VodkaPundit tells of taking his check dive in 61 degree water. HAH! What a wuss. Us northeastern he-man types take our check dives in a quarry in Pennsylvania. In April. In a snowstorm (well, alright, snow flurry). The water temp was 42 degrees. Not knowing what she was in for, my wife had not paid particularly close attention to how well her rented wet suit fit (she is quite small and often had problems with equipment such as BC vests, etc., that were too large). The wet suit hood that she grabbed apparently allowed water to circulate on the back of her neck. To say the least, she was unable to complete the dive.

And of course, we were doing this for the purpose of being certified, so that we could go diving (which we did in the Caribbean, after a stop in the Keys to complete Rose's check dive). One dive in the Carribbean and I was way too spoiled to go diving in the Atlantic off New Jersey. A comparison:

Good day for diving in the Atlantic:

Visibility 10 feet
Water temp 65

Bad day in the Caribbean

Visibility 75 feet
Water temp 75

Since I can't commute to the Caribbean, I don't get much diving in.