Water temperature preferences

[Ms Mer]

I'm interested in other people's preferred water temperatures to dive in. Here where I live - on the south coast of Wellington, N.Z, exposed to the cold currents coming up from the south Pacific ocean and the Antarctic, the temperature range that I dive/snorkel/open water swim in is about 10 cel - 16 cel. Not tropical! But actually I do really like it. I'm not sure that I would like diving in temperatures akin to a warm bath. I have swum (is that a word?!) in warmer temperatures in other parts of the country, but really they just make me want to loll about like a lazy sunbathing seal.

I find the cooler waters invigorating and life affirming.

What do others prefer?

 

[Antoine]

That is crazy! I was litteraly about to post practically the same question! I don't believe in telepathy but you posted this like half a minute before I was going to! The world is full of weirdness

Sorry but since I was going to ask the same question, I can't relly answer you're post!

 

[Antoine]

Actually there is one reason why water below 21degrees is better in terms of dive length. Water below that temperature touching one's face induces the mammalian diving reflex which, through a couple of biological changes and processes, theoretically extends your dive time.

So pretty much, you can choose between a nice and warm but shorter dive or a freezing dive, long enough for several things to fall off

I personnaly prefer risking the loss of my manhood and having a nice, invigorating, cool dive that swimming in water which is uncomfotably warm(above 25degrees).

 

[Ms Mer]

That is crazy! I was litteraly about to post practically the same question! I don't believe in telepathy but you posted this like half a minute before I was going to! The world is full of weirdness

Sorry but since I was going to ask the same question, I can't relly answer you're post!

It's the not the first time I've been accused of telepathy LOL. Very weird!

I personnaly prefer risking the loss of my manhood and having a nice, invigorating, cool dive that swimming in water which is uncomfotably warm(above 25degrees).

Yeah the dive reflex will play a part but what I mean really is that I seem to just like the cooler water more. I get some funny looks when i enter the water at this time fo year. I can;t imagine swimming in 25 cel - yuk! Never really liked spa baths. Always seem like a nice idea but I end up getting too hot in them and have to get out. I think I am just a cold water dweller!

 

[baiyoke]

I looooove warm water and warm weather. Did my first freediving in Thailand last year in 28-30 degree celcius water temp...

However I'm currently living in Greenland, and since I got my Elios suit in january, the temp. has been from -1,9 degree celcius to +2, litterally swimming with (small) icebergs occassionally...

Unfortunately I have only done some relaxed surface swims 30-45 minuttes, because I didn't have a buddy, but I have found/trained some people now, and soon we will go dooooown into the big blue... I'll get back to you on weather or not I like the cold water for proper depth diving...

One thing I don't like though is the painfull feeling of very cold water around the mouth... But 2 degree is much better than -1,9, and 4 degree is much better than 2... The water should soon settle at 4 degree..

Another thing about very cold weather is that it complicates things before and after the dive... Especially in -10 air temp.

For now I prefere "the warmer the better"...

 

[Antoine]

I don't know... I can't really talk since I live in Australia and the water temperature never really drops below 19 degrees but I was in Indonesia recently and the sea was at, no joke, 29 degrees!!! That was uncomfortable and made worse by the fact that the air temp. was in the high thirties!

I reckon 15 degrees is ideal

 

[rafacuatic]

For best performance in my case,cold without shivering or tensioned.

 

[malt1977]

I'll dive in anything 10deg C upwards. Get a touch cold in the English Channel at times.

 

[island_sands]

i am not embarrassed to say that I am a cocktail diver. I have dived in the cold waters of Cape Town (9degC) but i prefer no wetsuit or a max of a 3mm...

 

[Shark2307]

Although freediving at different temperatures and conditions is always a pleasure i would prefer 20°C +.

Of course after a short break in winter even shivering in the lake with 2°C is fun to freedive, but in the end a little bit limiting on the performance.

 

[rddk]

for me best water temperature must be like girls, hot so near 23°

 

[JennyWren]

I'm used to diving here in Vancouver, so anything from about 6 C to 17 C (surface on a HOT day in summer). My 5mm suit is quite worn out and if I want to dive in the fall I'll need a new one this year.

That being said, I still like it warmer. I've done some diving in Kona where it was about 21, pretty nice. I can recreationally dive there with no suit for quite a while.

Still, I like diving in Cayman where it is 27-30. Just like being in soup! I wear a 3mm or a 1.5mm for line diving (so I can 'chill out' on my breathups), and 1.5mm or no suit for recreational there.

I get cold fairly easily though and I get pretty bitchy when I'm cold, so for the sake of my buddies I try to stay cozy.

 

[Simos]

I get cold fairly easily though and I get pretty bitchy when I'm cold, so for the sake of my buddies I try to stay cozy.

Bitchy? While Freediving? Lol how??????? Do they black out and you don't save them thinking 'that'll teach you a££&@@&&'

 

[Kars]

I think I like around 20c with a 3mm suit.
I don't have much experience in the tropics, but I found myself without much dive response in the 26c waters of Sharm El Sheikh Egypt. It did not feel like diving, more like moving through thick air. Thankfully after a few days it mostly came back.
Though it's mentally daunting I enjoyed the no suit dives in Sweden and Germany. I'm a really skinny guy with long limbs so if I want to do these no suit dives in the cold waters I need to prepare well, focus and use all the tricks and courage I have. But the experience is very rewarding, and after the initial shock surprisingly comfortable.

 

[growingupninja]

I have decent cold water tolerance but when spearfishing even in warm water like to wear a suit for protection from sun, sharp rocks and sea creatures, and mostly for bouyancy at the surface. I enjoy playing in bathwater temps but I don't get the same dive response as I do in California waters with a 5mm. In the pool for training I prefer cold water and if the air temp is cold I wear a swim cap, but no wetsuit. Training in warm pools makes me feel naseous, but a warm ocean is quite nice, and crossing a thermocline into cooler water is a nice feeling.

 

[efattah]

Actually the surface temperature here in Vancouver ranges from 3C to 23C, although both extremes are rare, and 6C to 21C is more common. We always have a big thermocline just below the surface.

Considering all possible combinations of diving with/without wetsuits in different temperatures, I can say (clearly) that for me, the best combination EVER is 21C on the surface with a thermocline to 10C at 5m. The thermocline is the key ingredient. The mammalian shock reflex is just that, a shock, which lasts a short period. Thus if there is no thermocline, there is no shock, and any bradycardia will quickly fade after you first get in the water.

Below 10C without a wetsuit relaxation becomes difficult, but I have done CNF dives in 4C water without a suit.

With a wetsuit, I would say my favorite temperature range in a 3mm yamamoto suit is 22C on the surface and the same 10C thermocline just below.

Interestingly, by experiments and experience I prefer 10C below the surface, but scientific experiments have shown the mammalian bradycardia is maximum at 10C, and less at any temperature above or below that.

 

[watts]

Air temp 25-29 and water temp 20-24. No hood, mask or goggles. I agree on the thermocline but i struggle with it if im not used to it.