Lake Eildon, Victoria

Hi there, I spent almost every Christmas on a house boat at Lake Eildon when I was growing up and only did sports ontop of the water, water skiing, knee boarding , bare footing and jet skiing. But now I've discovered SCUBA, it gets me to thinking what's under the water. Has anyone else had such thoughts?

I was thinking that it could be cool to take a few tanks to the lake then find out what lies beneth the waters. Any thoughts on this idea? Any idea if there are any legal issues I should be aware of?

If you go please be sure to report what you find.

Cold as a we&% #$%$ers &%$#ole though I'd expect.

Seeing Victoria is in the middle of the worst drought in 150 years and the lake is only at 29% capacity I would say it is going to be pretty crappy here are some current pics of the lake

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/lakeeildon/Comparison.htm

Chris,
I know about the drought first hand, as we have a few boats on the lake and they keep moving us around do to the water getting lower and lower. We also had a friend on the famers irrigation board and so we get figures from time to time as to how low it might go.
I believe at 6% they can no longer get water out. And from recent reports the lake will never be full again due to the main wall not being able to take the pressure, it was built so long ago that the structure will not stand the pressure of the water at full levels, the wall might settle and give way with would cause a major problem (flooded towns etc).

Well lets just hope that it rains some more. I do remember a number of years back that the old farm stead came out of the water when it was low, we walked aroundit and it was quite interesting, but at the time you never think that it may never fill up again.

Well fingers crossed that I get the chance to take a few tanks up there when I'm back in Aust.

Oh course when it's lower theres more chance of exploring the bottom and finding the treasures that fall overboard from house boats over the years!

thanks for the link... nice to see some water there,... been a while since I saw the lake...

Does anyone know of any issues legal or otherwise in diving at Lake Eildon. Is it just a matter of taking 8-10 tanks and a buddy and a surface team for safety. Then planning the dive and diving the plan.

At the moment when it's quite low the idea is tempting as it would be cool to explore the bottom, find those things that fell off the house boat as a kid!!

Any idea if I can hire a dry suit in Melbourne? But then I guess I would need training or at least training / practise dives with a dry suit.

Maybe I could try it in a 7mm suit? Wonder how cold it really is?