a very restricted (vacation-diving) understanding of?
I'd love to show you (or any other SB diver) some of my local mudholes ... as I've had several occasions to do. And I'm sure it would include a couple of benign locales, such as Cove 2 or Edmonds Underwater Park ... to help with the transition. But as with probably any locale in the world, the best spots are not benign ... they rely on current to bring nutrients to the area, which is what attracts the marine life that makes them the best spots. Many of these locations can be benign ... if you hit them during the right tidal cycles, and plan your dives around slack periods. But if you don't ... hold on ... the ride's likely to be a bit rough ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
---------- Post added June 15th, 2013 at 06:45 AM ----------
However, I don't think that someone without a drysuit course should be prohibited from diving in one. Its just advisable in my opinion.
I think someone without drysuit instruction/mentoring shouldn't just jump in the water with one and assume it'll dive like a wetsuit ... but a course isn't necessarily the universal answer. Like any piece of gear, it takes some knowledge of proper fit, form and function ... and a few dives practicing in "friendly" conditions. But it ain't rocket surgery either.
FWIW - I've certified dozens of divers in a drysuit, and issued c-cards to those who request them ... I charge less if you don't need a c-card, since I then don't have to pay for one ... and many folks opt not to get one. I don't, in fact, own a drysuit c-card myself, and never took a drysuit class. Instead, I went diving with a mentor who helped me learn how to use it.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
---------- Post added June 15th, 2013 at 06:49 AM ----------
I've seen people crash into the bottom because they forgot to use their BC and kept pressing their chest where the suit inflater would be.
You too, huh? ... it was embarrassing ...
A diver coming the other way expects things to be bad, therefore don't generally have many serious issues.
Unfortunately that's not always true ... people have a tendency to think they have better skills than they actually do, regardless of where they're used to diving. And overconfidence can quickly turn little problems into big problems ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
