The Clarity Of Little Visibility

[tmacdiver]

Can u get narked at 60 ft? { just kidding, couldnt resist}
Tom :>

 

[TSandM]

It's funny how different my reaction is. Reading your description made me quite honestly queasy. I absolutely LOATHE midwater without a visual reference -- it isn't relaxing and peaceful to me, it's a place where vertigo monsters lurk and pounce. I have learned through tooth-gritted, determined repetition to cope with it, but I will never enjoy it.

 

[SEMO Scuba]

You ought to dive the quarry again after dark! The local quarry that I dive has pretty low viz early in the summer too. I did my first low viz night dives two weeks ago and I'll be doing more of them this summer. Low viz night dives are an even greater sensation. It's just you, the water, and what little you can see. I found it very serene and relaxing. I expected it to stress me mentally but it didn't.

 

[sabbath999]

You ought to dive the quarry again after dark! The local quarry that I dive has pretty low viz early in the summer too. I did my first low viz night dives two weeks ago and I'll be doing more of them this summer. Low viz night dives are an even greater sensation. It's just you, the water, and what little you can see. I found it very serene and relaxing. I expected it to stress me mentally but it didn't.

Which local quarry? We were diving New Melle.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

It's funny how different my reaction is. Reading your description made me quite honestly queasy. I absolutely LOATHE midwater without a visual reference -- it isn't relaxing and peaceful to me, it's a place where vertigo monsters lurk and pounce. I have learned through tooth-gritted, determined repetition to cope with it, but I will never enjoy it.

Ditto.

My total "low viz" dives are quite limited (lowest viz for me has been maybe 10'), so I am in total awe and have great respect for all of you who dive in those conditions regularly.

On the other hand, low viz in a quary with a 6" bluegill is a different animal from low viz in an ocean known for 12'+ tiger sharks that hunt green sea turtles in, you guessed it, low viz conditions .... :shocked2: I generally abort a dive these days when the viz drops below about 20' because I get a bad case of the "heebie-jeebies" :shark:

sabbath999: Great write up!

Best wishes.

 

[ZzzKing]

I think you would make an excellent Texas Swamp Diver. There is a part of every dive here that is exactly as you've described. A very enjoyable read. Thanks!

 

[luckydays]

Thank you for your post Sabbath. It was an eloquent description for what most of us in the see and feel while diving locally. I hit the same quarry week after week to practice my diving and get wet. To some it gets old and I suppose that one day it will for me as well but for now, I am happy to dive even if I can barely see my buddy 3 feet away. The joy of getting the place you want to be is amazing when you cant see it. Even if you have seen it before. Beside the road to the destination is almost as important as the destination itself.

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

Now that's scuba diving. You really captured the feeling and nuances of midwater diving. A few weeks ago I dove with a guy who said he had never dove in less than 100' visibility. Wanted an introduction to our little ol' Lake Pleasant. Our dive started with 5 foot vis at 58 degrees. Vis "opened up" to about 10 feet at 60 feet and 54 degrees. About half the dive was midwater.
I don't think he'll be back to the lake any time soon.

Great dive though.

 

[memorex77]

This is also a very nice summary for the typical question that I always get: "Why are you diving in those conditions (i.e. low viz + very cold)". It's quite hard to explain, and probably even harder to understand when you haven't experienced it yourself.

 

[Guba]

We would sink down in the cold murky water and the entire world would disappear... replaced by nothing more than a vague greenness around us, darker below and lighter above... and these little white organic bits that look exactly like plankton at night (but which actually were little tiny particles...

I'm with Zzzking on this one...Welcome to our world (the realm of Texas Swamp Divers).