Diving in the Pacific Northwest

I hope you all had a great weekend of our first kiss of the winter to come. If you are new to diving here in the Pacific NW, welcome. I have been diving in this area for quite some time and can never seem to get enough of Pacific NW diving. I have dove in Brazil and both sides of Mexico and still, my favorite place to dive is the local waters of the Pacific Northwest. We have so much life in such a small area, it is amazing.

We don't have a lot of large animals and corals to look at, however we have walls and boulders full of small nudibranchs, sculpins, gunnels, war bonnets, anemones and many, many other species of aquatic life. We have wolf eels, octopus and lingcod to name a few, that represent our larger aquatic life here in the Northwest. Since we have so much smaller aquatic life, we dive a bit slower and check out all the nooks and crannies to see what we can find. Every time we dive in we find something of value to share, even if it is just an awesome scuba diver.

You may of heard that winter time is the best time to go diving around here, and it's absolutely true. Since it is winter, the sun does not shine as much which in turn brings down the algae blooms, and we all know the less algae in the water the better the visibility. The air temperature may be colder in winter, but the temperature of the water remains a contant. I went diving last week in the San Juans and my computer read the water at a 46 degrees. The water is a beautiful green and vis is quite a bit better in winter than summer. We can get up to 30 foot vis! I know compared to 100ft vis this may not seem like much but it makes a big difference.

Since we dive in colder waters, we need to make sure that we are prepared both under the water and on our surface interval between dives. Like I mentioned earlier, I have been diving in this area for some time. When we had last weekend's storm warnings I had received a lot of calls and emails on the diving conditions. I have to admit this has been the first time in all the years that I have been working with a shop that I had so many questions about diving this time of year. As scuba divers, we hear this question, "What do you see down there?" Which we always give a good chuckle to. Last week I got some really good questions.

My favorite question that I had gotten was, "How do you dive in the snow?" Diving in the snow is very similar to diving in the rain but the rain is frozen into nice soft flakes. You make sure that you dress appropriately. If diving in a drysuit, make sure to bring extra layering in case you got to cold on your first dive you can add more layers. Drysuit divers need to pack extra dry clothes to change into after a dive, in case of leaks or flooding in the drysuit. If you dive a wetsuit, make sure that you pack extra big coats and blankets to bundle yourself into between dives. Pack some hot water to put into your gloves and hood before returning back into the water. Surprisingly, it is much warmer in the water than out on shore. Before getting into the water and during the surface interval it is very important to keep yourself warm. Wear gloves and a thick hat that covers your ears. Wear socks and closed shoes. I know that we like to wear socks and sandals but wearing closed shoes will help not get your feet wet. Pack some hand warmers to put into your pockets or between your double layered socks to keep extra toasty warm. Make sure not to put them directly on your skin and be aware that higher levels of O2 in your diving mix can make those babies a bit hotter!

"When do you cancel a dive because of weather?": This question is one of the hardest things that I first had to deal with in diving. I would prepare all my gear for the trip and I would also get mentally prepared for the trip. I would get all the way to the dive spot and have to be told that it is not safe for us to enter the water. I got certified in Jan-Feb so it was cold. It was not the cold weather that permitted me from getting in the water but the wind waves where a bit to much for a new diver. To be perfectly honest on how to answer this questions is that you won't know until you get to the dive site. Choosing a location that is a better fit for the wind like we did last weekend. The Keystone dive was moved to Langley Tire Reef and the Charter was moved from Anacortes to Friday Harbor. Both of those areas are well protected making diving a possibility. You should always have a backup plan in effect. Just like when we plan our dives under the water. We should also have a backup dive site just in case it is un-diveable.

What makes us proud to say we are Pacific NW divers is the fact that the adventure is not just under the water. It is the trip to and from the dive sites that add to the adventure. Make sure that you always let someone know what your plans are and also your backup plans. The most important piece of advice that I can give you is to never dive outside your comfort zone. I know that I preach that all the time but I really can't say it enough. Don't be afraid to admit that something is out of your comfort level so you can re-plan accordingly. I know that there has been situations that I have been in that where uncomfortable but I was always with someone to help guide me and teach me to learn to prepare myself to grow outside my comfort zone.

If you are excited about getting into the water this winter, or even continue diving this winter. Come on in and talk with me. I have a lot of suggestions that can make diving around here very comfortable. Take advantage of this blog to ask your questions of other divers so they can share their experience with you. We all learn from each other but we truly learn the skill by doing it ourselves.

Happy and safe diving. I will mention that I will be leaving to Cozumel on Sunday to do some warm water diving. I will be thinking of you. lol =)