OW in tropics AOW at home in 'temperate' waters.

[Stampsalot]

Bloody hell it was cold. And all that extra buoyancy from the thick wetsuit. And all that extra weight. And cold. Heavy steel tanks. I felt like a retard. I spent most of the course just getting acquainted with the gear. Damn it was cold.

 

[Agility]

I did not really enjoy cold water dives before I got my drysuit :blinking:

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I did my OW in Hawaii, and my AOW in a reservoir here in Colorado. At the time I wore a 7 mil farmer John wetsuit, no hood, though I did have boots and gloves. I learned a lot, especially about navigation in murky water, but I think I could have learned just as much if the water was 20 degrees warmer. Glad you survived,.
DivemasterDennis

 

[TMHeimer]

Trouble with doing OW in cold water (say in the 40s F) is that due to cold there usually just isn't extra time after skills are done to use up air by just playing around. So students are switching out tanks that are half full. I imagine this is no problem in the tropics.

 

[TSandM]

One of my regular dive buddies a few years back was a guy who got certified in Thailand, and came home to Seattle and took his AOW. It is a major transition! But he fell totally in love with the great diving we have the Pacific Northwest, and dove like a maniac until he got married and became a dad.

Stick with it. The initial transition is the worst. And get a dry suit!

 

[seattlepaul1975]

I got my OW in the PNW in DrySuit and than went to thailand on a honeymoon and did a day of diving...hit the water in a 3mm shorty and thought, "Holy hell this is easy!" HAHAHA....amazing the difference you feel between drysuit/wetsuit.

 

[TMHeimer]

I got my OW in the PNW in DrySuit and than went to thailand on a honeymoon and did a day of diving...hit the water in a 3mm shorty and thought, "Holy hell this is easy!" HAHAHA....amazing the difference you feel between drysuit/wetsuit.

Yeah shorties are great. Not 7 mm farmer johns.

 

[Stampsalot]

All I could think was. Man I'm looking forward to Thailand/Bali/QLD those liveaboards better be worth it.

how warm is a dry suit? Like warm warm?

 

[Searcaigh]

Dry suits are toasty

If you can't afford one next best thing is a 7mm semi-dry

 

[tracydr]

Trilam drysuits are only as warm as the undergarments. You can dive any temperature in them for that reason. I love getting out of cold water and being toasty warm and dry for my surface interval, in my soft,comfy, Jammie's.