Hey James, you should really check out Barracuda Lake in Coron, Philippines. They have a great reverse thermocline, when we were there the water temp was 28C at the surface and 38C 18m down. It was very interesting to sweat underwater!
I am a Monterey diver, so we consider 60 F “warm water diving”. I’ve never dove in any but a 7 mm semi dry or a dry suit with a 400 under garment. Coldest I’ve ever been in was last spring at Pt Lobos, in a semi dry when we hit 48 F at 60 fsw. Brrr. Bought the dry suit the next day. Nice then relatively toasty except when my Kubi got a pin hole leak and my right hand was numb and almost none functional at the end of the dive.
I’m a Monterey diver too 😎🤙 I remember my first dive here (Breakwater) wearing a 7mm, boots gloves etc… walking in thinking oh this isn’t so bad, then putting my face in and feeling like instant frostbite! 🤣🤣 What I will say is that was April, by August the water has warmed to a more pleasant temp for diving
Hi James thanks for the info. I dived yesterday in Cape Point in False Bay (Cape Town) with a 2 piece 3mm wetsuit. Water temp 14C. Froze me silly. Was swimming circles and sucking air to keep warm. Swam with some Cape Fur Seals which was lekker, though! Appreciate the content. You are awesome.
Florida springs diver most of the time. Spend all day in the springs in shorts and have no problem. Went to Dutch Springs last month and had my first experience with thermoclines top about 78, then 66, then 55. 5 mill, no hood or gloves. The dive was great except for hands and ears. 55 degree water, I was happy to ascend to the warmer layers. Learned my lesson.
Thanks James. All of my doves have been here in Sydney. Coldest water temp was 14C and warmest i think has been 26-28 up at the GBR. I dive a 7mm in the Sydney area year round pretty much. At the GBR, I have worn a 5mm shorty, 1.5mm rashy and I brought a 2.5mm wetsuit for my last trip to GBR during winter and stinger season. Keep up the videos. Maybe one day I’ll get back to my home state of Florida and join a dive with you.
Thermoclines are no surprise at all with lake divers, especially during the summer. 0'-20' (+/-) 85f (30c) bathwater, 21'-100': 58f (14f) Coldest wet suit dive: 45f (7c) included a one piece 7mm, 3mm hooded vest and 6mm boots. Learned that tucking wetsuit in boots is NOT the way to go. Also learned that a nice bottle of warmed water poured in your suit before getting in the water is very beneficial!
Coldest I've EVER been, diving or not, was on the Mendocino, Calif. coast. I was diving with my club, the North Coast Divers, and had just entered the water and was putting my left fin on, when my drysuit flooded around my pee valve. We'd gone through a lot to get things together for the dive, so when my dive buddy asked if I wanted to call the dive, I said "No. Let's see how this goes. I'll turn the dive if I start shivering. You lead." The water was 46F, so it was "bracing," to say the least. I tried to stay as still and horizonal as possible, because every time I shifted, the water swished around in my drysuit and part I had just warmed was exchanged for more frigid water. I continued on and found solace in remembering the hilarious video of Dr. Richard Pyle's "Hypothermia Induced Tourette's.*" I was getting colder and colder and doing my bit for "mind over matter" and using will power to continue to endure the cold. I was feeling a bit proud of myself for sticking it out and thought that we must must coming close to the halfway mark on our planned hour-long dive, so I slowly brought my right wrist into view (so as not to disturb the puddle in my drysuit) and saw that we had been diving for . . . six minutes. Oh boy! I ended up enduring the entire hour-long dive, but I needed help from my buddy to get out of my drysuit. My legs were so full of water, I could barely walk and, after having my buddy open the rear zipper, I laid down on my back and he had to lift each leg to drain the water from it - all along my back! I quickly got out of my soaked undergarments and got into my vehicle with the heater running full blast. I found a coin laundry next to a pizza joint, so I washed and dried my stuff for the next day's dives and warmed up my insides with some hot pizza. When I got back to the campsite, most of the female members of our club came up to me and cursed me out. WHAT?! Turns out that word of my enduring an hour dive in a flooded drysuit in 46F water had gotten around. "Damn it, Oren. Because of you, our husbands will never turn a dive in the future when we get cold." You can't win. * The Hypothermia Induced Tourette's Syndrome video czcams.com/video/qkUGmnoibzU/video.html&ab_channel=TheDeepGreene
Coldest dive: 30F (Greenland). I was wearing a drysuit with many thermal layers, 11mm hood and dry gloves with two pairs of marino wool gloves on. My longest dive there was 40 minutes and for the most part I was good but my fingers were blocks of ice. Warmest dive: Sarasota, Florida in the summer: 89F. I never wear less than a 5mm wetsuit - I'm a wimp and get cold easily. I usually do two hour dives so the 5mm is great for keeping me warm over the long dive.
I've been a happy subscriber for a while but never before felt like commenting. I got my OW and AOW at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM, and felt like I almost failed on the mask-clearing skill. This was in 2014. Wearing a 7-mil wetsuit in 60-degree F water wasn't enough and I was already cold when asked to fill and clear my mask. I'd had no problem with that in warmer water, but filling my mask triggered a common cold-exposure reflex that made me need to breathe hard. Still totally new to diving, I overreacted and surfaced too quickly. We were probably at 15 feet or shallower. I felt humiliated but my instructor took the conditions and everything else I'd done that day into account, let me try again, and was fine when I succeeded on my second try. It was a lesson that really stuck with me - don't understimate the potential effect of even chilly water. It's a big deal.
