OW near CT in April

[alexnewbie]

I'm in my Open Water course, and I'm looking to get certified before a trip to Maui in May.

How far south would I have to go to get to a reasonable water temp for my OW certification dives in April?

 

[King Kong Matt]

It depends on what you are wearing for exposure protection.

If you are wearing a drysuit, you can dive year round in New England. If not (i.e. you are diving wet), I would think that April is still going to be a little chilly. I am not sure how far south you would have to go for the water to become tolerable and "tolerable" would once again depend on what kind of wetsuit you are wearing. 5mm? 7mm?

What kind of suit ya got?

 

[raxafarian]

here is a clickable map that shows current AND monthly average water temps.

I did my OW in late april in RI 2 years ago. 46deg. water.

 

[alexnewbie]

Thanks for the info. No suit yet. I'm planning to rent until I get a little more experience.

 

[raviepoo]

The water up this way doesn't start warming up until late June.

Depending when you book your tickets you can get to south Florida from Laguardia airport for less than $200 round trip. Have you considered flying down to Florida to do your check out dives? Just find a dive op that works with the same agency you do your class work with and hand over the referral from your instructor. Water temps right now are in the low 70's but they should go up a bit by April.

Another possibility is doing the check out dives when you get to Hawaii.