Quarry trained Divers

[String]

Some quarries can be colder than the sea while at the same depth being lower vis than the sea, have currents and be much deeper.

True they cant simulate a rough boat ride or tides but other than that theyre fairly accurate and far better preparation than a swimming pool.

OK im sure quarries in some areas are warm and clear but ive not experienced one.

 

[MikeFerrara]

This has been hashed over pretty good but one thing that I'd like to point out is that I've seen more warm water vacation divers get in trouble in quarries than I have the other way around.

Some of the quarries are deep, cold and dark but, more importantly, divers are usually diving without the supervision that resorts offer. Divers that have done tons of 100 ft dives in cozumel with a DM try it in a quarry (or anyplace else) on their own and sometimes get an education.

 

[darylm74]

I'm a warm water wuss, so here's my chart.

85+ - No wetsuit needed.
80-85 - Core warmer needed.
75-80 - 3mm needed.
70-75 - 5mm needed.
<70 - 7mm with hood and gloves needed.

I did 3 dives recently in 78* water and by the third dive I was in a full 3mm and adding a core warmer. Coldest I've dove is 52* and I did that in a 7mm farmers john, hood, and gloves. I'm going to see if I can get away with just a normal full 7mm this year, I bet I have to add the core warmer.

Oh, you would have fit right into the 39 degree dive I did last week in the quarry north of Pittsburgh. Granted I have to say the visibility was 20' which is the best I've seen since ice diving there a couple years ago. Sometimes 2' vis is all we're going to get with the algae blooms and silt kicked up. I feel your pain though. I grew up in TN, so it took a little while to get used to the cold water I dive in here. Thank God for drysuits and Weezles.

 

[mibaro]

Just my experience with my quarry training....I had to pass my cert. in a fresh water quarry which I found a bit hard, and when I actually went to Grande Cayman and dove, I found it a lot easier.

Michael

 

[erparamedic]

I am a quarry diver at heart. I learned to dive in a quarry, and 90% of my dives have been in a quarry, where it's low vis and dark... green or brown water (mostly green), and full of algea. Once you dip 8-10 feet (at most) under the surface, you can no longer see the surface thru the algal blooms! Once the students have been in the water, vis drops to about 2'.

That said, when I am able to get to the ocean (Florida) for some boat diving, it's so nice to see blue water and tropical fish! Turtles and sharks and rays, oh my! Love it! And, it's so much easier to dive than the quarries. Even fighting a rippin' current, I found it more fun than the quarry. It's nice when I can see where I'm going!

 

[wallacm]

well i was certified in a north florida spring with gin clear water. so i could understand if they were saying it with that aspect. But from what i understand about quarries, is that they are a lot like the north florida springs minus the viz. With the lower amount of viz, it would be make the training much harder, and therefore if your in clear water and have to deal with current, i wouldnt think it would be that big of deal.

 

[Ice9]

The first time you're on a crowded 6-pack, fifteen miles from land, and you've been hurling breakfast and then dry heaving the whole hour trip out, and they just spent another half hour setting the hook while you were struggling to get your dry suit on in 4-6 seas, overheating while the cold spray is stinging your face, and there's a ripping current with 5-foot viz, and you're slinging a bail-out bottle for the first time, with more weight than you're used to, and you're about to do your first "Jersey Roll" over the side into choppy 45deg water, when you notice that your "buddy" who hit the water just a second ago is long gone, and you're praying that the 50' boat doesn't slam down on you after you hit the water, and you're hoping that if you don't get to the downline to the Carolina rig quick enough that you can at least grab the trail line before the current takes you past the ball, and you're trying to remember which compass heading to follow because the wreck was wire dragged and depth-charged sixty years ago so it's nothing more than scattered hull plates, and then once you get down to 90' it's not only snotty viz but "night-dive" dark, and you're all alone, hoping you can find your way back to the anchor at the end of the dive without getting tangled in your wreck reel, so you can do your ascent on the line, otherwise you'll need to shoot a bag in the middle of the ocean and hope that the boat sees you, and that you don't drift even further away while you're doing your safety stop, puking through your regulator, and when you finally do get back to the boat you need to perfectly time your exit with the boat hopping +/- eight feet so you don't have the ladder crack your skull, and you're struggling to get your fins on and up every step, so you don't fall off, potentially getting swept past the ball again, so you can get to the top without pinching a finger off as the metal ladder repeatedly crashes into the boat, and climb over the transom with 100lbs of gear on, shuffle back across the crowded deck back to your 18" of space on the bench, with what little gear you could bring aboard stuffed into a milk crate under your seat, so you can get out of your rig, while not slipping on the deck or tripping on scattered gear as the boat is still tossing, in order to get your BC off your first tank and onto your second, changing your regs over, with both tanks bungied to the rail so that they don't fall and break someone's foot, while you try to make sure your mask doesn't go overboard, because you just remembered that your backup is in your trunk which is not across the parking lot but back at the dock, and you're starving but forgot to bring anything to eat and there's no snack bar on a boat, and the captain is now trying to get everyone back in the water for the second dive because he wants you back on board by 11am so he can slam you around for an hour while you're breaking down and stowing your gear at 25kts to get back to the dock in time for you to get all your crap off the boat in about 30 seconds without forgetting anything, and wondering how much to tip the crew...