Water heat is also related to your expected dive depth. The deeper you go, the colder it will be. Also the colder you get, the colder spiral you will fall into. Your head also sheds the most heat so carry a dive hood. Early morning dives will be colder as less solar water heating has happened and your body is warmer so the cold water is more shocking. "night" dives however can still mean the water has retained much of the days heat. The more you repeat dive the less chance your body is heat recovering each subsequent dive so wear warmer dive suit parts each time (hood/warmer gloves/full length leggings vs shorty/warmer wet oe drysuit/dive undergarments) Thermoclines can sometimes be seen, as the ocean floor below, looks out of focus - for no apparent reason.
I dived in barracuda lake in the Philipines, it has a reversed thermocline. The surface is 28°C ( 82°F) and at 14meters (45 feet) it goes straight to 38°C (100.4°F) so warmer than body temp. Felt like beeing cooked in the begining. Surface is fresh water and below 14m is salt water. Really weard feeling and when you came back up above 14m it felt soooo cold when you got used to the warmth 😅 No wetsuit needed at the bottom but when you got back up... 🥶
Tobermory Ontario, 39 Celsius…99 feet deep…23 min. …7mil wet with 5 mil boots gloves and hood…hands were freezing everything else ok…need a dry suit to get the most out of the wrecks up here…warmest was Philippines…
Great video. Old Pennsylvania Ice Diver. 34 degrees F. in a 0.5 inch farmerjohn wetsuit for my first dive during my Ice Diving Certification class. Every cold water dive since has been in a drysuit, a Poseidon Unisuit, to be exact. Wish I still had it. Damned ex-wife.... Warmest dives, in the Florida Keys, 70+ water temps.
I wore a 7mil during my rescue course in a Pennsylvania quarry and didn’t use the gloves or hood and all was fine. Did a “fun dive” after the course and went through two thermoclines that took the temp from 78 at the surface to 53 at a depth of 75 feet. Holy cow was that cold and uncomfortable. I blasted through my air and froze the whole time. I learned a lot on the dive, especially when it comes to anticipating what may happen and not relying on what I had experienced on the course dives to 30 feet.
October 2018, went to Cozumel. The 3mm full was fine for the ocean dives, but then went on a Cenote dive -- 77.5F in a 3mm full. Fffffroze my butt off. Super glad I went but that second dive I kind of had to steel myself to get in. Then in Feb 2020, went diving in Lake Mead. 56.1F, but I had a 3mm full, 5mm hooded vest and 7mm full over everything and was really comfy. Layers!
Middle of Sweden, late febuary. This means -6 degrees celsius in the air, and 2 degrees in the water. we usually put our kit in the water to thaw before the second dive... problem is if the kit has frozen to the bench you left it on! had to tug a bit before i got it loose. Rest was easy tho, no free flows or anything (keeping my kit in good shape!). drysuit with a santi BZ400X undergarment, and and extra thin merino wool layer. I still keep my winter dives to 40 minutes or else it get's too cold.
One day we dove to a wreck that is about 16m (52,5 ft) deep. The water on the surface was about 26°C (78,8°F) and the bottom temperature was about 14°C (57,2°F). That was kinda suprising. But it was good because a jelly fish stung me that dive and it hurts less in cold water than in warm water. And my first dive was a trial dive to see if we like scuba diving. At that dive I got very cold, as we got out of the water my lips were purple and my fingers were a bit numb. The instructor was very caring and gave me a towel :D He told us he didn't expected us as we attended an open water course a year later. :) PS: Both dives were in the baltic sea.
Swedish diver here - coldest dive was around 0C (salt water can be below zero) , often we dive around 4-6C - always in a drysuit of course. You still get very cold after 60 min, usually your hands are like blocks of ice. Warmest dive in Barracuda Lake in the Phillipines, - 32C on the surface, getting hotter the deeper you went. I gave up at 39C - that was really uncomfortable,
Lake Mead diving the B-29 is my coldest dive. 121 surface air temp, 58 degrees on the bottom, 86 on deco. On dive 1 I went down, as I was putting air in my suit, it felt a little wet, I figured it was probably sweat, until I got below the thermocline, it wasn't sweat. I thumbed the dive. I go on dive 2 after letting my undergarments dry out in the desert heat. No gloves so my fingers got a little cold.
I usually dive in cold fresh water lakes where we do experience a strong thermocline. In summer when it's 30c (86 F) outside. The water temperature at the surface can be 24 C (75 F) but at 25 meters or deeper it doesn't get warmer then 7 C (45 F). I really should dress for the cold water, but getting into my suite with these temperatures is challenging. Specially if we have to walk for some distance to get to the water from the parking lot all geared up. I will be sweating like hell. My undersuite will become wet and I get cold. Nowadays I generally don't do any deep dives on warm days. Generally do those in winter when it's just above freezing all around.
Just got back from a liveaboard-trip to the red sea. Had the same question beforehand, should I go for a shorty or the 5 mil. Chose the warmer protection and guess what, never felt cold, neither to hot. Even at the fourth dive at night, still comfortable. If one brings two wetsuits to change inbetween dives, it isn’t even moist anymore at donning.
