Where was the best visibility you ever encountered?

[terrasmak]

Ive only dove here in Okinawa and have seen some vis probably way past the 200 foot range maybe as high as 3 to 40 hundred .

 

[rigdiver]

I'd have to say either taj maha in the Mexican Riviera near Paamul, or Ginnie Springs in Fl.----tough call.
Bill

 

[LI Diver]

Hmmm....... I guess I'm gathering here that other than, Springs,Cenote's,and a few places thats really cold that as far as saltwater goes it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time.I do see a few repeats with the Caymans and Molokai but maybe a thread on where and when the most dependably good visibility has been? I've really enjoyed these replies and learned of places I never knew existed!Please keep them coming!
Ed

 

[LI Diver]

Clear in all directions. What sticks in my mind is that it was like the water wasn't even there --- like I was suspended in air with the wall out in front of me.

It was so awesome that I swam quite a ways out from the wall to get a better wide, wide angle view. Easily 300'+ for still seeing good details, probably 500'+if I was calling viz by just being able to see a diver and/or bubbles.

I've done the Molokini backwall at least 40 times and this time was dramatically better than any other time. Some days the viz is 100', sometimes it's 200', but the water still limits the viz and you are aware of having water between you and other things. On that very special day, it was like the water wasn't even there. I've had that same sort of super high viz experience in cenotes, but there your line of sight is limited by the twists and turns of the passages. Super clear and wide open spaces is an awesome combo.

(Yes, as you can probably tell from the tone of my post, I still get excited about it when thinking back to that day!)

When you say backwall charlie does that mean inside or outside the crater? And if outside what are the conditions like? You know current,wave action, max depth etc.?

 

[bertschb]

The best vis I've ever seen was in Cozumel last October (four days before Wilma hit us). It was at least 150' - could have been 200'. I didn't really appreciate the vis until we (finally) got home and I looked at the pictures/video. We only got to dive two days before they shut the harbor down but those two days were amazing.

 

[Charlie99]

When you say backwall charlie does that mean inside or outside the crater? And if outside what are the conditions like? You know current,wave action, max depth etc.?

Backwall means outside the crater.

Molokini is a volcanic tuft cone that sits in the several mile wide channel between S. Maui and Kaho'olawe. 600' deep in most areas IIRC. The backwall is truly vertical as it has been formed by wave action undercutting the wall, which then falls away. Underwater one can see ancient undercuts and wave erosion from when the sea level was lower. The wall is very close to vertical down to the bottom around 250-350'. It also continues vertically up into the air as a cliff for quite a ways.

On that special day with super viz we jumped off the boat only about 150' from the wall. When I came back up sputtering about seeing the bottom, the Capt looked at the fathometer and called off the 350' number. This was only about 15 minutes after sunrise, with the sun still hidden behind Haleakala volcano on Maui.

The backwall is exposed to open ocean all the way to New Zealand from the SW. SW swells hit and backwall with lots of white water, but in reality one can swim right up next to the white water zone without any problem other than getting splatted ocassionally when the reflected backswell combines with the incoming swell in a little peak. NW swells will wrap around the island and show up on the backwall as very smooth, sinusoidal swells, much like an open ocean swell. The prevailing trade winds are from the NE, so the wind waves tend to be blocked by the inside crater.

Sitting out in the middle of the channel, the current hits Molokini, divides and flows around it. That means that different sections will have very different currents. Most of the time, one can find a section that has <1/4kt. The current does tend to get channelled by the two tips of the crater, however, and it's common to have to hold onto rocks if one wants to hang out at the ridge at the Enenue point and watch the grey sharks hang in the current.

Max depth of your dive is what you choose. Most of the time, unless you are going down to look at deepwater species such as black coral, it's better to stay at 80' or shallower to increase your bottom time. There are lots of interesting stuff all the way to the surface and I often do my 15' hang in the surge zone ---- if you watch the fish, you can pick a spot where you stay at the same depth and are only moved side to side by the swell.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Depending on conditions vertical visibility can be better, worse or the same as horizontal visibility. When there is a difference, it can be a small difference or a large one.

Unfortunately this is as "clear" as the "visibility" of this subject ever gets. Under any normal circumstances I'd say this is so generic as to state no opinion at all, but this is actually pretty well put.

 

[jaydub]

okinawa japan - easily 200+ft vis at maeda point

 

[LI Diver]

Unfortunately this is as "clear" as the "visibility" of this subject ever gets. Under any normal circumstances I'd say this is so generic as to state no opinion at all, but this is actually pretty well put.

No pun intended I suppose!

 

[LI Diver]

Thats two votes for Okinawa