These are personalized high-end adventures to interact with arctic animals and/or participate in active sports in arctic regions. Many of the trips have a scuba diving element to them, however, the underwater experience accounts for only a part of the total experience.
These are expeditions that have a ‘diving element’ to them, but we don’t consider them strictly as a ‘dive trip’. If conditions (weather, ice, currents, animal presence) are right, we can stay out all day and all night and dive to your heart's content. We don't limit the diving but Mother Nature normally does in one way or another. The preparation time to get suited up for the cold water also takes considerable time, which makes most people happy with one or two dives in a day when conditions permit. Roughly one to two dozen dives over a two week period is a reasonable expectation but few of these dives are likely to be deep or for periods much longer than half an hour (snorkeling attempts around whales included in this number).

There are two different kinds of "dives" that may be done in the arctic.
Although we use scuba to get closer to animals this is not always the case.

Many whales can only be approached by snorkeling (the bubbles scare them). When approaching animals (whales) there can be a lot of preparation and time getting close and/or just waiting for them to come near. You may be in your gear/drysuit for most of the day and in the water two or three times for 20 minutes to an hour and a half depending upon when the animals come and how long they stay for. We have found that snorkeling or closed circuit (rebreathers) are best for diving with the animals.

Done at the ice floe edge, in a large crack near an iceberg or along shore can be done in an almost unlimited capacity (people have done 3 or 4 dives in a day) but normally ice diving is saved for days when animals are not around or accessible. The other unknown is weather conditions. As a rule of thumb roughly half the days may be bad weather days. Bad weather does not normally mean blizzards or snow but rather that the wind is blowing in the wrong direction and moving ice floes in a way not conducive to getting close to animals (a good chance to ice dive then!).

The most important item that an expedition participant must bring is a dry suit.
Other equipment related to the drysuit include thermal underwear, fins that fit the drysuit and a BCD that is appropriately sized for the drysuit. An environmentally sealed cold-water regulator is also required but may be rented from us if necessary, as this does not require personalized fit. Full-face masks are absolutely not required. A very detailed scuba equipment packing list is provided to participants.

Aluminum tanks – 80, 30 and 15 cubic foot tanks - and lead weight is provided as well as all safety ropes and harnesses when ice diving.

We can provide cold water dive equipment for participants to rent or purchase. Please contact us for further information at info@waterproof-expeditions.com