Dove 288 on May 17th, wow, it became different, very opaque. I dove also a week before, then one could see the bottom, poorly, but it was visible even with a cloud cover. Now water became so opaque that the light no longer penetrates to 30 feet. In fact, there is about 4 feet of thermocline that totally obscures the bottom. Once you penetrate the fog layer, it opens kind of a red-ish (mud?) layer of water near the very bottom. I'd say that below 26' the light stops penetrating. There are some kind of swampy semi-transparent particles in the water just hanging all around.
At the platforms, it is hard to see all the way through to see railing of the opposite side. I'd estimate the visibility at 6 feet around 20 feet of depth. Water is still rather cold even in a drysuit (don't know how those in wetsuits take it). I did 2 hours and it was more than enough to want to get out. However, mostly, it was the visibility. Murky and hard to navigate. Yes, one can use compass but now one has to look at it 70% of the dive, nothing is visible anyway, enjoyment level is not there. Therefore, this time it was by far not as fun as the visible circle around you is tiny. I actually had to sway my flash light in front not to run into things when diving close to the bottom. Now when you come over a wreck, you cannot see it in all its entirety, you get to enjoy it in pieces.
Not sure how instructors feel, I watched a few classes on the platform, it would take only a few seconds for a student to disappear in the fog.
I don't know if it is the nature of all texas lakes to get so in this time of the year. However, from what I remember about 3 years ago, scuba diving in June was not as bad as it is now, visibility wise. Therefore, I am concerned if 288 becomes a bit swampy over the years. The only difference I felt was the weird lack of hydrilla. About this time there were some forests of it here and there, for some reason, this year it is dramatically bold in places where I used to see it. Too early? I was thinking, I have not seen a catfish for about 9 months, are they still there?
I heard that Mammoth Lake is in a similar (or close) condition, but it was always bad, way worse than 288.
What is your take?