You can actually drive right to the water's edge there now, but you'll have to swim out a long way to get even 20 feet of depth, and only sand to look at.
How about Lake Mead?
- Thread starter Green Mountain
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SteveC
Contributor
We are heading to Vegas in February, does anyone have an idea of what kind of vis and temp we can expect at Lake Mead by then?
Thanks,
Steve
Thanks,
Steve
Viz is 20-30 feet year round. Water temp was 58 deg this past week. It won't be much different next month. The lake level has been dropping steadily.
Lake Mead Tony
Contributor
Living in Las Vegas, I log about 50 dives a year in Lake Mead. It's great for deep dives with lot's of wrecks and great wall diving. The best time of the year is in the late fall or winter when the vis can be as much as 150 feet. For a inland lake that is considered very good. Have boat, will dive!
I know there is a B-36 bomber deep in the lake - it crashed in the late 40's during some 'sun sensor' testing for guided missiles. No loss of life, but Parks Department divers have been scounting it out in consideration of making it a deep diving attraction.
It's a B-29, and diving it right now is restricted to special permit only. They're not diving it in consideration of an attraction. They are diving it for historical purposes. It is an archaeological site right now. You can get in trouble if caught diving it, to include prison time.
Dive-aholic is correct, it is a B-29.
Jeff Bozanic was giving a talk about his dves on it and I thought he mentioned they might open it up in the future, and that was what part of the survey work was for. I wasn't aware of the prison time aspect.
Jeff Bozanic was giving a talk about his dves on it and I thought he mentioned they might open it up in the future, and that was what part of the survey work was for. I wasn't aware of the prison time aspect.
Lake Mead Tony
Contributor
I have not heard of prison time but they are taking applications for permits. You can apply by contacting the chief Rangers office at 702-298-8908. Make sure you have tech card with lots of down time.
The prison time thing is real. I was recently e-mailed by an NPS investigator about the sneak dives I mention on my web site. He wanted to know if I had any specific information on who was doing this and when. As for the permits, I believe you need to have a valid scientific/archaeological reason for diving the site. In other words, a lot of high dollar equipment and something to offer in return. Based on a recent Deep Sea Detectives episode, they are still looking for particular equipment that John and Richie couldn't even find with an ROV because of all the silt build up inside the wreck. With the financial backing of the History channel and the NPS and not being able to find what they were looking for, I doubt many of us, if any, could afford to pull off an expedition likely to get granted a permit. :frown: I'd love to dive that wreck. If anyone figures out a way to do it within the restrictions, let me know!
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