Coldest lake Hartwell SC 41deg in February. 5 mil 2 pc farmer John w/hood and gloves. Felt a lot colder because it was a sunny day getting a black wetsuit on. By the time we got into the water I was sweating.
Coldest dive? About 2C in Dorothea Quarry in North Wales in winter. I was wearing a 2 piece 7mm Semi-Dry suit. It froze while I was taking it off in the car park after the dive. I bought a dry suit the next weekend... Warmest. 38C Half-Moon Bay in Saudi Arabia. Just wore a skin for that one.
On my open water cert dive, it was 70 degree water. My 7 mm suit was perfect. However, my instructor, who was in a dry suit dropped below the thermal Kline and I followed him blindly and it went from 70 to 50. My body stay warm but my uncovered head not so much. It was like getting a brain freeze. Needless to say I then discovered what the thermal Kline looked like and stayed above it after that.
Lake Huron on shipwreck Regina 8/29/2021. 77' down 47°F. Air temp 82° F. Hazy blue water, 20' viz. Wetsuit 5mm arms/7mm torso. After 45 minutes I welcomed the 1 hour surface interval.
On a recent dive visiting an old WWII fighter, located in Lake Washington. We were wearing drysuits with 2 base layers. After descending below 50+ feet, we must have hit a thermocline, as the temp. dropped from 54F to 46F. I was pretty cold, so cold that my first thought was I had a suit failure. I'm traveling to Key Largo for DM training at the end of November. I'm really looking forward to the warm water 🙃
Warmest dive so far was Cozumel, MX in the month of August, water temp was 87F and I was in a long sleeve rash guard and board shorts for 14 dives through out the week no issues was great :). Coldest dive so far has been Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands of the coast of Ventra California where the water temp was 57F and I was in a dry suit. Dives with issues: Was diving during the summer in AZ in my local lake and plan was to find a card table with skeletons that someone had setup at around 45ft, surface water temp was 85F , air temp 100F and I was in a 3mill expecting some thermocline as per the usual with this lake at around 30-40 feet. Well we end up blowing by the table as the visibility above 40ft was 1-5ft of pee soup and thus we quickly end up at 60ft and then 80ft and the visibility increased to 40ft and going through two thermoclines that dropped the water temp down to 57F lol. Needless to say we made our way back up through the thermoclines quickly and then found the table before heading back to shore. Other more recent set of dives that caught me off guard was in St Lucia in June with water temp of 83F and I had done three dives already during the day and then did a fourth at night with me in a rash guard and board shorts or all. Never noticed being cold while in the water, but once i got out and we went to dinner I started shaking and teeth chattering. Chalked it up the lower water temp and that each of the dives were around 70-75 each that particular day. So warmed overnight and up took the next morning off from diving, then back at it the afternoon wearing my 3mill I had brought :)
Coldest dive was 0.5°C there was actually a very thin layer of ice that had frozen on the surface of the water this was done in a dry suit face was cold until it went numb. Warmest would be 21°C and would either do just shorts and t-shirt or a 3 mm if it was a longer dive.
Great information about preparing for unforeseen conditions or at least those you are not used to. I am still diving the Michigan lakes and rivers right now in a layered 7 mil wetsuit. It is COLD at depth and I know my days are limited as winter closes in. I am actively checking into drysuits right now and would appreciate any thoughts (or a video) covering the basics about purchasing this expensive, bur necessary, piece of gear. Questions to ask, etc. This is a really helpful series- thanks for putting it together!
This. Need a video about different dry suits, crushed membrane vs Trilaminate, and so forth. Also, why do dry suits all looked like Hefty trash bags? I mean it's 2022; you'd figure something more hydrodynamic would exist.
Note the planet is tilted so the sun heats more areas north or south of the equator in winter/summer. Either way the equator gets lots of that angled sun in both seasons.
Coldest Dive: ICE Dive in a 1/4" wet suit. I was taking an ICE diving course back in 1978 /1979 and the Instructor made us make our first dive in a wet suit. Never felt anything as cold as that water going down my back and I grew up in Michigan. Wasn't to bad after my body warmed up the water. Until I got out of the water. It was a long walk to the van to change.
i used to dive south with a 3mm and switched to a 5mm with a hood when my breathing improved and i was able to stay down longer. also after getting out of the water after the 2nd dive i get out of my dive suit asap and towel down. if its a hot day i go into the water before the boat leaves to cool off. also if i get hot under the water i grab my collar and let water in.' after the 1st dive i figure out what's getting cold, i have gloves for my hands and dive socks for my feet under my dive boots.
Love all your videos! We are going back to Bonaire in November for the 2nd time. I love your wife’s cute little animal nose she added to her mask and would love to know how she did it.
Coldest dive for me is 46 F in 7 mil hood and gloves. Warmest was same lake diving at 98 F. Did not witness it but a slate was left behind by a diver on tge training platform the the temp one day was 101 F.
South Florida diver here and love this topic. Thermocline can hit like an ice bucket challenge. I hate being cold (why I moved here) yet as long as i'm prepared, I can deal. P.S. How awesome is that acsent back into the warm layer?! 🤤
@@mitchhushak4264 Dove Palm Beach County late Aug, the water temp was about 88-85° until 60ft then it dropped to 74° instantly. Left wetsuit on boat from everyone saying how warm the water was that morning on the same site. The shock made it hard to take full breathes. I almost called the dive but was able to acclimate after 5 min. Dive master later told me on the dock that it also caught him by surprise. Wore my wetsuit on the next dive and water temp never went below 84°. You just never know.
