halocline
Contributor
It’s not about risk, it’s about developing confidence and good solid habits in a progressive manner. You can try what you’re suggesting, but I wouldn’t expect it to be a positive experience given the minimal time you will have spent in the water, all of which will have been without a wetsuit and in much easier, more forgiven environment. But if the water temp where you will dive locally is in the 60s (this time of year, around here in upstate NY it’s more like 40s) and you can rent/borrow a well fitting 7mil wetsuit, and your expectations are low in terms of your ability to transfer the skills you have recently been taught to this much more difficult environment, then sure.OK so as I re-read this, it seems like if I am working with an instructor for my first times at a local quarry it's not as much risk- true? I do see what you are saying though- just jumping in with a totally different kind of diving and fresh water instead of salt and very cold water instead of bath-water warm- the risk goes way up for me. Having an instructor there covers a lot of bases- things like "dude you don't want those gloves your fingers will be frozen solid in minutes" instead of just finding that out on my own when I am 40 or 50' underwater. Then boom- oh hey, my buoyancy and trim are all messed up and my fingers are frozen and I am starting to panic...not good.
I’m not trying to be discouraging. There’s no doubt that you or anyone else can learn to dive really well in cold water. It’s just not ideal to go from 3-4 days of OW class in 80F clear water immediately to cold, dark water. More experience developing good skills in an easier environment is better as a first step.