River Diving

[Chr is Hipp]

Are there any specialty courses for river diving, would it be necessary?

What skills would one want to work on the most to be able to do it?

 

[dorset47]

An excellent source of info on lots of stuff including river diving:: http://www.mindspring.com/~divegeek/

 

[Chr is Hipp]

" I have seen divers impaled from objects (steel rods, pieces of wood, etc.) sticking up from the bottom in both wreck and river dives."

After reading that site I can safely say that I have no interest in river diving anymore

 

[jiveturkey]

Don't give up so easily. The last river dive I did was great and was perfectly safe. I had excellent vis and was able to swim right under a waterfall.

I'm sure some river diving is dangerous but that's certainly not blanket coverage. Make sure you're aware of the local conditions for your specific dive site. It might not be as bad as you think. I'm sure you'll find sites that have varying degrees of difficulty and challenge.

 

[pipedope]

Is to work upcurrent.

That way you move into things slowly and with control and the current will help you back away if there is a problem.

This is especially true when diving surface supplied and the current will help keep the umbilical out of the entanglements.

Most river diving is done by feel so you want to be comfortable diving in zero vis with no current before you try most rivers.

 

[Bob3]

If you're into scrounging goodies, you'll be hard pressed to find a better spot than rivers.
Lots of old bottles, etc.
I've always wanted to hit the Cooper River sometime, I hear there's even a few inches of viz !!!

 

[pipedope]

I did an equipment and tools dive in the Little Econ river on the east side of Orlando and if I didn't move or touch anything the vis would get up to almost 2 feet!

Touch anything or move and the vis went back to nil.

The foreman was amazed at how fast I found his cressent wrench. I just said, 'This is what I DO."

Unbolting the jacking collar took a little longer.
All in all a nice way to make a few bucks. The river was much cleaner than most of the ponds I dive.

 

[PaulB]

I noticed that on shore dives when they are searching for things, they often just lightly pull themselves along with their hands to minimize the slit. Is that the same with river diving?