Just did Niagra II and Caves, overall very impressed.
Niagra II is just an awesome wreck, tons to see. Other than the wheelhouse and going about half-way down the smoke-stack, I didn't penetrate it at all, but there is still a lot to see on just the outside. I'd love to go back here again, especially once I'm qualified to enter the wreck: inside's supposed to be pretty cool.
Caves were kind of neat, but a bit of a novelty that wore off pretty quickly. I was expecting there to be more to the caves than just the one cylindrical area. I thought the entrances would feel more like tunnels. The big entrance doesn't feel that way at all, while there is an overhead, it didin't feel like you were entring a tunnel or anything. The small entrance was a bit tougher: my bouyancy and/or trim weren't quite good enough and I ended up pushing off the bottom a couple times. Inside there are some cool formations and stuff, but you can see the whole place in 10 minutes. Glad I went, but not much repeat value.
Overall, while the weather wasn't great, conditins were good. Vis was great (at least compared to what I know), although it was confusing when my computer said 25 feet and I could see the surface looking 3 feet away: I've never dove where you can see the surface from that deep. The water was a bit choppy, but I didn't notice any current. Deepest I went was about 75, coldest was 50. Overall, felt like fairly novice conditions.
I also tried the pony for the first time (I know the rule of thumb is try in a "safer" spot first, but this wasn't really an option and I figured risk vs reward I'd try it. You guys are definately right that it dissapears: it dissapeared a little too well: when I jumped in I swore my home-made rigging had fallen apart and my pony was dropping to the bottom of the lake
. Only time it was a concern is when close to the bottom or swimming through something (such as narrow cave entrance) since it hung down a fair bit making me feel less streamlined and creating an entanglement hazard, although I later got in the habit of grabbing the handle and pulling it to my side temporarily if it was going to get in the way
Overall, great dives, looking forward to San Jacinto tomorrow
PS. Freshwater has some definate advantages: lips not tasting like salt, not having to rinse gear with "fresh water", not needing as much weight.