That's not as bad as I thought. Here in the Iowa quarries, mid-summer, when the air temp is 95F, surface temps can be in the mid 70's, but 40F or less below 35 feet. Sometimes, when the conditions are right, you can stick your arm through the t-cline, feel 38F on your hand, 70F on your shoulder. And you can see it. Debris will settle on the density interface. Kind of cool, actually.
Fantasy Lake in North Carolina (not much of fantasy if you ask me) 82 degrees at the surface, 45 degrees on the other side of the thermocline. 2 piece 5mm. Ridiculous!
I only streaked when I was looking down and a green sea tuhtle head appeared in my face inches away in a position I knew his body was directly below me, within a couple inches. A real close encounter of the turtle kind. Normally they only allow a few feet not inches. The whole secret to being near a turtle is not to move. Just float like they do.
What is it with divers and Cold, if you want warm water go in the bath tab!! 18 C is worm water!! I invite you all to swim (yes swim with only swimmers) in the Humbold Stream coming from Antarctica and then you can go and enjoy the rest of the warm wold
Over most of my dive time I only dove at tropical destinations as here in Portugal it is too clod to dive a wet suit, at least for me. After living in UK I started cold water diving in a dry suit and bought my dry suit immediately with a dry glove system as diving without feeling my hands doesn't work. During winter time when diving inland water can get up to 5⁰C which for me has never been an issue despite everyone making fun of the amount of clothes and lead I carry, but guess what even with 0⁰C outside and 5⁰C water I've never been the one thumbing up the dive, actually I've always been nice and toasty. Now I'm back to Portugal where I'm from and I always dive dry either summer or winter even though the water never gets less than 15⁰C worst case. For me if it is 20⁰C or less I won't think twice before getting my dry suit.
My coldest: under sea ice with drysuit. After the dive my lips were so cold that I had difficulties to get te reg out of mouth. Te warmes was several years ago on the Red Sea in August. The water eas +30C. A frien of mine told after dive that he tried to cool a bit by stretchinf the collar of his wet suit. Then he noticed that he has no wet suit but T-shirt... The only case I know where people have dived in a water hotter than human body has been in Iceland by diving a geysire, see film Underwater Iceland by Marko Röhr.
Is it not the reverse. Most divers are sea based (most populations with coasts live near the coast over living inland) so diving in fresh water is different
DIvers ready I have a question! Throughout videos, you always mention BARE wetsuits to be wetsuits of your choice... I want to invest in a new wetsuit and am aiming for Bare Velocity Ultra 5 mm, but I am unable to find and reviews what so ever regarding this suit. I was wondering if you or someone you know has dived in this suit and is it worth it regarding the price? Thank you...
I dive that suit. I love it. I've left it on a dive and had it shipped home and I was scared it would not actually be mine lol. I love it ! It's expensive and if you dive alot of cold ... I'd recommend putting that $ down on a drysuit !
James has stated in the past that he dives the Bare primarily because it fits his very large body type well and is well made. I believe in his video on preparing for his recent trip to South Africa for the sardine run, he talks a bit about the Bare. Almost any suit will be warm if it fits correctly, is well made and uses quality neoprene. Of those three, fit is the most important. I do around 100 dives per year in water below 60F in California. My wet suit is custom made of Yamamoto neoprene, often considered the best in the world, by a local company called 7till8. It's quite warm.
@@kevingumfory Its not ideal for me to run drysuits as a divemaster, leading groups etc. Just looking for a wetsuit to handle 15 C to 22 C... 5 mm with a hood and a shortie to fill in the need if the water is on the colder end... Thank you for the reply.
@@jeffworst9939 I like the bare as it has many fit options, so i feel as i can not go wrong in that regard. I would order it online probably so that plays a big part. Thank you for the reply!
Hey James, you should really check out Barracuda Lake in Coron, Philippines. They have a great reverse thermocline, when we were there the water temp was 28C at the surface and 38C 18m down. It was very interesting to sweat underwater!
I dive in Seattle where it is either cold colder or super cold. Thanks for your vids.
I am a Monterey diver, so we consider 60 F “warm water diving”. I’ve never dove in any but a 7 mm semi dry or a dry suit with a 400 under garment. Coldest I’ve ever been in was last spring at Pt Lobos, in a semi dry when we hit 48 F at 60 fsw. Brrr. Bought the dry suit the next day. Nice then relatively toasty except when my Kubi got a pin hole leak and my right hand was numb and almost none functional at the end of the dive.
I’m a Monterey diver too 😎🤙 I remember my first dive here (Breakwater) wearing a 7mm, boots gloves etc… walking in thinking oh this isn’t so bad, then putting my face in and feeling like instant frostbite! 🤣🤣
What I will say is that was April, by August the water has warmed to a more pleasant temp for diving
Monterey is where I got certified 20 years ago. I know what you are talking about
I know, inthe pac NW 50 is consider warm vs the usual 40.
I use a 5mm Bare dry suit.
@@burnpitcav1519 Isn't Crater Lake an elevated dive??
