Alabama Dive Sites

[Parysa]

Parysa- we will be back later this summer,i gotta find a pontoon boat to borrow to dive from. We tried it out of my bass boat, but two divers gear and a bubble watcher was just too much stuff for a 17ft bass boat lol

Just let me know. I've been wanting to check out Smith Lake. Maybe I could get Kevin up here for that, too.

 

[BNow0707]

On Smith I know there are several submerged buliding ruins from before they dammed the river, there are a few bridges submerged and a 40ft or 70 ft waterfall submerged as well but this is all on a fishing map Not exactly sure how they came up w/ GPS coordinates for these places when the river was dammed in the 60's i believe. I "have heard":ssst: that there is an airplane that crashed into powerlines that is still in the river as well as some heavy equipment near the base of the dam because the river filled quicker than they thought.

We dove directly across from duskin point marina this past sept and it was somewhat clear(about like ABWA) but at about 32 feet there was a thermocline with water below it that was almost as clear as a pool. You could see trees standing everywhere.

Our second dive was made on gps coordinates of a submereged church building. I spent time trying to locate it w/ the depth finder but had no luck so we jus jumped in on the coords and hit bottom at 22ft but it was too murky to see because of the current.

Its about a 3 hour drive for us so we'll be back sometime this spring or summer maybe stay a day or two. Like i said i gotta find a pontoon boat first, maybe when I graduate in May and get a degree I'll get a real job and go buy one LOL


Mike-s thanks didn't know there was one up that way.

 

[Parysa]

Very cool!

 

[mike_s]

There have been several threads on here about diving Smith Lake, but not much really comes of it. I'm guessing you have to have some insider knowledge, but most spots are hard to find and not marked on any maps, or not marked well enough to find them.

The water levels in Smith Lake are down big time, so it would make getting to the bottom at any site a little easier. There have been articles in the paper about the water levels on the lake and them lowering the pool to keep one of the feeder rivers cooler to feed cooler water into it's powerplant this past summer. It really upset the land owners around Smith Lake.


As for planes, I seem to remember one crashing in it many years ago. I can't recall if it was recovered or not. seems to me that if I remember correctly, there was a scandel of whether one of the occupants death was faked in the crash. (body not recovered). (of course this is from memory and I can't find the exact specifics yet and it was many years ago before the news was captured by the internet.).

I did a search trying to find info and ran into this. Apparently one crashed in the lake in recent weeks also. see Plane Crashed into Smith Lake?? - Topic Powered by eve community . Looks like it might ahve been an ultralight though. Two men receive minor injuries in Saturday plane crash

 

[Boomer7]

We have talked about diving the lake for 2 years now. I recently heard that the water is so low that the viz is way down. Where did you dive on the lake? Let us know the next time you head out there I am sure som eof us will join you.

Brian

 

[BNow0707]

Well Mike i like to do reaserch It give me something to do in class. this is the excerpt i found before we dove there:
There are a set of powerlines that cross the lake next to Duskin Point Marina. Back in the 60's or 70's a Cessna hit those lines and sank to the bottom mostly intact. The rumor has always been that it's still there and is too deep to retrieve (300+ feet) AND that the water is so deep that none of the metal is rusted (not sure about that one).


I have a good lake map that shows all the old ferry crossings and most of the roads that were there before the water backed up. In some of the more remote spots houses, equipment and standing timber were all left as the laked filled a little sooner than they had expected. Some heavy equipment was left at the base of the dam and of course Clear Creek Falls was covered forever.


That is from smithlakecommunity.com, they have an entire forum on the lake. Now under the power lines the water is deep but at some points it is 100' ft and less and at some points it is more, I never hit 300' on my boats depth finder IN ANY PART of the lake that i traveled.

The below is an excerpt from HERE

Clear Creek Falls, legendary twin waterfalls, also became a part of the lake. These falls had served as a geographic landmark for centuries. The upper falls measured 43 feet and the lower falls 37 feet. The falls reached a peak in popularity in 1961 as all the local newspapers published articles of farewell. People made pilgrimages as the falls slipped beneath Smith Lake. On the final day, one man in the crowd raised his fist and proclaimed, "The Lord will not allow it to stand!" The gentleman referred to the lake that would hide the falls within its waters.


The map that i have was picked up at walmart for less than $10. I know the coordinates are close b/c of the low water levels this past year we were able to see some building foundations but not the church we were lookin for. Very interesting to see a building that had been submerged for more than 30 years, built of softball sized stones bout the size of a small storage shed w/ 4 walls about knee high. The area around goat island shows several foundation/ruins but it does distinguish between the two.

24foot pontoon boats can be rented for $175+ fuel and oil charge from Duskin Point Marina maybe a few of us could split one sometime this summer, dive the falls and such.

 

[BNow0707]

Boomer 7 - last sept the day we dove the lake level was 493.2 MSL, today the level is 497.3. When we dove the main channel water was relatively clear. I will definately post when we get ready to come back to Smith.

 

[mike_s]

Well Mike i like to do reaserch It give me something to do in class. this is the excerpt i found before we dove there:
There are a set of powerlines that cross the lake next to Duskin Point Marina. Back in the 60's or 70's a Cessna hit those lines and sank to the bottom mostly intact. The rumor has always been that it's still there and is too deep to retrieve (300+ feet) AND that the water is so deep that none of the metal is rusted (not sure about that one).
.


.

ok.... this is different than the plane crash I'm remembering. It was in the 80's I think. but I have no clue where it is.....

I'm sure if we really researched it we could find a lot of stuff sunk in there.

With the lower water levels, I'm surprised that some deposited stolen cars haven't gotten shallow enough to see.

 

[BNow0707]

Yeah in that link it also says:The historical and archaeological value held little consideration when determining the location for the reservoir. Alabama Power did not fund any archaeological inquiries before inundation of the lake. Historic preservation laws did not take effect until 1966, five years after the creation of Smith Lake. Residents of the area knew of several important archaeological sites but did not try to preserve any of them because no one truly believed that Alabama Power would create the lake.

There is no telling what is below those waters or any other waters of Alabama.

 

[philmottrek99and02]

Mike,
The plane crash was in the late 80's. The plane crashed in Lake Guntersville. No remains were recovered and the plane was never found. I believe this is the mystery plane you speak of.

Now of the subject of new dive spots around Madison. The the lagoon at Bridge Street is divable?