Quarry Diving - What's it like?

[Nemrod]

Sometimes they put things in quarries to make the dives more interesting, things like old lawn mowers or washing machines, the occasional car or a cool wreck which is usually a 12 foot fiberglass hull. If you are really lucky you may find an abandoned car with a dead body in it.

N

 

[Guba]

Another rebuttal...
Clear Springs (don't get excited...the term "clear" is totally relative in Texas diving) Scuba Park, near Dallas, Texas, is a quarry but the three mentioned terms don't always apply. My dives there two weeks ago saw fairly good vis (about ten feet), but it was pretty light even at depth (30-35 feet), and temps down there were probably in the mid seventies (85 fahrenheit at the surface). Is is "Caribbean" class divng? Of course not, but we have to use what we have available if we want to get in the water often, right?

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

Here is what a quarry is to me.

It's a place where I go to meet with my diving friends, hang out, do a little diving, practice some skills and spend a nice afternoon. Yes most of them are on the dark and cold side, but that's why we have thermal protection. If it wasn't for our local mud pit, I'd only get to dive once or twice a year, because of it, I get to dive 20+ dives a year.

As for why quarries, here's my take. First they tend to be deaper and multi-leveled more than lakes and their shear dops make diving better than normal lakes and ponds with gradual slopes to the deeper points. Because they are smaller in surface area, they also tend to not have boat traffic like larger lakes, thus making them safer for divers.

 

[rcs9250]

Here is my video from Gilboa Quarry in Northwest Ohio USA

Gilboa Quarry Dive Report

Marshall,
I was the one that donated the sailboat in the vicinity of the plane and the cuddy cabin in the deep section. I still have the serial number plate from the sail boat in my dive locker.
Randy

 

[JPENDERGRAST]

Don't let my previous comments regarding Quarry dives act as a deterrent. I love Quarries. The locations in my area have a lot of neat stuff to see in them. For instance, one has a sail boat, school bus, Fire Truck, and Jeep, and the visibility usuall lingers around 15-20 feet which is great for Quarries. Another has a fighter jet, and another has a Rock crusher building which you can swim through. Quarry diving is fun, especially when I don't have time to get down to the ocean to spear fish.

 

[aku321]

After diving mostly tropical waters, its hard to dive in a quarry. As mentioned most have less than ideal qualities. If it wasn't for the quarries I would only dive when I travel, and my skills would not be good as they are. Who wants to practice skills when you are diving a wreck in Hawaii?? Nobody! I use my local quarry to practice skills with my buddies. If you can do it in cold water and almost no vis, it makes tropical dives a snap.

 

[freedc]

I think the OP's question was answered as to what a quarry is. It's a lake that was created by mining activity.

Lots of opinions to follow on why you would to dive in one. As to life in the quarry, our local one has a few freshwater fish. They always seem to come check me out when I'm doing a fin pivot on the training platform.

Another description of most quarries set up for scuba in the U.S. is underwater junkyards. Sunken cars, boats, RV's, street signs etc. are there for mild entertainment while divers mostly train and build character in the cold, low-viz water.

 

[Garrobo]

I qualified in a quarry for my OW. It was in Sepember and the water was like pea soup. About four foot visibility. The instructor told me that if I could pass the test in this quarry that I could dive just about anywhere in the world with no problems. He was right and I never dove in a quarry again.

 

[dwhthediver]

Sometimes they put things in quarries to make the dives more interesting, things like old lawn mowers or washing machines, the occasional car or a cool wreck which is usually a 12 foot fiberglass hull. If you are really lucky you may find an abandoned car with a dead body in it.

N

REALLY OLD WASHING MACHINES? 12 FOOT BOATS? Damn, I go to the wrong quarries! Mermet Springs... The plane from the movie US Marshals, our local training quarry Haigh quarry has a 32' houseboat a marine LARC and an old marine truck, is it 100' viz and 80 degrees? NO, but it is close, and I get to be underwater and practice skills

 

[Hank49]

I want to go dive a quarry because people who dive quarries must REALLY LOVE to dive and would be lot of fun to hang out with...until it gets too cold. I'm not sure I'd dive if I only had quarries to dive in. ??? Maybe...if there's some fish to shoot or something...