Check for silt clouds from shore to avoid surprise visibility drops on dives.

3 comments

3 Comments

Honestly I just don't put that much stock in looking from the beach. Victor's right that it's super hard to tell from shore. By the time you see a real color change, you're already in it. I'd rather get a feel from the first few feet in the water, even if that means a quick check dive. Reading the surface from land feels like guessing.

eric1821mo ago

Ever check if any rivers feed into your dive site further up the coast? A bunch of rain miles away can push out a huge plume of dirty water that takes hours to reach you. The beach right in front of you might look totally clear, but you can get hit by a wall of junk flowing from the side. I got caught once because I only watched the water straight out, not what was coming down the shoreline.

victor_stone1mo ago

Are you looking for particular signs from the beach, like a certain wave action or color change in the water? It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between just choppy water and actual silt getting stirred up way out there.