Poor viz diving

[spectrum]

Being able to spot another diver at 20 feet is a typical good day around here (Maine) and I'm not talking crystal clear at 20 feet either. It can be better especially in the winter and and depending on sea conditions and the site it can sometiles be hard to see the fingers at the end of your hand, that's when I call the dive.

I figure the best diving is the diving you have access to for frequent diving and that's that. I suppose it is an adaptation as with most things diving. In some ways its no different than night diving where you are in a limited space of light. We take it slow and get bood buoyancy practice cruising 1-2 feet off the bottom.

Let me turn the tables... This April we are making our first dive trip, to Bermuda where 100-200 foot visibility is claimed. I actually have (minor) concerns about handling all the visibility. There will be so much more to see and process!

Pete

 

[Diver0001]

I am eager to know how many of you dive in poor visabilty

Local diving in the Netherlands is typically done in 3 metre viz. It's not uncommon in the summer to measure visibility by how much of your arm you can see...

We even train in this.

In the winter visibility is better it can get up to 6 metres but then the water is 2C (about 38F). Best viz I've ever seen in the Netherlands was 12 in the Grevelingen in the winter. On the North sea it can get up to 20/25.

and ...what it is like...do you get used to it?

It is what it is. You definitely get used to it.

Why do you do it?

Because Hawaii is too far to drive.

Do you get claustraphobic, ever?

personally, no. But it's not for everyone.

Is this the norm for certain areas like Pacific NW?

The Pacific NW has good viz compared to here....Viz around Vancouver is often 10 metres once you get below the algae....

What about kelp in bad viz?

The kelp doesn't change, just your feeling about it. We don't have big kelp in the Netherlands but we have man-eating bow nets. I swam all the way into a big one with a student once. We were right inside before I realised it. The danger of entanglement because of not being able to see stuff is a little bigger but the way of getting out of it is the same. Easy does it, move slow, back out, careful not to turn and wrap it around you.....think think think ..... that kind of thing. IN the Netherlands we also have net training available for learning how to deal with bow nets etc in the safety of a pool.

What comes into play?

I don't understand this question.

R..

 

[Snowbear]

No fair - these should be in the UW Photo section...you're hijacking this one with these great shots! Love 'em!!

They're not hijacking.... they were pics taken in poor (for me) viz conditions

 

[Diver0001]

Any dive I remember in bad, bad viz turned into a disaster....couldn't see the divers.

One thing you get good at in bad viz is maintaining communication and buddy contact. Every change of tempo, direction, depth and status is communicated. Every task to be performed is started and finished by checking the status of your buddy/buddies, We swim side by side at maximum arms length. Lights are used on every dive so you can see where/how your buddy is without having to watch everything he/she does..... That kind of thing. If you don't do that then chaos will take over your dive. You might even lose you buddy during the initial descent and you will certainly lose them the first time you change tempo, depth or direction without telling them..... This is just a skill. It can be trained and it's not surprising if you don't dive regularly in bad viz that this skill isn't developed.

R..

 

[fishoutawater]

I used to tender a Mississippi river mussel diver, (kept his hookah running, and hauled up baskets of mussels). On a good day you could see maybe three or four inches. Most of the time it's true zero vis. Barely see your own lite when stuck to your face plate. One time, he'd broken his faceplate, and had to order a new one. Couldn't wait the four weeks for the new one, so he thought, "what the hell? Cain't see nuthin no how" , and proceeded to fashion a new faceplate out of 3//16" steel plate. Worked great.
I did a few of those dives myself. Fairly spooky. My mind would play tricks, especially when I started thinking about dead bodies and such. One time, I was on the bottom putting mussels in the basket, and something really big bumped into me from the downsteam side. probably just a big catfish, but it managed to scare the bajeezees out of me.
Then later, I finally got certified out in Socal where the vis was thirty feet. I thought I was in heaven.
Then I took a trip to Cozumel. AWESOME! It did kind of freak me out when I jumped off of the boat and realized I could see all the way down to the reef, ninety feet below. Even more freaky was the edge of the shelf that disappears into the abyss.

 

[mikerault]

Lake diving in Georgia is about the same, anywhere from 5-15 feet depending on the last rain or how warm or cold its been. You get used to it and it does make you a better diver as far as navigation and buddy skills.

Mike

 

[vjongene]

Divers really react adversely to 200 ft viz??

Yes, I have known divers who were trained in the lake here to totally freak out when confronted with good viz. You suddenly realize that the underwater world reaches further than the beam of your torch...

 

[craborn]

I dive lake Erling in Arkansas several times a year. You cannot see your gauges with a light. You have to feel you way through. I love it. But please do not try with out a lot of diving experience and a safety. Clay

 

[Diver0001]

Yes, I have known divers who were trained in the lake here to totally freak out when confronted with good viz. You suddenly realize that the underwater world reaches further than the beam of your torch...

It can be bad for your navigation too.... as I found out in Egypt. In Holland I can navigate around for an hour and come out by the same stone where we went in but In Egypt I got turned around in 40+ metre viz -- during the day, of all things. It happened because the viz was so good that I thought I knew where I was going and didn't look at my compass. My buddy didn't notice either. It wasn't until we surfaced that it dawned on us what had happened.

R..

 

[fire_diver]

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

This is the heart of midwest lake diving. All you people that dive in 100+ vis in the ocean are just 'spoiled'.

My main dive lake has an average of 10-15 ft vis. May be better, probably would be worse on any given day. And this is the clearest lake in the state. Ocean dives are a cake walk compaired to this. Wanna know excitement? Come with me and settle down to 150 foot (total blackout here). Then ask yourself 'where's that wierd current coming from? I'm in a lake." You ever seen catfish big enough to feel them breath?

FD