Quarries

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radagalf

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
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Location
Vancouver, BC, Canada
# of dives
What do people see in quarries? As I've read about them in posts/books/mags, I'm curious as to how they are. As is obvious, I have never been in one.

So my questions are:

What do you see??

What is a typical size (if there is a 'typical' size)?

How deep do they go?

Are they everywhere? Or concentrated more in certain areas than others (like Eastern US)?

What is 'typical' vis??

Thanks in advance!!!!
 
We have hundreds of old iron ore quarries in Minnesota. We find interesting rock structures, sheer walls, old mining equipment, and various freshwater fish. The quarries can vary in depth from 100 ffw to 500 ffw. The visibility typically depends on the weather conditions. We can find 15 foot vis all the way to 60+. We encounter two or three thermoclines in our quarries. The temp might be 68F at the surface (in summer) and 38F below the second thermocline.
 
That's cold... BRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
If these quarries used to be old mining areas, how did these fish get in there???

Were they stocked by the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans - I'm sure you have a different name for it down there... (NOAA??))?
 
A quarry can serve a number of purposes. Basically they are good if you are.... a long way from the ocean.....dont have a whole day to dedicate....dont have the money it takes to do a boat dive.....hate getting seasick !....have the need to get wet without a lot of hassle.

Most quarries are what i call ...braille dives...because the vis is so limited you cant see past your arm. It is def a good place to do compass practice...assuming the owners can provide a site map with what's sunk in the quarrie and azimuths from one item to the other.

You will also find a lot of qual classes going on out there. It is easier to control a group in a quarrie than in the ocean. And, for some..there are no sharks to worry about!!

Its better than suiting up and standing in the shower!!
 
I dive in a quarry every weekend and love it, although the ocean is better a quarry is all we have in kentucky so...
- AJ
:blfish:
 
Good morning,
Quarries have allowed me to hone my skills as well as develop new ones all within a controlled environment. I spend every weekend in the quarries and try to go during the week once or twice when the vis is better. During the weekend things get churned up quite a bit with all the students that the quarries in our area receive. But what better time to work on navigation than when the vis is 12"-16" (especially around the plane at Gilboa).

Gilboa is only 80 minutes drive for me (and they have hot showers) so its a great way to get wet on a whim.

Best Regards
Don Costanza
 
The vis at the plane at Gilboa is good as long as divers are not present. Sunday afternoon after the bottom walkers go home we can always see the length of the plane.

Quarries are good because most divers don't live by the ocean and divers who don't dive can't dive.

If you have an interest in fresh water fish some of our quarries have truely world class specemens in unbelievable numbers.
 
There are a couple local quarries up here... my favorite is one called Big Blue up in Vermont. It's got its share of fish, but nothing spectacular. There are a lot of things I love about it.

Has a couple of sunken cars... it appears they were just driven straight into the quarry.

It's small, but accomodates a wide variety of challenges. You can do a nice dive at 40 feet, or you can head below the thermocline (it gets well below 40 degrees) and check out the shelves and random items at 90 feet. It can go down to 150 or 170 feet, and there's a small cave at around 45-50 feet.

There are some cool walls, lots of various debris to play with.

Quarries are just a nice place to go, they're generally close, and they give you great chances to practice your skills.
 
Mike,
Was at Gilboa both Saturday and Sunday (as usual) and Sunday was much worse than Saturday. I was there Sunday from 1:30pm-6:30pm and was working on navigation and getting a consistant kick cycle count to distance. I was going along when I realized that either I was way off on my bearing or I had modified my kicks as I was thinking that I should have reached the plane by now. Just then as I looked up I was within 18" of running head first into it. Its funny now to recount the story as it was the moment it happened. The vis was that "bad"??. Not the diving...just the vis... but I'm the kind of person that believes the only bad dive is the one you don't return from, other than that they are all an education. Fortunately, I haven't had any bad dives...

Best Regards
Don Costanza
 
I love quarries and mines...my favorite dive site is an old open pit iron mine.

It's called Lake Wazee - it's an old iron mine, 355 feet deep, and clarity is amazing!

The surface temp in the summer is 70degrees, first thermocline @ 35 feet knocks it down to mid fifties, the second thermocline @ 60some feet knocks it down to low, low 40's. At around 130 feet or so, the clarity is well over 100 feet, and the most amazing cliffs and dropoffs I've every seen.

In shallower waters, there are hundreds of bass, walleye and panfish around the fish cribs.

There is a several acre underwater forest that is just amazing to swim through...it's great!!

Other quarries I've been in...well...not as fun. Red Granite Quarry is a "braille dive" a lot of days, as well as a place called Flynn's Quarry in central/northern wisconsin. Cruddy viz and kinda dirty looking. But...when the viz is good at Red Granite, it's really good and makes for an amazing dive.

By far though...Lake Wazee is awesome. It's a divers "mecca" - the only people you usually see their are divers, and there are training platforms @ 25ft and 70ft. A very fun time!
 

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