What do YOU consider a good dive?

[ScubaFeenD]

I have often wondered what the world of experienced divers think makes up a good dive. This is highly subjective, and there is obviously no right or wrong answer. Nevertheless, I want to see if there are some common trends.

I know the (seemingly)obvious ones like good vis, lower currents, warmer temps will probably come up often, but I want to see if there are conditions that are not generally mentioned that divers with experience may think just 'makes a dive.'

BTW the purpose of this is just curiosity and to help me identify potentially amazing dives that I would not have otherwise sought out.

My Favs (in order of importance):
1) Marine life: no matter vis, temp, current, etc if there is good marine life to be seen then that dive is automatically amazing.
2.) Intact wrecks that end up at the bottom due to unplanned circumstances. The history is just too awesome.
3.) great surface conditions!

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone can have fun with this.

 

[uriho]

In my opinion a 'good' dive is when every body safely returns home!

Dives that I enjoy the most:
1. Drift dives with lots of marine life and corals.
2. Deep air dives...

the list goes on but I think that enough

 

[delray.piper]

A good dive?.. Let's see.

Lots of critters is first on the list. And I don't need big critters, I like the little ones also.

Second would be enough vis to see them and maybe get a picture or two.

Third would be surface conditions so I don't have to fight to get back on the kayak, or boat or beach, whichever I'm diving that day.

And finally, a friend to share it with.

 

[Akimbo]

Recreational: Having fun, getting some exercise without overtly working at it, and maybe augmenting dinner if that was an objective.

Commercial: Doing a better or faster job than the client expected. It is always a bummer when you have to report that the situation is worse than they thought. I suppose this isn't limited to the diving business though.

I have felt great after dives in really crappy conditions and gotten bored in travel magazine conditions. It is the experience that counts.

 

[TMHeimer]

Finding some good shells for my collection.

 

[kjvander]

A good dive to me is where everyone gets back (to shore or boat) and has a good time and we all breath some gas underwater. I enjoy the peace and serenity that is diving so any dive is a good dive as long as nothing goes wrong.

 

[Bill Parker]

A good dive is sort of like a plane landing: any landing
you can walk away from is a good landing. Any dive I
don't need medical treatment afterward is a good
dive. Seeing some cool sights, learning something
new, not losing or breaking any spendy equipment,
etc. is a just icing on the cake.

 

[DennisS]

Flat
No Current
Warm Water
Top to Bottom Viz
Nice reef

 

[TSandM]

For me, the nonnegotiable need for a good dive is that the water is glad to see me that day. I'm sure everybody here can recognize the dives where you get in and nothing feels right; your equipment isn't comfortable, your buoyancy control is off, you're distracted or feel stressed . . . A friend of mine calls those "combative" dives, because you are constantly fighting something.

On the other hand, there are the dives where you drop in and instantly feel at home -- relaxed, comfortable, stable and happy. It has to be like that to be a good dive. I don't know how to predict those dives, but I certainly know some things that are likely to lead to the other kind -- equipment changes, stress or time pressure getting into the water, performance anxiety, or any other kind of mental stress.

My second component for a good dive is a good team. When diving is like dance, and everybody knows what you are going to do and does it, and communication is effortless, and you find something wonderful and turn to look at your buddy and he has as big a grin on his face as you do . . . that's kind of automatically a good dive, whether you find anything terribly interesting or not.

Good viz is a bonus; color is a great plus; good weather getting in and out of the water is nice. But warm water? Not so much. I am slowly and reluctantly coming to the conclusion that the very best diving, for me, is cold water diving. I love the profusion of kelp, whether it's stalked bull kelp or just the sea lettuce sort of stuff that carpets our sites in summer. I still enjoy the numerous invertebrates we have -- crabs, starfish, nudibranchs, sea cucumbers in orange, white and red -- and I miss them in the tropics. From the Channel Islands to Monterey, to Puget Sound, the San Juans, and up to Port Hardy, the vast majority of the amazing dives I have done have been in cold water.

And I was the one who was NEVER going to set foot in Puget Sound! Who'da thunk it?

Edited to add: Any dive is a great dive if there is a cave involved in it

 

[elmer fudd]

I like to see some sea life and particularly something unusual like a large skate or a wolf eel out in the open.

Next, nothing should go wrong. No one should have forgotten their hood, keys shouldn't get locked in the car, no one should hook up their reg and find 2000 psi in an HP tank, etc...

Third, I like impressive structure. There's nothing like that deep sea wall that descends into blackness or the bow of a large boat rising from the bottom in the right light.

If a dive has two of these three things, then IMO, it's a good dive. If it's got all three then it's a great dive.