Poor viz diving

[Cacia]

Having just read the accident forum about the Monterey diver, I was struck by the depth combined with such low visability (2-6ft). I get very uneasy when the viz is even 20 ft and usually call the dive if it is a deep one. Most of our wrecks are 100+. This is extremely rare anywhere I have ever been, so I know nothing about it. Any dive I remember in bad, bad viz turned into a disaster....couldn't see the divers.

I am eager to know how many of you dive in poor visabilty and ...what it is like...do you get used to it? Why do you do it? Do you get claustraphobic, ever? Is this the norm for certain areas like Pacific NW? In Baja once (la Bufadora), the viz was like chocolate milk and everyone dived but me. I was afraid of getting tangled in the kelp. What about kelp in bad viz? What comes into play?

 

[ScubaTexan]

We frequently dive in water in Texas that is cloudy or low viz. We just get used to it. Many times, at one particular place (which shall remain nameless -- but the Swampers will probably know what I'm talking about), it has felt like diving in skim milk.

 

[texdiveguy]

We frequently dive in water in Texas that is cloudy or low viz. We just get used to it. Many times, at one particular place (which shall remain nameless -- but the Swampers will probably know what I'm talking about), it has felt like diving in skim milk.

I likes 'skim milk' diving!!

 

[theskull]

When we say the visibility was great! . . . we mean it was 15 ft. We dive in 2-6 ft. visibility all the time and love it. That's what the conditions are in the Midwest, so you learn to love it or you don't dive. We are just forced to learn better skills in the areas of navigation, ascending and descending while watching depth gauge, and buddy awareness.

One of the plusses to low viz diving is the adventure. You know what is right in front of you, but you don't know what cool stuff is 20 feet away until you swim over there and look. Another advantage is we get to find lots of cool stuff that was lost by others, which they would have found themselves if they could have seen another 10 feet from where they dropped it. Yet another advantage is you can make night dives any time of the day . . . just go 80 ft. deep and it is as dark as night.

theskull

 

[alcina]

Some of my favourite sites can have very low visibility - some days so low that you don't see the reef/site til you are THERE! You get used to it, I guess. It's never bothered me and my feeling is that it's never too dirty to shoot macro!

And you'd be surprised what neat critters and behaviours you'll find on a low viz dive that you wouldn't normally see.

I don't have to deal with kelp or other hazards of that nature, though.

 

[Cacia]

yea,I bet you do get better skills...seems like its a whole different deal. so, is that gulf of mexico, like oil wells and things like that?

 

[Cacia]

Some of my favourite sites can have very low visibility - some days so low that you don't see the reef/site til you are THERE! You get used to it, I guess. It's never bothered me and my feeling is that it's never too dirty to shoot macro!

And you'd be surprised what neat critters and behaviours you'll find on a low viz dive that you wouldn't normally see.

I don't have to deal with kelp or other hazards of that nature, though.

Alcina, is that muck diving? and ...How deep would you dive in 10 ft. viz?

 

[Nomad]

We dive nothing but mud puddles around here. 6-8 feet vis is average. I stay close to my dive buddy, and try to maintain shoulder contact throughout the dive.

On one particular dive, we were at about 100 feet. Vis was worse than usual, only about 2-3 feet. I looked down to check my guage then turned to look for my buddy. I saw his fin for a second, then it was gone.

I went after him, but couldn't see him. It was kinda creepy.
I new he was nearby, as I could even hear his breathing.
I looked for him for about a minute, then called the dive.

When I got to the surface, I heard something behind me so I turned around to see my buddy surface a few feet away. He had also called the dive when he couldn't find me.

 

[Cacia]

sounds reasonable... Is this in the Gulf?

 

[alcina]

Alcina, is that muck diving? and ...How deep would you dive in 10 ft. viz?

Most of it is what I consider true muck diving - silty bottom and so rich in biodiversity! Viz isn't always low on these sites, but it's certainly possible, and I've only ever called two dives because it was too dirty to dive! I've almost bumped into the anchor several times before I saw it - and still dived. Excellent - you really slow down and look at stuff then The times I aborted I got to the anchor, felt it but couldn't see it...that's when I call it a day.

The deepest I have dived with less than 3m or 10' viz is 35m. 10 feet is really a long way, in my mind. That's almost two whole diver lengths!