Hi James thanks for the info.
I dived yesterday in Cape Point in False Bay (Cape Town) with a 2 piece 3mm wetsuit.
Water temp 14C.
Froze me silly. Was swimming circles and sucking air to keep warm. Swam with some Cape Fur Seals which was lekker, though!
Appreciate the content. You are awesome.
Florida springs diver most of the time. Spend all day in the springs in shorts and have no problem. Went to Dutch Springs last month and had my first experience with thermoclines top about 78, then 66, then 55. 5 mill, no hood or gloves. The dive was great except for hands and ears. 55 degree water, I was happy to ascend to the warmer layers. Learned my lesson.
Brilliant clip as always. Well done Jamsie.
Thanks James. All of my doves have been here in Sydney. Coldest water temp was 14C and warmest i think has been 26-28 up at the GBR. I dive a 7mm in the Sydney area year round pretty much. At the GBR, I have worn a 5mm shorty, 1.5mm rashy and I brought a 2.5mm wetsuit for my last trip to GBR during winter and stinger season. Keep up the videos. Maybe one day I’ll get back to my home state of Florida and join a dive with you.
Thermoclines are no surprise at all with lake divers, especially during the summer. 0'-20' (+/-) 85f (30c) bathwater, 21'-100': 58f (14f) Coldest wet suit dive: 45f (7c) included a one piece 7mm, 3mm hooded vest and 6mm boots. Learned that tucking wetsuit in boots is NOT the way to go. Also learned that a nice bottle of warmed water poured in your suit before getting in the water is very beneficial!
Coldest I've EVER been, diving or not, was on the Mendocino, Calif. coast. I was diving with my club, the North Coast Divers, and had just entered the water and was putting my left fin on, when my drysuit flooded around my pee valve. We'd gone through a lot to get things together for the dive, so when my dive buddy asked if I wanted to call the dive, I said "No. Let's see how this goes. I'll turn the dive if I start shivering. You lead."
The water was 46F, so it was "bracing," to say the least. I tried to stay as still and horizonal as possible, because every time I shifted, the water swished around in my drysuit and part I had just warmed was exchanged for more frigid water. I continued on and found solace in remembering the hilarious video of Dr. Richard Pyle's "Hypothermia Induced Tourette's.*" I was getting colder and colder and doing my bit for "mind over matter" and using will power to continue to endure the cold. I was feeling a bit proud of myself for sticking it out and thought that we must must coming close to the halfway mark on our planned hour-long dive, so I slowly brought my right wrist into view (so as not to disturb the puddle in my drysuit) and saw that we had been diving for . . . six minutes. Oh boy!
I ended up enduring the entire hour-long dive, but I needed help from my buddy to get out of my drysuit. My legs were so full of water, I could barely walk and, after having my buddy open the rear zipper, I laid down on my back and he had to lift each leg to drain the water from it - all along my back!
I quickly got out of my soaked undergarments and got into my vehicle with the heater running full blast. I found a coin laundry next to a pizza joint, so I washed and dried my stuff for the next day's dives and warmed up my insides with some hot pizza.
When I got back to the campsite, most of the female members of our club came up to me and cursed me out. WHAT?! Turns out that word of my enduring an hour dive in a flooded drysuit in 46F water had gotten around. "Damn it, Oren. Because of you, our husbands will never turn a dive in the future when we get cold."
You can't win.
* The Hypothermia Induced Tourette's Syndrome video czcams.com/video/qkUGmnoibzU/video.html&ab_channel=TheDeepGreene
Coldest dive: 30F (Greenland). I was wearing a drysuit with many thermal layers, 11mm hood and dry gloves with two pairs of marino wool gloves on. My longest dive there was 40 minutes and for the most part I was good but my fingers were blocks of ice.
Warmest dive: Sarasota, Florida in the summer: 89F. I never wear less than a 5mm wetsuit - I'm a wimp and get cold easily. I usually do two hour dives so the 5mm is great for keeping me warm over the long dive.
I've been a happy subscriber for a while but never before felt like commenting. I got my OW and AOW at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM, and felt like I almost failed on the mask-clearing skill. This was in 2014. Wearing a 7-mil wetsuit in 60-degree F water wasn't enough and I was already cold when asked to fill and clear my mask. I'd had no problem with that in warmer water, but filling my mask triggered a common cold-exposure reflex that made me need to breathe hard. Still totally new to diving, I overreacted and surfaced too quickly. We were probably at 15 feet or shallower. I felt humiliated but my instructor took the conditions and everything else I'd done that day into account, let me try again, and was fine when I succeeded on my second try. It was a lesson that really stuck with me - don't understimate the potential effect of even chilly water. It's a big deal.
Great video and information as always, Dave! Fantastic that DiveRite is working with you. I hope the partnership continues! Thanks again
Water heat is also related to your expected dive depth. The deeper you go, the colder it will be. Also the colder you get, the colder spiral you will fall into. Your head also sheds the most heat so carry a dive hood. Early morning dives will be colder as less solar water heating has happened and your body is warmer so the cold water is more shocking. "night" dives however can still mean the water has retained much of the days heat. The more you repeat dive the less chance your body is heat recovering each subsequent dive so wear warmer dive suit parts each time (hood/warmer gloves/full length leggings vs shorty/warmer wet oe drysuit/dive undergarments)
Thermoclines can sometimes be seen, as the ocean floor below, looks out of focus - for no apparent reason.
