CRAFT YOUR PLAN ACCORDINGLY<\/strong><\/p>\nA cold-water dive plan should take into account variables not present in warm-water diving, says Bell.<\/p>\n
“It is not uncommon for surface air-consumption rates to increase in cold water, oftentimes due to some level of anxiety,” he explains. “So it’s good to be aware of this when planning your dive.”<\/p>\n
Learning how to handle a free-flowing regulator and being comfortable with air-sharing drills is paramount. Practicing mask clearing and removal in cold water is a good idea, Bell says, because it’s quite a bit different when that cold water hits your face. “Understand signs of hypothermia and what to do,” he recommends. “Also, it is important to be completely comfortable calling the dive when you feel yourself starting to get too cold.”<\/p>\n
ACCLIMATE TO THE COLD SLOWLY<\/strong><\/p>\nInstead of giant-striding off the platform into 50-degree water, Bell advises to proceed gradually to allow your system to acclimate. “Slowly allow your body to be introduced to the water,” he says. “Shore dives are great for this and allow your breathing rate to stabilize prior to descending.” By avoiding the instant shock of immersion, the body can more safely adjust. “Go slow and allow yourself to get comfortable at each step. Then incrementally increase your depth.”<\/p>\n
FINISH STRONG<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen your dive is done, raising the body’s core temperature is a prima- ry goal. “First, put on some warm clothes,” says Bell. “Hot drinks are great as well.” And remember to glean tips from the other divers in your group. “Having an experienced cold- water diver mentor you is a great benefit,” Bell says. “Don’t be afraid of the cold water. It’s simply a matter of using the right equipment, building experience and gaining confidence. It will open the door to some of the best diving in the world.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1,11,39,14,52,54,50,31,43,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rebreathers","category-scuba_news","category-standards","category-teach-first-aidcpr","category-tec","category-tec-diving","category-technology","category-tecrec","category-tecrec-it-crossover","category-uw-photography","category-wrecks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proscubadiver.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}