Today was amazing.
We’re one day out from a major winter storm, and if this had been a normal open water weekend, I probably would have rescheduled. But these students are heading to Silfra soon. Floating between two tectonic plates in Icelandic glacier water. Not exactly something you just bump a week.
So, we leaned in.
This was a winter dry suit class. Open water. Real conditions. The kind of day where dry suits don’t feel optional…they feel essential.
Lake Phoenix in winter. Quiet, cold, and entirely ours.
We rolled into Lake Phoenix with an air temperature of 18°F. And here’s the sneaky thing about 18 degrees: it doesn’t punch you in the face right away. You’re outside, you’re moving, you’re doing stuff. And then slowly, quietly, your fingers just stop working as well. I absolutely should have brought regular gloves.
Once we got underwater, though? Totally different story.
The water was around 45–47°F, and honestly, it was fine. The moment we dropped below the surface it was clear the students had this handled. Calm. Controlled. Dialed in. The real enemy today wasn’t the water. It was the air.
I heard more than once, “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
The MVP of the day. Without this heater, my fingers would have filed for divorce.
I responded with, “It builds character.”
The immediate reply: “I don’t need any more character.”
Fair.
The cold did some wild things to our gear. The webbing froze first. I waited too long to tighten my tank strap and ended up having to pour regular water over it just to get it to move. Gloves froze. Hoods froze. Even the soft weights froze.
I will say this though: I’ve been diving my Apeks regulator for years and always trusted it as a solid cold-water regulator. It absolutely earned its stripes today.
Between dives, we basically lived in the covered pavilion. Lake Phoenix has a propane heater available if you buy a tank, and I took exactly zero seconds to say yes to that. Warming hands. Defrosting gloves and hoods. Questioning our life choices. Wondering why on earth we picked the last week in January to do this.
Would today have gone the same way without that heater? Honestly…probably not.
People have asked if I ever considered punching out. Not once. My mindset never changes: I want my students to be successful and I want them to have fun. At the same time, safety is always the priority. I’m constantly evaluating conditions. If I’d felt this was unsafe or that the dives couldn’t be completed responsibly, we would have been done. Full stop. Completing a certification never outranks safety.
Warmer times. Dry suit confined water training.
We talked about Silfra a lot. Their weather report over there is air temps in the 40s, and I told them, “It literally can’t be worse than today.” More importantly, today is going to make one hell of a story when they’re floating between continents.
What I really want them to remember is this: They did more than they thought they could.
They didn’t quit. They pushed through a legitimately challenging environment, stayed focused, stayed safe, and finished strong. That’s what makes the accomplishment so sweet.
A few takeaways if you’re thinking about dry suit diving
Dry suits aren’t magic.
They don’t make you warm.
They make the intolerable…tolerable.
Also, to be very clear: you do not need to train in sub-freezing air temperatures to learn to dive dry. Today was about circumstances, timing, and goals. Not bravado.
Fun Frank is fun.
Safe Frank is safe.
Cold Frank is apparently less grumpy than warm Frank. 🤷♂️
Post-dive recovery protocol: calories, laughter, and retelling the same story three times.
And yes, we wrapped the day the right way. Refueling. Rewarming. And stopping for BBQ on the way home. Cold-water dives burn calories, build character, and absolutely earn you smoked meat and warm hands wrapped around something hot.
Huge congratulations to Dive With Frank’s (and PADI’s) newest Dry Suit Divers. Good luck in Silfra.
I want pictures.
Why walk when you can dive?
Let’s do some diving. 🥶🤿