How to Stay Warm & Safe During Cold Water Diving?
Underwater diving is one of the most popular but demanding aquatic activities that exists if we compare it with the other ones like kayaking or paddle boarding. It is not an easy activity to practice if you don't have lots of knowledge, skills, and fancy equipment. Moreover, there's a problem and is the fact that not everyone goes with the easy warm water diving. A lot of people around the world might enjoy a cold water diving experience due to multiple reasons, and while that sounds good, for your body will be a different story since the cold temperature can cause a lot of damage to your body if you are not careful enough.
For that reason, let's discover which are the multiple recommendations and tips that you can follow to obtain warm temperatures through your body while you are diving in cold environments. Stay tuned to learn more.
TIP #1: START AS WARM AS YOU CAN.
Since you will be dealing with extremely cold water in these aquatic environments, you can't underestimate these harsh conditions, and the best way of preparing your body for the difficult time that will take place under the water is that you must try to start as warm as you can. For example, you should wear some clothes that produce some heat or warmth in your body, so forget about wearing tank tops or shorts that could make your body feel worse and also, drink some warm liquids and use other techniques to increase the temperature of your body to be ready as ever.
Also, if you will be using some special equipment, having good timing will not be a bad idea at all! In fact, you should have all of your gear ready before you jump into the water to save time and to avoid losing valuable warmth that could be wasted while you are preparing the equipment on the surface. Don't let your body to lose all the heat that was prepared for the occasion.
TIP #2: UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF GEAR THAT YOU WILL BE USING.
It doesn't matter if you decide to use a semi-dry diving suit or a drysuit, well... even a wetsuit can be used in water diving and your body will be as grateful as ever with that decision of yours. However, you shouldn't let the suit to do all the job, you can also add some extra things that would make everything better for your own body. Yes, we are talking about adding some extra layers of clothes or accessories. For example, it could be gloves and extra weights to avoid losing pressure and movement in cold water, and also why not try some boots and a hood to avoid getting water in contact with your skin! In this way you can avoid extra psychological effects that cold waters perform in our mind. If a small touch of our skin touches cold water, our whole body will feel the same way. So be aware of that.
TIP #3: BE PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY PREPARED.
If you are someone that will be facing cold water for the first time in diving activities, then you must be prepared for the shock because at the exact moment in which your body gets in touch with the water, you may find it hard to breathe and even your mask will start freezing and making strange sounds that will scare you and any beginner. Therefore, it's important to maintain calm as ever and follow your training or knowledge, rely on your skills and everything will be okay. Also, try to minimize the movements in cold water to avoid losing warmth around your body, which will be perfect to reduce the risk of getting hypothermia.
Finally, it's important to watch your air since you will be burning calories much faster and at the end of the day you will be needing more oxygen since your breathing rate will be gradually higher after some time. Don't fool your eyes in the environment, keep close contact with your gauge and equipment, and to end everything, don't try to make this a contest of endurance after you start seeing some changes in your body's behavior or feeling numb. Don't try to be brave. Get out of the water and call it a day. Once you start feeling the cold temperature, it's time to say goodbye, and after that, you just have to change to warm clothes and everything will be as good as ever. Good luck!