Quarry dives?? Just wondering. . . .

[love2godeep]

I've seen quite a few posts from divers who seem to really enjoy diving in such places as quarries, complete with cold, dark, low viz, and little to see even if you could see it.

So here's my question:

Why? Just to improve skills, or is there another reason? I'm hoping you can help move me to my next level of enlightenment in the diving culture.

Cheerio!

L2GD

 

[theskull]

Let me count the ways:

1. A couple-hour drive from home and $10 entry fee is MUCH more reasonable than a 20-hour drive or expensive flight to the coast---and you can do it for just a day or a weekend on the spur of the moment!

2. Navigation practice is much more valid when you can only see 10 feet. In mid-water your compass and depth gauge are the ONLY indiction of where you are!

3. Water is water! You still get to be weightless, suspended in liquid, and breathing pure compressed air.

4. Your handle is "love2godeep". You can still go deep in many quarries--as deep as 200 feet + in some.

5. The same fish you get to see in freshwater lakes.

6. Attractions such as sunk planes, boats, cars, schoolbuses to see and swim through.

7. On-site air fills and snacks.

8. Convenience! Dressing rooms, set-up tables, showers, pro shop, down-lines, platforms, safety stop ladders, safety equipment.

9. Can find pick-up buddies when you need one.

Try one!

theskull

 

[herman]

The other reason I do quarry dives is to work on my skills, weighting and trim. I enjoy playing around with my weights and skills on quarry dives but there is no way I am going to do that on an expensive dive trip. It's also an easy and safe place to try our new gear or gear configs. My buddy and I spent most of a dive last Fri adjusting weights.....I still don't know how I managed to get down to 2 lbs with a 3mm suit and an al 80.

 

[JHAM]

Quarries make great practice dives. There provide a real open water environment to keep your skills up.

Besides a quarry dive is an excellent proving ground for new equipment and configurations. After all, wouldn't you like to try out equipment configurations or new equipment at a quarry as opposed to a chartered dive where you have paid big bucks for the privelidge of finding out something isn't working? If you don't, it's a great way to find out what it is like to pay hundreds of dollars to stand on a deck, watching your buddies dive, and staying dry while you curse your luck.

Another great benefir of quarrie dives is just plain practicing your skills. Believe me, your dive buddies will appreciate diving with you more if your bouyancy is under control. Know how to use all of your equipment, including that which you do not usually plan to use, like knifes, and alternate air sources.

Another thing that is important to practice is what you would do in the event of an equiopment failure. Are you confident that you can:
deploy, use, and return your knife?
find your octopus, pony regulator?
Can you disconnect an inflator if it gets stuck?
Deploy an ascent line? free ascend?
If you suffered a broken fin strap while on a dive, could you swim back to your ascent point using only one fin?

I've been diving for five years and I feel it's important to practice these and at least a thousand other situations. You can find me in a quarry almost every weekend in dive season.

Well I hope this has at least provoked some thoughts.... Happy quarry diving.

 

[ScubaK-Dawg]

I'd much rather go diving in the Ocean any day, but as others already said, here are a few reasons I go to the quarry:
1. Cheap - I get a season pass for about $100 and go as many times as I want.

2. Controlled environment - perfect for training, trying new gear, or helping with open water classes.

3. Perfect for days when I can't get on a boat because it's full, or the ocean is too rough for the boat to go out.

4. I'm diving, rather than just sitting around doing nothing.

 

[hantzu701]

the last time I dived in a quarry, I saw:

a school of 40+ crappie hanging out at 40 ft

a northern pike strike a crappie. it happened so fast. all that was left were a few fins!

... mutant catfish!

Hantzu

 

[MikeFerrara]

I don't have much to add that hasen't been said really.

Those who dive can. Those who don't can't.

Some of our quarries have really good vis at times with fantastic walls.

Some of our quarries have incredible fish and frechwater fish look like fish. LOL

I dive because I like to dive. Where I dive is a secondary concideration.

 

[Tractor Tom]

I enjoy all diving, but quarry diving is something different. Mike will tell you that the Gilboa Quarry is like a darn PLAYGROUND! Full of stuff to play with and look at, lots of stuff to swim through and PLENTY of fish (some quite agressive at times) to look at and feed. Plus, we have great vis (before the 300 new divers show up on Saturday morning) and it has inexpensive camping to boot.

I really like to dive in the quarry! We'll be doing our first dive of the year there on Saturday, 3 January.

 

[Big-t-2538]

love2godeep once bubbled...
I've seen quite a few posts from divers who seem to really enjoy diving in such places as quarries, complete with cold, dark, low viz, and little to see even if you could see it.

So here's my question:

Why? Just to improve skills, or is there another reason? I'm hoping you can help move me to my next level of enlightenment in the diving culture.

Cheerio!

L2GD

Some of us have a sick desire to at least get in the water....I try to get out at a minimum of once a month...the quarry happens to be the only place to go within a 4 hour drive.

Reasons to go:

1 - you get to dive with your friends and have fun
2 - you get to practice your skills
3 - you get to use all that gear that just sits around the other 26 days of the month
4 - you get to do something you love to do...even if the vis ain't all that great.
5 - you really can't get blown out of a quarry
6 - again, I always have a blast diving....that is the most important thing...having fun.

 

[Jester]

You take what you can get.

Any day diving is better than a day "not" diving.

I'd dive in my bathtub if it was deep enough.