Lake Jocassee, NC?

[SubMariner]

Looking for info on Lake Jocassee in NC:

Location (travel time from Atlanta, GA)
Conditions
Costs
Pros/Cons

We've been taking students to FL Springs and a looking for a close alternative.

Thanks for any help!

~SubMariner~

 

[Bobb]

Hi,
I dive Lake Jocassee just about every weekend. I live in Greenville, SC and most of the lake is in SC, just a small part of it is in NC. It is approx. 45 minutes from Greenville, and I think that Atlanta is about 2 hours from greenville..

Water clarity varies from 4'-5' to 12'-20'. the water is very deep, in excess of 300' in some locations. There are at least 4 sunken boats to explore, at least 3 dive platforms (12'-28') etc. water temp. can be pretty chilly,
2 weekends ago, temp @ surface was 73, thermocline approx. 60' temp in high 50's. hope this helps...
Bobb

 

[Swamp Rat]

The only captain I know of is Off the Wall dive charters.
http://www.offthewalldiving.com/2.html. He has all the latest dive conditions on there. There is several camping places near by. One state park. They also have a blocked off boat ramp so you can walk in and dive. They have a nav course to the left facing out from the ramp. You will need a suit 5mm or better. The drive up from atlanta shouldn't be bad at all. I live in Charleston.

 

[samsliquidblue]

Hello Submariner,
My name is Samantha and I work with http://www.offthewalldiving.com We offer trips out on Lake Jocassee in Salem, SC. It has several diving options, the Walk In Diver's Ramp and the Charter service that we run for boat charters across the lake to the other sites that most people like to dive. Devil's Fork State park has camping in the park at reasonable rates.
The above website offers more information for you to read over about the charter. We cover two lakes and many sites and do the Cooper River trips to Charleston, SC for fossils.
Hotel accomodations can be made through the charter to stay in Seneca, SC about 20 miles away where restaurants and other businesses are. Hotel discounts are available.
The charter goes out for morning 9:00-1:00, afternoon 1:30-5:30, evening 6:00-10:00. The cost for each person is $25.00 for the trip and you have time to dive two tanks. The sites that we dive are the Chinese Junk ( a teak wood boat)50-60 feet deep, the platform 20-25 feet deep, the basketball goal with the magic basketball 25-30 feet deep, the motor cycle 20-25 feet deep, and the fiber glass boat in the canyon at 50 feet. There is the deep wall that one can dive to 175 at the bottom and of course dives into the 200-350 range are possible. The vis is 20 feet above the thermocline and just yesterday at 120 feet of depth we were looking at 50 foot vis. The thermocline is at 60 foot and the temp is cooler from that point on. The Grave yard from the Mount Carmel Church is in 125-130 feet and is another site that we dive. On this dive the students need to be at least advanced Open Water and have some experience with depth and a good system for diving before they will be taken there.
We have a compressor at the shop and pump air for tanks, rent tanks( steel and aluminium, and weight belts. The fresh mountain air is O2 compatible by using the synthetic compressor oils. Tanks rentals are $10.00, fills are $6.00, rentals for weight belts $5.00. We fill DIN tanks as well.
Contact us at 864-944-9255. Or email to: wnrouth@carol.net
Love Liquid Blue, Samantha and Bill Routh

 

[SubMariner]

Sorry that I inadvertedly moved Lake Jocassee from South Carolina to North Carolina. As a Canuck I plead geographical ignorance & throw myself on the mercy of the (dive) court. ;-0

Anyways, thanks for the good info, everyone. I will keep this place in mind for future dive training.

~SubMariner~

 

[Swamp Rat]

Good thing this is water and all the damage you did moving it just seemed to level itself back out. Since you returned it and no Harm done except for lost revenue. You just have to bring lot and lots of students to replace the lost revenue. Seeing that we need as much money as we can get in SC to pay for this new lottery we're getting.

 

[Quetzal]

Some Good Info about Lake Joacasse SC

 

[fishguts]

Also check out www.scubashopsc.com or call and talk to Mike, he runs 2 boats for diving on Lake Jocassee
Info
The Scuba Shop
333 Whitney Road
Spartanburg, SC 29303
(864)-585-5694

 

[Boat]

Got a Jocassee related question. I'm trying to get up that way for at least a weekend sometime in the near future and camp at the Devils Fork campground. Question is, where is the nearest place to get air fills done? From what I've read shore dives from the boat ramp are no problem? Is there a map/guide of where to go from the boat ramp?

Thanks, Boat

 

[Corigan]

There are down lines off of of the corner of the ramp that run to platforms, boats, etc.

As for fills, Bill at off the wall charters. You will pass it going to devil's fork state park.
http://offthewalldiving.com/ It is only 5 minutes away at most from the front of the state park.

Matt