Lake Mohave report

[ScubaSteve2000]

There is a growing munber of dovers diving at Lake Mohave these days. Little wonder why. With 70 foot plus vis and close proximity to the valley it's a nice get away. Does anybody know what the current water temps are at 60-70 feet? Is there a thermocline like at Pleasant?

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

We had a great time diving at Lake Mohave. It was certainly diver central this weekend. Vis was pretty consistant at about 50 feet at all depths. Unless the carp were tearing up the place looking for tasty morsels or the OW students were leaving silt trails marking their paths.

We descended almost on top of the school bus on our first dive. "We" were me, Bill and Mark J. Mark was a Mohave virgin but Bill and I had been there before. After giving the school bus the once over where Mark and Bill did a swim through, we moved on to the upside-down van. There were some good sized fishies hanging out in the passenger compartment of the van.

After the van we paid Scuba Steve's skeleton a visit (not a relative) and noticed somebody had played out a tape measure to mark the fin kicks portion of an AOW class. I thought it was a good time to check to see if my fin kicks had changed. Nope. At the end of the tape there is a buoyancy clourse. I tagged one of the hoops but of course everybody else accused me of almost taking the whole course out. I ask you.

The water temp at depth (about 70') was about 65 degrees. Surface temp was in the 70s. The Colorado runs swift and cold keeping the vis good and the temps bracing in a 3mm wetsuit. The surface interval was a bit toasty on Saturday. Between the temps and the wind coming off the lake our wetsuits were almost dry by the time our surface interval was done.

We did a long surface swin on our second dive all the way out to Crawdad Cove before we dropped down into an underwater canyon. We followed it until we found a boat that had been used by the park rangers until it sank for some reason. We poked around it for a few minutes sticking our heads into the hatches. Rubbed the bow for luck then headed off along the canyon again.

The vis was awsome. We did a lot more stuff and had some great dives. Come out and try it sometime.

Steve.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Lake Mohave is my favorite AZ dive site. We always made a point to stop there for dives on the way to and from Las Vegas. We would have flown to Vegas if not for the dives before and after. Rooms in Laughlin are also super cheap. We used to pay $20 a night. Next Vegas DEMA, we may have to bring our dive gear and head down.

 

[Scuba Stallings]

Is anyone doing a Lake Mohave dive soon? I am thinking about trying it out (Mohave Virgin) but I do not know the area. Is there a best/most popular spot to dive from? Hows parking? Approx drive time? (i'm in NE Mesa)

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Here's a link - Lake Mohave. Cabinsite Point is pretty much the only area to get a decent shore dive in from. Read down the page to find information on how to find the bus and van.

 

[inventor]

How do you get to this canyon and boat?

 

[Dive-aholic]

Enter the park through Boulder City and follow the signs to Cabinsite. IIRC it's the 1st right after the entrance shack. You'll be driving a few miles to get to it, but it used to have signs and be well marked.

 

[Scuba Stallings]

Thanks for the info Dive-aholic. The Chipola Website was fantastic and made finding the bus and van very easy.

I dove Cabinsite on Sunday and my only regret is that I only brought 2 tanks. The vis was a welcomed clarity over Lake Pleasant. Temps were amazing, about 83 on surface and 66 at 75ft. I found the bouyancy ring obstacle course also and that was a nice bit of fun. Though my fiance did get caught in one of the rings, she looked like a prized pony with that thing around her neck