Ice Diving
Ice diving opens up a whole world of dive exploration, especially in seas where traditional diving might not seem possible. As a type of penetration diving, similar to wreck diving, ice diving introduces divers to an amazing abundance of sea life that goes on unhindered, even during the depths of winter: with the combination of sunlight and the submerged formations of ice, they create a wide variety of color shades from light to deep blue.
Ice diving is popular in North America, Russia, Scandinavia, the Arctic, and Antarctica, and requires special training, and should never be attempted without it. While ice diving, attention to gear and valves is extremely important, because the very cold temperatures can cause blockage and malfunction. Wearing a dry suit is also a must, because wet suits do not provide enough thermal protection against the cold, and divers should be familiar with the function of a dry suite before they attempt an ice dive. Dealing with a free flow regulator, knowing rope signals, and handling a rapid and uncontrolled ascent are crucial to safe ice diving.
While many warm water divers may be put off by the thought of ice diving, where hacking a hole in the ice sheet is often required to even enter the water, the experience of diving beneath an endless white sheet is very different from tropical dives; here, bubbles are trapped after every exhaled breath, and the reefs and rocky formations that are typical of typical diving are replaced with oddly shaped ice blocks that push down from the surface, where algae grow in abundance, providing food for krill, that feed larger fish and even whales.
Life beneath the ice offers an astonishing array of creatures, from sea spiders, to thick kelp beds, to cold water crabs, ice fish, starfish, seals and penguins. With water temperatures at or near freezing, water clarity is so good that visibility is only hindered by the limited light filtering down beneath the ice.
Ice diving may require a lot of preparation, and gear, but the experience is ethereal, and unique, which brings divers closer to cold water species of sea life that are rarely seen by divers who typically stick to warm water diving.