I like this video as I like the all series!! Well done James.
I dived in barracuda lake in the Philipines, it has a reversed thermocline.
The surface is 28°C ( 82°F) and at 14meters (45 feet) it goes straight to 38°C (100.4°F) so warmer than body temp. Felt like beeing cooked in the begining.
Surface is fresh water and below 14m is salt water.
Really weard feeling and when you came back up above 14m it felt soooo cold when you got used to the warmth 😅
No wetsuit needed at the bottom but when you got back up... 🥶
Thank you James!
This has been a great series!
My coldest dive has been -1C but normally water temperature has been 7C. Also love ice diving but hate the cold!
Good stuff! Dive safe.
Tobermory Ontario, 39 Celsius…99 feet deep…23 min. …7mil wet with 5 mil boots gloves and hood…hands were freezing everything else ok…need a dry suit to get the most out of the wrecks up here…warmest was Philippines…
Great video. Old Pennsylvania Ice Diver. 34 degrees F. in a 0.5 inch farmerjohn wetsuit for my first dive during my Ice Diving Certification class. Every cold water dive since has been in a drysuit, a Poseidon Unisuit, to be exact. Wish I still had it. Damned ex-wife....
Warmest dives, in the Florida Keys, 70+ water temps.
I learned my lessons; any technical dive = dry suit, than can discuss undergarment. I was freezing in 31'C water wearing 5mm in 3h+ dive during deco
I wore a 7mil during my rescue course in a Pennsylvania quarry and didn’t use the gloves or hood and all was fine. Did a “fun dive” after the course and went through two thermoclines that took the temp from 78 at the surface to 53 at a depth of 75 feet. Holy cow was that cold and uncomfortable. I blasted through my air and froze the whole time. I learned a lot on the dive, especially when it comes to anticipating what may happen and not relying on what I had experienced on the course dives to 30 feet.
Omg I’m so with you I HATE cold water. Great video bro
October 2018, went to Cozumel. The 3mm full was fine for the ocean dives, but then went on a Cenote dive -- 77.5F in a 3mm full. Fffffroze my butt off. Super glad I went but that second dive I kind of had to steel myself to get in.
Then in Feb 2020, went diving in Lake Mead. 56.1F, but I had a 3mm full, 5mm hooded vest and 7mm full over everything and was really comfy. Layers!
I JUST made my D7X purchase and drysuit dives this last weekend. Best purchase ever.
Middle of Sweden, late febuary. This means -6 degrees celsius in the air, and 2 degrees in the water. we usually put our kit in the water to thaw before the second dive... problem is if the kit has frozen to the bench you left it on! had to tug a bit before i got it loose. Rest was easy tho, no free flows or anything (keeping my kit in good shape!).
drysuit with a santi BZ400X undergarment, and and extra thin merino wool layer. I still keep my winter dives to 40 minutes or else it get's too cold.
One day we dove to a wreck that is about 16m (52,5 ft) deep.
The water on the surface was about 26°C (78,8°F) and the bottom temperature was about 14°C (57,2°F). That was kinda suprising. But it was good because a jelly fish stung me that dive and it hurts less in cold water than in warm water.
And my first dive was a trial dive to see if we like scuba diving. At that dive I got very cold, as we got out of the water my lips were purple and my fingers were a bit numb. The instructor was very caring and gave me a towel :D
He told us he didn't expected us as we attended an open water course a year later. :)
PS: Both dives were in the baltic sea.
Swedish diver here - coldest dive was around 0C (salt water can be below zero) , often we dive around 4-6C - always in a drysuit of course. You still get very cold after 60 min, usually your hands are like blocks of ice. Warmest dive in Barracuda Lake in the Phillipines, - 32C on the surface, getting hotter the deeper you went. I gave up at 39C - that was really uncomfortable,
Lake Mead diving the B-29 is my coldest dive. 121 surface air temp, 58 degrees on the bottom, 86 on deco. On dive 1 I went down, as I was putting air in my suit, it felt a little wet, I figured it was probably sweat, until I got below the thermocline, it wasn't sweat. I thumbed the dive. I go on dive 2 after letting my undergarments dry out in the desert heat. No gloves so my fingers got a little cold.
I usually dive in cold fresh water lakes where we do experience a strong thermocline. In summer when it's 30c (86 F) outside. The water temperature at the surface can be 24 C (75 F) but at 25 meters or deeper it doesn't get warmer then 7 C (45 F). I really should dress for the cold water, but getting into my suite with these temperatures is challenging. Specially if we have to walk for some distance to get to the water from the parking lot all geared up. I will be sweating like hell. My undersuite will become wet and I get cold. Nowadays I generally don't do any deep dives on warm days. Generally do those in winter when it's just above freezing all around.
Just got back from a liveaboard-trip to the red sea. Had the same question beforehand, should I go for a shorty or the 5 mil. Chose the warmer protection and guess what, never felt cold, neither to hot. Even at the fourth dive at night, still comfortable. If one brings two wetsuits to change inbetween dives, it isn’t even moist anymore at donning.
Awesome thank you
In North Dakota the deeper lakes could be 80 degrees on surface and low 40s on the bottom.