Ok, this has my vote as the Best Post of the Year! Seriously, this makes me wanna try some Jersey diving!

 

[DNK]

Okay,
I have got to add my two-psi to this thread.
I to am a quarry warrior; the majority of my dives have been in quarries.
A while back I decided that I wanted to do some NC wreck diving. Unfortunately none of my buddies were able to go when I was able to. So I joined up with a trip run by an individual (not associated with a shop). When I told my buddies (who are much more experienced than I) about the trip and the wrecks I would be diving, which were all in excess of 100' open ocean dives, they got a little concerned. Their primary concerns were that I had no open ocean experience and would be with an unknown buddy. So they put together a training plan for me that focused on training me to be self sufficient in the water and able rescue myself if needed.

1] Multiple deep dives in excess of 100' - know the narc
2] Gas planning - don't run out of nitrox
3] Pony bottle usage - just in case
4] Wreck reel usage - don't get lost
5] SMB deployment / up line - If you get lost, at least don't get bent
6] Couple of short obligation deco dives ( < 4 min obligation) so that I knew how my computer worked in deco - don't fear the deco

The plan was that all I would have to worry about would be the current, the sharks and getting back on the boat.

Long story short, got to Moorehead City, dove for 5 days on 9 different wrecks with a bunch of great guys, in okay to good conditions (<5' seas, 70' - 120' foot vis, mid 70's water temp) and had the time of my life.
As for the worries:
Current - a couple wrecks had pretty good current, but I was able to find relief either in the wreck or over the side
Sharks - saw plenty of sand tigers
Getting back on the boat - Attacked that ladder with a vengence

The problem was when I came home and had my first dive back in the quarry.
How quickly you forget:
1] How cold it is
2] How dark it is
3] How heavy that weight belt is
4] How hard it is to maintain proper buoyancy with a 7mm wetsuit.

So in my opinion quarry training made me a better open ocean diver because all I had to worry about was those things I couldn't practice in the quarry. In addition the things that usually task load you in the quarry don't exist in the ocean (well at least in the gulf stream), so I had plenty of capacity to handle them and still have a great time.
I have since been east coast wreck diving with others who's only experience has been shallow warm carribean dives. I have felt sorry for them because the did not seem to enjoy the dive, but rather survived it (if you know what I mean).

 

[RJP]

Ok, this has my vote as the Best Post of the Year! Seriously, this makes me wanna try some Jersey diving!

Come on up any weekend this spring or summer. I'm on the boat most every saturday or sunday.

www.gypsyblooddive.com

 

[DivePartner1]

LOL...

Quarry diving is fine, and it can prepare you for ocean diving to some extent.

But remember...

The first time you're on a crowded 6-pack, fifteen miles from land, and you've been hurling breakfast and then dry heaving the whole hour trip out, and they just spent another half hour setting the hook while you were struggling to get your dry suit on in 4-6 seas, overheating while the cold spray is stinging your face, and there's a ripping current with 5-foot viz, and you're slinging a bail-out bottle for the first time, with more weight than you're used to, and you're about to do your first "Jersey Roll" over the side into choppy 45deg water, when you notice that your "buddy" who hit the water just a second ago is long gone, and you're praying that the 50' boat doesn't slam down on you after you hit the water, and you're hoping that if you don't get to the downline to the Carolina rig quick enough that you can at least grab the trail line before the current takes you past the ball, and you're trying to remember which compass heading to follow because the wreck was wire dragged and depth-charged sixty years ago so it's nothing more than scattered hull plates, and then once you get down to 90' it's not only snotty viz but "night-dive" dark, and you're all alone, hoping you can find your way back to the anchor at the end of the dive without getting tangled in your wreck reel, so you can do your ascent on the line, otherwise you'll need to shoot a bag in the middle of the ocean and hope that the boat sees you, and that you don't drift even further away while you're doing your safety stop, puking through your regulator, and when you finally do get back to the boat you need to perfectly time your exit with the boat hopping +/- eight feet so you don't have the ladder crack your skull, and you're struggling to get your fins on and up every step, so you don't fall off, potentially getting swept past the ball again, so you can get to the top without pinching a finger off as the metal ladder repeatedly crashes into the boat, and climb over the transom with 100lbs of gear on, shuffle back across the crowded deck back to your 18" of space on the bench, with what little gear you could bring aboard stuffed into a milk crate under your seat, so you can get out of your rig, while not slipping on the deck or tripping on scattered gear as the boat is still tossing, in order to get your BC off your first tank and onto your second, changing your regs over, with both tanks bungied to the rail so that they don't fall and break someone's foot, while you try to make sure your mask doesn't go overboard, because you just remembered that your backup is in your trunk which is not across the parking lot but back at the dock, and you're starving but forgot to bring anything to eat and there's no snack bar on a boat, and the captain is now trying to get everyone back in the water for the second dive because he wants you back on board by 11am so he can slam you around for an hour while you're breaking down and stowing your gear at 25kts to get back to the dock in time for you to get all your crap off the boat in about 30 seconds without forgetting anything, and wondering how much to tip the crew...

"Oh Toto...

"...I don't think we're in the quarry anymore."

All the time spent in the quarry has prepared you for this dive to some extent, but know that - like any new environment - this is your first dive like this!

Heck, that's half the fun!