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Dutch Springs and Lake Rawlings are about 3 hours from my house in opposite directions. I am going to Lake Rawlings on September 15th with a Scuba group...but I was wondering for future reference which one is better. Which one has better visibility? Which has more fun things to see?
I'd say that Rawlings has better visibility, warmer water temps and is a little less expensive. Dutch has more stuff to see, has better facilities and is deeper in spots. Dutch is also a lot more crowded which can significantly drop the visibility around some of the high traffic attractions.
Most of the fun at both comes from being with a good group of people. Have a great time. YMMV.
Dutch is best dived mid week. I've been there several times on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the summer. Minimal crowds and vis that often surpasses Rawlings, even at mid-week.
I don't think you could pay me to go there on a weekend unless it was something unique going on.
Never been to Lake Rawlings although I'd be willing to try it sometime if I knew where I was going. Dutch is a great training facility. but its as good as you make it with the crowds and visibility and all.
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Never say Never! Its almost as long a time as always!
I dig Rawlings. Again, I'd go mid-week, but the viz is awesome there! Also, from Alexandria, I think it was only a 1.5 hour drive.
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--Ice9
"Buy the ticket. Take the ride." -- Hunter S. Thompson
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We did Dutch on Thursday this week. Day was sort of overcast. It felt like we basically had the place to ourselves. There were maybe 8-10 other people at the Peninsula? Saw a couple of other divers in the water in passing, but did cross paths at all at any of the attractions we made it to.
Water temp didn't vary a whole lot - Mid 70's on the surfact, and a low of 58. I'm guessing that all of the recent rain may have stirred things up a bit. Viz was great - 40' at least.
Afterwards, no lines for the (hot!) showers or anything. Weekdays are definitely the way to go with Dutch
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