Quarry Diving: 500 Dives in a Quarry - Are You SERIOUS???

[k ellis]

I dive a local lake or quarry quiet often. Of course it amounts to the fact that the ocean is 12 hours or better to any where decent and as others have stated the compounding cost of all that goes with Gas, hotels, cost of boat to divem, food etc....

I never do get tired of the same old same old. In fact I enjoy it as I know I am keeping my skills up to date. I did recently become a dive master and now I never have the same old routine. I now go out with new divers mostly and they are always a blast despite many veteran divers hating to dive with them.

I go with our classes and assist with the classes and the sheer joy of watching a open water candidate learn the skills to become an open water diver is remarkeable. I love most of all watching their confidence boost over a short period of time too!

 

[EastTNDiver]

Regarding all the expensive gear and specialized rigging you see at your quarry, a lot of folks prefer to practice with new gear or configurations in places like that. It isn't that they feel they "need" a rebreather in a quarry, it is that they would rather practice in a giant "pool" before heading to the ocean where conditions will be far less predictable.

Bingo! Or, they're far enough from other waters, that it's their only choice. If I waited until I could get to the ocean to drill in new gear/config, it would really put a damper on my advancement in diving. My son and I are diving a local quarry this weekend to watch my sis do her OW checkout dives...and, just because we wanna get underwater. My son is 15, was certified only two years ago, and has better bouyancy/trim skills than quite a lot of divers I see that have been certified much longer...perhaps it's because we spend so much time in the quarries.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I've also said this before in other threads to those who say there is nothing to see in some of the quarries we dive. My answer is BULL CACA! I have never had a dive where I did not "see" anything. The reason for that is because I choose to see those things that others don't. I find things that others miss because they are too busy thinking about how much the diving sucks (it really doesn't, but to them it does because that is their mindset).

In 2 ft of vis I can find literally hundreds of small fry in one quarry damn near every time I'm there. I can see a towering wall with interesting individual cracks and crevices that remind me of small caverns and caves. This wall by the way goes from the surface to a staggering depth of up to 15 ft in places! I've run lines on this wall using projections that you really need to look for to get a solid anchor that does not also disturb other parts of it while working on maintaining buoyancy and trim and not bumping into it.

I guess I still have some of the kid in me who looks at quarries the same way I did cardboard boxes before we had computers and TV's with more than 3 channels. That box could be a Ferrari or a bunker on the beach at Normandy. Just as that wall in Portage quarry in Ohio can be the one looking down into the abyss at the Tongue of the Ocean. I only need to make it so in my mind and approach the dive with the same care and degree of planning as a new wreck penetration. For me that is fun.

We need to be adults in this sport but retaining a sense of childhood wonder will go a long way in making that much more enjoyable.

 

[ScubaSteve]

...perhaps it's because we spend so much time in the quarries.

Most skills do not care what body of water you are in.

 

[doctormike]

I've also said this before in other threads to those who say there is nothing to see in some of the quarries we dive. My answer is BULL CACA!

Preach it, brother..!

Some people just aren't happy until the whale sharks show up...

 

[waterpirate]

@ Drewski
Where were you in my "we have an ocean" thread in the borttom crawler forum???
Same topic. My querry was more aimed at the driving off the penninsula to go dive a quarry?? I am addicted to diving and if I lived within easy 45 minute commute of dutch I would have a season pass. Since I am an easy commute 45 minute commute from the OCDIVER I have a season pass there.
Eric

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I'll answer the question directly for all of us unfortunates who don't live in proximity to the sea, but love to dive. We dive where we can. The attraction of a quarry or a reservoir is that it is there and we can dive. I would trade 20 reservoir dives for one ocean dive with stuff to see and photograph. There are things to see in the fresh water, but they are limited, not too colorful, and frankly, after a few goes, boring. But we get to dive!!!! We aren't all lucky enough to be Drewski. My wife and I take as many dive trips as we can to warm water and good viz, but in between those sometimes a person just need some bottom time. As for training, we train divers in water that varies from cold to cool, in visibility ranging from 5 feet to 25 feet. They learn navigation with a compass really well., and they learn to be excellent divers. When they hit 8o degree water and 80 foot visibility, they are immediately in paradise. So you coastal and island residents, appreciate what you have all the time!
DivemasterDennis

 

[doctormike]

Sometimes you see cool stuff at Dutch Springs if you pay attention...

 

[ScubaSteve]

Excellent....a Freshwater Whale Shark. Wow that guy is in the shallows. I hope you guys helped it back into the deep.

 

[doctormike]

Excellent....a Freshwater Whale Shark. Wow that guy is in the shallows. I hope you guys helped it back into the deep.

I was going to, but there was a blue ringed octopus and a bunch of box jellyfish near it...