I'd like to hear from anyone who has any experience in diving whitewater rivers.
We don't have an ocean here in West Virginia, but we do have a couple of large, 300-foot deep reservoirs and hundreds of deep, large whitewater rivers such as the New River, the Gauley River and the Cheat River.
I get plenty of action kayaking through class 5 rapids, so I'm not looking to "scuba" through whitewater rapids.
However, there are many slack pools on the rivers that might be interesting to dive. They appear calm, but on closer inspection the current is deep and strong. Some of the pools are 20+ feet deep. Visibility might be 10-15 feet on a good day. There are many undercut boulders along the banks, so I'm sure they exist on the bottom too.
Anyone have any experience diving in such an environment? I'm trying to get more information before I attempt such an endeavor.
The Gauley River
We don't have an ocean here in West Virginia, but we do have a couple of large, 300-foot deep reservoirs and hundreds of deep, large whitewater rivers such as the New River, the Gauley River and the Cheat River.
I get plenty of action kayaking through class 5 rapids, so I'm not looking to "scuba" through whitewater rapids.
However, there are many slack pools on the rivers that might be interesting to dive. They appear calm, but on closer inspection the current is deep and strong. Some of the pools are 20+ feet deep. Visibility might be 10-15 feet on a good day. There are many undercut boulders along the banks, so I'm sure they exist on the bottom too.
Anyone have any experience diving in such an environment? I'm trying to get more information before I attempt such an endeavor.
The Gauley River