Coldest lake Hartwell SC 41deg in February. 5 mil 2 pc farmer John w/hood and gloves. Felt a lot colder because it was a sunny day getting a black wetsuit on. By the time we got into the water I was sweating.
Awesome and so informative
Keep it up
Coldest dive? About 2C in Dorothea Quarry in North Wales in winter. I was wearing a 2 piece 7mm Semi-Dry suit. It froze while I was taking it off in the car park after the dive. I bought a dry suit the next weekend...
Warmest. 38C Half-Moon Bay in Saudi Arabia. Just wore a skin for that one.
We dove in a102 F hot spring. It was weird sweating under water and we had get out of the water to cool down.
On my open water cert dive, it was 70 degree water. My 7 mm suit was perfect. However, my instructor, who was in a dry suit dropped below the thermal Kline and I followed him blindly and it went from 70 to 50. My body stay warm but my uncovered head not so much. It was like getting a brain freeze. Needless to say I then discovered what the thermal Kline looked like and stayed above it after that.
In South Florida diving at 85oF for me, a mild thermocline for a few mins is normally welcomed.
DIVE TALK
Lake Huron on shipwreck Regina 8/29/2021. 77' down 47°F. Air temp 82° F. Hazy blue water, 20' viz. Wetsuit 5mm arms/7mm torso. After 45 minutes I welcomed the 1 hour surface interval.
On a recent dive visiting an old WWII fighter, located in Lake Washington. We were wearing drysuits with 2 base layers. After descending below 50+ feet, we must have hit a thermocline, as the temp. dropped from 54F to 46F. I was pretty cold, so cold that my first thought was I had a suit failure. I'm traveling to Key Largo for DM training at the end of November. I'm really looking forward to the warm water 🙃
Good suggestions
Warmest dive so far was Cozumel, MX in the month of August, water temp was 87F and I was in a long sleeve rash guard and board shorts for 14 dives through out the week no issues was great :).
Coldest dive so far has been Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands of the coast of Ventra California where the water temp was 57F and I was in a dry suit.
Dives with issues:
Was diving during the summer in AZ in my local lake and plan was to find a card table with skeletons that someone had setup at around 45ft, surface water temp was 85F , air temp 100F and I was in a 3mill expecting some thermocline as per the usual with this lake at around 30-40 feet. Well we end up blowing by the table as the visibility above 40ft was 1-5ft of pee soup and thus we quickly end up at 60ft and then 80ft and the visibility increased to 40ft and going through two thermoclines that dropped the water temp down to 57F lol. Needless to say we made our way back up through the thermoclines quickly and then found the table before heading back to shore.
Other more recent set of dives that caught me off guard was in St Lucia in June with water temp of 83F and I had done three dives already during the day and then did a fourth at night with me in a rash guard and board shorts or all. Never noticed being cold while in the water, but once i got out and we went to dinner I started shaking and teeth chattering. Chalked it up the lower water temp and that each of the dives were around 70-75 each that particular day. So warmed overnight and up took the next morning off from diving, then back at it the afternoon wearing my 3mill I had brought :)
Coldest dive was 0.5°C there was actually a very thin layer of ice that had frozen on the surface of the water this was done in a dry suit face was cold until it went numb. Warmest would be 21°C and would either do just shorts and t-shirt or a 3 mm if it was a longer dive.
good stuff!
Great information about preparing for unforeseen conditions or at least those you are not used to. I am still diving the Michigan lakes and rivers right now in a layered 7 mil wetsuit. It is COLD at depth and I know my days are limited as winter closes in. I am actively checking into drysuits right now and would appreciate any thoughts (or a video) covering the basics about purchasing this expensive, bur necessary, piece of gear. Questions to ask, etc. This is a really helpful series- thanks for putting it together!
This. Need a video about different dry suits, crushed membrane vs Trilaminate, and so forth. Also, why do dry suits all looked like Hefty trash bags? I mean it's 2022; you'd figure something more hydrodynamic would exist.
Note the planet is tilted so the sun heats more areas north or south of the equator in winter/summer. Either way the equator gets lots of that angled sun in both seasons.
Great video
Coldest Dive: ICE Dive in a 1/4" wet suit. I was taking an ICE diving course back in 1978 /1979 and the Instructor made us make our first dive in a wet suit. Never felt anything as cold as that water going down my back and I grew up in Michigan. Wasn't to bad after my body warmed up the water. Until I got out of the water. It was a long walk to the van to change.
i used to dive south with a 3mm and switched to a 5mm with a hood when my breathing improved and i was able to stay down longer.
also after getting out of the water after the 2nd dive i get out of my dive suit asap and towel down.
if its a hot day i go into the water before the boat leaves to cool off. also if i get hot under the water i grab my collar and let water in.'
after the 1st dive i figure out what's getting cold, i have gloves for my hands and dive socks for my feet under my dive boots.
Love all your videos! We are going back to Bonaire in November for the 2nd time. I love your wife’s cute little animal nose she added to her mask and would love to know how she did it.
Coldest dive for me is 46 F in 7 mil hood and gloves. Warmest was same lake diving at 98 F. Did not witness it but a slate was left behind by a diver on tge training platform the the temp one day was 101 F.
Coldest dive was my 1st open water dive at 42°
Warmest dive was probably in waters that were in the 80's and coldest dive was in the 50's I don't like cold either.
