June 2011 In the Tucson Area?

Greetings fellow divers I will be in the Tucson area this coming June and would love to catch some local dive scene.
What are the top 3 places to dive?
I am game for anything and am Intro cave certified so springs would do nicely.
I have a friend who speaks of diving a Blue Hole but it might be a bit of travel I am not sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have contacted a LDS in Tucson but would like to hear it from those who dive it all the time.
Thanks,

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

There's nothing to dive in Tucson. The only bodies of water are manmade city lakes (more like ponds) and they are literally black water and 15' at the deepest. Closest diving is an hour south and visibility in that lake is usually less than 5'. The only chance you'll have of any kind of decent diving is north of Phoenix in Lake Pleasant. Conditions vary, but you could expect anywhere from less than 5' to 30'. The Blue Hole in in northern New Mexico. It's a sink hole with the cave entrance grated off. It's about a 10-12 hour drive from Tucson. The shops in Tucson don't dive the lakes. They head down to Mexico, about a 7 hour drive to go where they go. While Rocky Point is a little closer (4 hour drive), conditions are very hit or miss there. There's not much in the way of shore diving and the dive boat doesn't go out regularly because of conditions. Bring your hiking shoes and camera instead. There's lots of hiking and great views.

Hello Rob what are the must see when there?
I was afraid that the water would be out of range but I had to try.
It derailed my Full cave class which really bummed me out.
You never know it might all work out but when you have a limited # of vacation days.
My boss might cut me some slack.
Thanks Rob

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

Kitt Peak National Observatory is about an hour and a half South of Tucson - its' why Tucson will seem darker at night - they have light restrictions to support the observatory. It has the worlds largest collection of optical telescopes.

In Tucson - Pima Air and Space Museum - also the airplane graveyard at Davis Monthan - actually you'll drive through part of it on surface streets. Pima is just across the street from Davis Monthan AFB. Pima does tours there now also. Since they're so close they get a lot of different planes - including an SR71 Blackbird.

A little farther north: Biosphere 2

And Kartchner Caverns is worth the drive - about an hour SE of Tucson.

In NE Tucson - if you hike: Ventana Canyon
Tucson Hikes - Ventana Canyon to Maiden Pools

If you golf, Ventana Canyon GC is pretty epic. Tucson National is a PGA stop also. Be hot in June though...

If you have a long weekend free - Fri-Su - San Carlos would be a possibility with Desert Divers. In June it's nice warm water diving - vis is hit/miss sometimes but generally 40-50' - I've seen 80' there once. There's a Sea Lion rookery, we always see Puffers, Stingrays, Cortez Angelfish, dolphins ride the bow waver over to San Pedro Island - most boats go there. There's a deep canyon south of the island so sometimes big stuff shows up. There's a video somewhere of an Orca playing in the wake of a diveboat. http://www.desertdivers.com/San_Carlos_Trips.cfm It's a sleepy little town with about 5-6 diveops about 20 mins. from Guaymas. From Tucson if you don't get hung up at the border it's probably 6 hours drive.

Is Biosphere 2 still open? Last I was there they had closed and were on the market.

Cam, check out The Desert Museum. If you like old westerns, there's Old Tucson Studios. I would definitely drive up to Mt. Lemmon. The views are breathtaking! If you like to hike, there's Reddington Pass. For a more commercialized operation there's Sabino Canyon. If you want to see a dry cave, check out Colossal Cave. They have special tours on the weekends where you can crawl around and get dirty

UofA took it over for research purposes. Then some private company bought it out and leased it back to them - or something like that. Afaik you can go there now for daily tours. Individual Admission | Biosphere2

All three Universities here are facing massive cuts in programs since the AZ budget is several billion dollars negative - I'm sure that will have some effect on programs there. They do have a fall 2010 newsletter on the website - and still seem to be open.

Cool! It's a neat place. My wife and I got a chance to dive the Biosphere 2 ocean a couple of times and got a special tour of the place several years ago.

I can't thank you guys enough I was really starting to become concerned about this trip.
The things you have mentioned are awesome!
I am back to excited and anticipating it now.
I love history and ALL things cave! I am in and really thankful for the tips!
I have tried to convince my wife about a long weekend but she is pretty clear on staying fairly close.
I might have to rent a vehicle any tips? Or grab one at the airport?

Thanks again for the advice I really appreciate it.

CamG

Just get one at the airport. GGlad to help.

CamG:

I can't thank you guys enough I was really starting to become concerned about this trip.
The things you have mentioned are awesome!
I am back to excited and anticipating it now.
I love history and ALL things cave! I am in and really thankful for the tips!
I have tried to convince my wife about a long weekend but she is pretty clear on staying fairly close.
I might have to rent a vehicle any tips? Or grab one at the airport?

Thanks again for the advice I really appreciate it.

CamG

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If you don't mind your cave being above water, check out Kartchner Caverns. It's considered the state of the art in cave environment preservation; it opened about four years ago.

It's about 40 minutes away from Tucson - head east on IH10 until Exit 302, and then south on SR 90 for about 10-12 minutes. They have a nice walk-through exhibit as well as a superb model of the cave structure.

Edit: Ooops, I see that Steve had mentioned Kartchner, above.