When is bad vis a problem?

[carrielsal]

Low to almost no vis can be common in our local mud hole when the lake starts turning over. I know for many divers it's creepy. If I'm with an experienced dive buddy, it's a good time to practice skills. Occasionally it will be so bad I can't see the glow of my computer. For me that can be disorienting, since I can't tell if I'm swimming down toward the riverbed. When that happens I stop for a moment to take a couple of deep breaths, then slowly start fingerwalking until I can see my computer and compass.

Carrie

 

[carrielsal]

I'm okay with zero viz in rivers and quarries and other bodies of water where I'm pretty sure there aren't any fish that will bump up against me. Zero to very low viz in Lake Travis creeps me out BIG TIME. It has nothing to do with not being able to see my gauges or my buddy but has everything to do with fish touching me. In the smaller training lakes around Houston, the fish are very small. For some reason even night diving in the vast ocean doesn't bother me in the least. Once I start cave training, I think I will handle it well because there aren't too many man-sized cave fish. LOL! Now that I'm thinking about it, I would much prefer to see a shark approaching in 10fsw than a catfish in the same visibility. Yeah, I've got issues.

I still jump a bit if a fish swims into my light in the deeper depths where you don't expect to see fish. I have yet to see any monster size catfish in the riverbed, but it's bound to happen.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Well, I can tell you that low vis in Northern California is quite common. Combine that with larger swells and surge, cold water in the 45 to 50 degree range, urchins, rocky structure that can come out of nowhere when your getting jetisoned by the surge, and yes the always present thought of sharks. This makes for some adrenaline filled dives.
It really hits home when out of the gloom you come across a headless seal rolling around on the ocean floor.
Low vis always contributes to the drama and mystery.

 

[carrielsal]

I might feel a little differently if there was the possibility of coming across a headless sealion! At least in the local mudpit I know I'm not going to bump into a shark.

 

[Diver0001]

What kind of draft are those barges/ tugs running? Scary stuff!!

Probably not more than 2-3 metres. Large container ships probably draw on the order of 13-14 metres. The largest/deepest ship I know about draws 24.

Nevertheless I've been in that situation where a ship passes over head and it's a lot of noise. At one of the local divespots is adjacent to a shipping lane in a narrow straight and when ships go through there you can feel your flippers vibrate... LOL

R..

 

[pittyyofool]

for me bad vis is only a problem if I cant see my gauges in front of my face. I did a great dive in 1-2 feet of visibility the other week and had a great time limited on lobster in 25min. I got so many I was trading small ones in my bag for large ones. 2ft= can't see your hand with a straight arm

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I like the comment about bad viz only being a problem when you make it one!

Like others I dive to enjoy the sights and the fish.. if I can't see them there isn't really a lot of joy in it for me. That said.. I like to do things that extend my skills and comfort levels.

I would add that my attitude to the viz depends on who I will be diving with. I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone with poor skills or poor buddy skills in terrible viz.

My willingness to dive in lousey viz would also depend on how long it has been since my last dive... 3 or 4 weeks of no diving and I might be tempted by a mud puddle:lol:

Diver0001.. our regular dive site borders on a shipping channel... man those Container Ships passing within metres can make you vibrate!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob - :homealone:

Okay, your story of nearly being decapitated by a barge in a shipping lane WAY supercedes my minor little hurling-in-my-reg story!

No, it turned out that it was never an issue. The tug and barge were a couple hundred yards away from us. But we didn't know that ... from the sound and vibration it felt like it was right on top of us. And as a result, stress was the issue ... and stress is never your friend underwater.

Another time we were doing a dive in Lake Washington on an old mine sweeper we'd picked up on our side-scan. We always attempt to drop a line near, but not on, these wrecks as they can be fragile and you don't want to damage them. Lake Washington is typically quite dark, especially down in the 190-200 ffw range. As we were descending down the line I suddenly noticed structure a couple feet behind the line. I turned to my right, to get eye contact with my buddy and noticed structure a couple feet to his right as well. Uh oh ... turning a complete circle I could see structure all around us.

We had dropped the down line right through an opening on the deck of the sweeper, and were inside of it. Vis was poor enough that we hadn't even seen the ship as we had descended down to (and into) it. Of course, it was simple enough to just follow the line up a few feet and get out the same we we got in.

A few of our lake dives were in very low vis conditions. Here is a write-up on one of our lowest vis dives to date ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ligersandtions]

Do you know people who do this??

It depends on what you like... I am still happy enough to do a dive just on sand I guess the novelty of just being in the water hasn't worn off yet. I've done a few very low viz and a few zero viz dives, and I found it really fascinating actually. The reason why I have commented on your post in particular is because I had a friend accuse me of doing low viz dives over winter locally just to 'add dives to my log'. He is one of those people that if he doesn't like it (he doesn't like bad viz, no critters and cold water), he expects that anyone else who says they enjoy it is lying.

I know of people who do this....I don't dive with people like that though. I suspect a decent number of people who do that are preparing for a Divemaster course or something that requires X number of dives...

Either way, a buddy of mine and I once went out. The vis was no more than 2 feet (maybe less)....it was fairly surge-y out there. He was leading and I was trying to follow. After getting separated for the second time, we met on the surface and he said to me, "I don't really want to keep diving....what do you think? I've been doing this long enough that I don't do 'throw away' dives anymore." I thought it was the perfect term....I don't do 'throw away' dives (those that just add to your count). If I'm not enjoying myself, it's time to do something different for the day....like grab lunch with your buddy and talk about good dives!

 

[AfterDark]

Bad vis can be relative, like for me if i was diving in Shark water about 20ft of vis would probably make me nervous, I could see the reef ok but it would be easy for a shark to surprise me and I might think about that while diving. (I am not generally afraid of sharks but sharks and low vis would be concerning). 6 ft vis might be fine for a checkout dive for open water students but would not be ok for a new part of a cave exploration.

Don't worry about sharks in low vis you never see the one that gets you anyway:shocked2:

Here in Rhode Island low vis is a way of life. I'm fond of saying 10' is good 20' is great 30' your not in Rhode Island!