South Florida diver here and love this topic. Thermocline can hit like an ice bucket challenge. I hate being cold (why I moved here) yet as long as i'm prepared, I can deal.
P.S. How awesome is that acsent back into the warm layer?! 🤤
I'm guessing it changes with the seasons, but in south Florida, at what depth might you encounter a thermocline and what temp below would one expect?
@@mitchhushak4264 Dove Palm Beach County late Aug, the water temp was about 88-85° until 60ft then it dropped to 74° instantly. Left wetsuit on boat from everyone saying how warm the water was that morning on the same site. The shock made it hard to take full breathes. I almost called the dive but was able to acclimate after 5 min. Dive master later told me on the dock that it also caught him by surprise. Wore my wetsuit on the next dive and water temp never went below 84°. You just never know.
That's not as bad as I thought. Here in the Iowa quarries, mid-summer, when the air temp is 95F, surface temps can be in the mid 70's, but 40F or less below 35 feet. Sometimes, when the conditions are right, you can stick your arm through the t-cline, feel 38F on your hand, 70F on your shoulder. And you can see it. Debris will settle on the density interface. Kind of cool, actually.
@@mitchhushak4264 I imagine living in Iowa has made you more numb to the cold. I'm cold when the air temp hits 60°. Florida problems, though.
i got really overheated in socal in 7mm and i think that was high 50's mid 60s, i would rather be very slightly chilled than toasty
During the summer months here in Qatar the water is 35 degrees Celsius 😂 close to body temperature!
Great lakes is in the 40s f below the line, any advice on smooth breathing when going under it would be great, so fairly common to be cold
Fantasy Lake in North Carolina (not much of fantasy if you ask me) 82 degrees at the surface, 45 degrees on the other side of the thermocline. 2 piece 5mm. Ridiculous!
I only streaked when I was looking down and a green sea tuhtle head appeared in my face inches away in a position I knew his body was directly below me, within a couple inches. A real close encounter of the turtle kind. Normally they only allow a few feet not inches. The whole secret to being near a turtle is not to move. Just float like they do.
What is it with divers and Cold, if you want warm water go in the bath tab!!
18 C is worm water!!
I invite you all to swim (yes swim with only swimmers) in the Humbold Stream coming from Antarctica and then you can go and enjoy the rest of the warm wold
Over most of my dive time I only dove at tropical destinations as here in Portugal it is too clod to dive a wet suit, at least for me. After living in UK I started cold water diving in a dry suit and bought my dry suit immediately with a dry glove system as diving without feeling my hands doesn't work. During winter time when diving inland water can get up to 5⁰C which for me has never been an issue despite everyone making fun of the amount of clothes and lead I carry, but guess what even with 0⁰C outside and 5⁰C water I've never been the one thumbing up the dive, actually I've always been nice and toasty.
Now I'm back to Portugal where I'm from and I always dive dry either summer or winter even though the water never gets less than 15⁰C worst case. For me if it is 20⁰C or less I won't think twice before getting my dry suit.
Hawai'i is a chilly 80 now.
I use I hood every dive. I assume 40 for surface and 30 at depth.
My coldest: under sea ice with drysuit. After the dive my lips were so cold that I had difficulties to get te reg out of mouth. Te warmes was several years ago on the Red Sea in August. The water eas +30C. A frien of mine told after dive that he tried to cool a bit by stretchinf the collar of his wet suit. Then he noticed that he has no wet suit but T-shirt...
The only case I know where people have dived in a water hotter than human body has been in Iceland by diving a geysire, see film Underwater Iceland by Marko Röhr.
Is it not the reverse. Most divers are sea based (most populations with coasts live near the coast over living inland) so diving in fresh water is different
DIvers ready I have a question! Throughout videos, you always mention BARE wetsuits to be wetsuits of your choice... I want to invest in a new wetsuit and am aiming for Bare Velocity Ultra 5 mm, but I am unable to find and reviews what so ever regarding this suit. I was wondering if you or someone you know has dived in this suit and is it worth it regarding the price? Thank you...
I dive that suit. I love it. I've left it on a dive and had it shipped home and I was scared it would not actually be mine lol. I love it ! It's expensive and if you dive alot of cold ... I'd recommend putting that $ down on a drysuit !
James has stated in the past that he dives the Bare primarily because it fits his very large body type well and is well made. I believe in his video on preparing for his recent trip to South Africa for the sardine run, he talks a bit about the Bare. Almost any suit will be warm if it fits correctly, is well made and uses quality neoprene. Of those three, fit is the most important. I do around 100 dives per year in water below 60F in California. My wet suit is custom made of Yamamoto neoprene, often considered the best in the world, by a local company called 7till8. It's quite warm.
@@kevingumfory Its not ideal for me to run drysuits as a divemaster, leading groups etc. Just looking for a wetsuit to handle 15 C to 22 C... 5 mm with a hood and a shortie to fill in the need if the water is on the colder end... Thank you for the reply.
@@jeffworst9939 I like the bare as it has many fit options, so i feel as i can not go wrong in that regard. I would order it online probably so that plays a big part. Thank you for the reply!
I don't think that you need 37° on water to have problems with overheating
Have you ever dived in the Arctic?
Yes, I have.
More like 200 meters max ...
I am in the pacific NW, so it is as crappy as you original UK location
.