Tips and tricks for cold water diving & The best diving around Seattle

Cold water diving definitely has its challenges, but the freezing temperatures are definitely worth what you will find underwater. In this blog post, our guest author Bella shares her tested tips & tricks for keeping yourself warm and enjoying cold water diving. You will also find out the best diving spots around Seattle, Washington as well as what amazing sea life you can encounter there.

 

First cold water diving experience

Hi, my name is Bella Zandona and I’m a 19 year old advanced certified diver, diving here in the beautiful cold waters of the Pacific Northwest! My first experience with open ocean diving was a very cold “first impression”. I got my first certification in 2018, and since I was new to diving and was not drysuit certified. Imagine how I had to dive in 40-55°F / 4-13°C water with just a 7mm wetsuit! I remember getting a cold shock when I first put my face into the freezing water, it kind of takes your breath away at first! The cold water slowly seeps into the edges of your wetsuit, the cold becomes almost unbearable and intimidating.

 

You can’t go diving in Seattle without a dry suit certification

Thankfully, a few weeks after that, I got my drysuit certification and was able to get my first drysuit –  the ScubaPro Exodry in the women’s cut. This drysuit, both the women’s and men’s cut, is perfect for a newbie drysuit diver. It has done me well in the harsh Washington dive climate, it is durable and easy to transport. And not to mention it is a very reasonable price for a drysuit! Due to the cold water, a drysuit is needed for someone to deal with the temperature, especially if you plan on going deeper- where the water is even colder, so the sooner you get drysuit certified, the better your dives will be!

 

Tips & tricks for cold water diving

Through my experiences with cold water diving, I have learned many tips and tricks to make the cold bearable and fun!

1. Carry a thermo bottle with boiling water

The biggest life saver for me is bringing boiling hot water in an “Igloo” brand cooler. I am currently diving with a 5mm wet glove, so my hands tend to get cold and it becomes extremely hard to feel and move my fingers once I’m out of the water. So, my dive buddy and I came up for a solution for this problem which is the boiling water! After a dive we will place our hands in the water till we warm up and get ready for our next dive!

2. Dress in layers (many layers!)

Another very important tip is layering!! I get super cold when I’m underwater, especially when I’m doing a deep dive. That is why I wear a couple layers under my drysuit to keep me warm. On my feet I use one thick pair of socks, and over that I use undergarment socks by Fourth Element. As for the rest of my body I use a skin tight long sleeve “second skin” shirt, with “second skin” leggings, then another pair of thicker leggings, and over all of that I use my Fourth Element Halo3D. I could not recommend a Fourth Element undergarment more, especially if you get cold easily! They are the best I have found.

3. Set up your dive gear at home

Diving in the Seattle, Washington area has also taught me how to deal with the rain and cold weather (outside of the water). My dive buddy and I set up all our gear in our garage before heading out for a dive, just in case we get rain or high winds at the dive site. We set-up our camera equipment and we put our BCD’s, regulators and accessories on our tanks. This just helps us stay warm for a little longer before going into the ocean!

Those are just some of the helpful tips that have changed cold water diving for me and my dive buddy!

 

Marine life in the Pacific Northwest

The marine life in the Pacific Northwest is unlike anywhere else! One of my favorite dive sites, Sund Rock, is known for its very strong giant pacific octopus population. These giant creatures lurk in the rock caverns of the dive site. If you know where to look, you are pretty much guaranteed to see them. And maybe… if you’re lucky, you might be able to have a personal interaction with one.

Another unique animal that can be found in these waters is the wolf eel. Wolf eels are very intimidating. They have sharp little teeth that line their jaws with a very powerful bite force, but surprisingly they are very docile to scuba divers! I have seen so many wolf eels, they always look a bit grumpy but deep down I know that they like the attention when I photograph them!

Divers around here are also obsessed with nudibranch. I might be biased but I think we have some of the prettiest nudibranchs in the world! One of my favourite animals to photograph is the while-lined dirona. I call them ocean angels since they are so beautiful and unique! They are almost “clear” in color with white lines that run across their bodies. They stand out amongst the green colored water, and they are extremely photogenic. These animals make diving here worth it, you almost forget how cold you are when observing and interacting with the amazing marine life.

 

The best dive sites around Seattle

I have many favourite dive locations around here. My very top favorite is Sund Rock, which is a marine preserve. The land is privately owned by the Sund family and you have to get special access to be able to dive there. This means that it is a less visited site, so the marine life there flourishes like nowhere else! This dive site offers the most amazing animals to enjoy and photograph. If you are ever in the Pacific Northwest, looking for some cold water dives, I could not recommend this place more.

Another site I enjoy is the Mukilteo T-Dock geodome. This dive site has a very large geodome at around 60-80 feet (depending on the tides). The geodome is dome to all sorts of different fish, anemones, octopuses, eels, and nudibranchs! This is the dive site that my dive buddy and I do most of our night dives. On a couple night dives there, we have been lucky to photograph lion’s mane jellyfish! The spot is great for beginners (when there is no strong current) and people who want to be able to photograph a variety of different animals in one dive!

Cold water diving might seem intimidating for some people, but once you feel confident, warm and enjoy the wildlife, it is so worth the freezing temperatures.

Let me know your favourite cold water dive sites and your tips & tricks in the comments below!