Lake Tahoe questions

[decompression]

I'll be in lake Tahoe next year (my wife is doing ironman there), and I'd like to get a dive or two in. So I just have the usual questions;
Shop recommendations
gear rentals
shore dives?
best sites
tips
and any other points

I am a tech diver so if there is a great dive for techies I'm up for that. Also, as far as gear rentals is concerned, do they rent BP/W and drysuits?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Peter_C]

Bring your own gear, including a drysuit, or ship it ahead to the hotel. There are no dive shops around the lake. Where are you flying into? Reno has a couple of shops as does Sacramento. Bring all the tanks you plan to use from the dive shop. The Nevada side has a dive flag law, Cali does not.

Map Look at the rest of their website for location etc. They do sell nitrox. BTW it is altitude diving, so make sure to adjust for around 2,000 meters.

A quick google search will answer more questions.

Maybe it is just me, but there isn't much to see in the lake.

 

[decompression]

Thanks Peter. Well be flying into Reno, googled a couple of shops there and Carson city. Was hoping not to bring gear but sometimes it's worth it. I dive the Rocky Mountains here so no prob with the altitude. Have to say I was hoping for something to see, I guess I'll get wet and then buy a T shirt.

 

[Peter_C]

The barge in Emerald Bay is supposed to be a fun dive, but only accessible by boat (Or at least no one has ever mentioned where to drop gear and scooters yet). The rest of the lake is mostly rocks. DL Bliss State Park is where we have done most of our diving. It is a wall dive, although not completely vertical in most spots. Scootering out pretty far, and coming back in shallower. I am not Tech 1, so we usually just stay shallower, like above 70 ft, as it is also brighter. No need for a can light unless you plan to go deeper. There are people who do deco dives since it is a very deep lake.

There is at least one dive boat, and if you want to see things like the barge it might not be a bad way to go. Fdog on this board knows Lake Tahoe better than I though.

The coolest thing I have ever seen there was a Kokanee salmon eating fry from a bait ball right in front of my face

 

[Myka]

hello,
yes there is some nice dive to do. from the shore, there is a very nice wall to do; you will not see the bottom ;-)
I was there the last week end. Very clear water, light blue on the top, deep dark blue when I was a little bit deeper. It is named rubicon wall, it is in DLBLiss State park, on california side. email me if you want more information.

The problem is if you want to dive deep, then you will have to switch from nitrox to trimix and bring some good decompression gaz (specially in altitude).
2 years ago, I did that [video=youtube_share;WnVZtg-gvjo]http://youtu.be/WnVZtg-gvjo[/video], but my camera was not a gopro HD at that time. I am editing now a new video in HD, it was beautifull 3 days ago...

I got all my information on this website Dive Sites

have fun

---------- Post added ----------

Oh, BTW, Rubicon wall is dive-able from the shore, and if you swim enough on the south (10min), you will get a wall that is perfectly vertical from at least 40ft to 260ft (from what I know, but it was still pretty vertical under my fins and dark blue).
I did that dive few times, and I usually don't bring any light, there is enough from the sun since the visibility is awesome, and I have to say, there is not so much to see. The nice part of the wall for me is between 100ft and the surface. I actually love the 20ft area, few fishes and a lot of crawfish.

 

[ianr33]

I dived Rubicon wall a few years ago. Very neat dive if you like dramatic rock walls. Water temp was 49. I bought a drysuit shortly afterwards..........

 

[fdog]

Rubicon Wall is considered by most to be Lake Tahoe's "signature dive". It has some nice dramatic dropoffs, as well as a sunken boat at about 170'. And a garden gnome - go figure. Honestly though it is best done with scooters, or, from a boat. As a pedestrian it is a long swim as well as an imposing hike up the side of a hill.

There are other good dives. The Emerald Bay barges are relatively shallow, and fairly interesting from a historical perspective. Sadly, this too, is pretty much a boat-only experience.

As a technical diver there is a nice little dive on the west side of Tahoe; there is a memorial to the founder of a local dive shop who passed away recently. It's a set of doubles and two six-packs of beer at 200'. We occasionally go down there to pay our respects, deliver a couple bottles of beer, and take a couple out of "Rich's Fridge".

If you need dubs, mix, or scoots, let us know and we can hook you up.

All the best, James

 

[Peter_C]

The Emerald Bay barges are relatively shallow, and fairly interesting from a historical perspective. Sadly, this too, is pretty much a boat-only experience.

James, is there a way to get to the barge with scooters? Or even a close launch for kayaks? (Other than DL Bliss)

Unfortunately my boat is a two stroke and thankfully banned from Tahoe. I keep hoping it will morph into a four stroke, but something $,$$$ keeps getting in the way. Of course my previous Nautique is running around the lake somewhere, but I have never seen it.

 

[Ben_ca]

James, is there a way to get to the barge with scooters? Or even a close launch for kayaks? (Other than DL Bliss)

Unfortunately my boat is a two stroke and thankfully banned from Tahoe. I keep hoping it will morph into a four stroke, but something $,$$$ keeps getting in the way. Of course my previous Nautique is running around the lake somewhere, but I have never seen it.

Oh I'm sure James can rig an alternate for your 2-stroke motor... Maybe some Acme rockets strapped to the tubes perhaps?

 

[sbtag]

@Decompresion: There is a dive shop about 3 minutes from the Reno airport which I rented a tank from. You can rent anything you need from them.

I've only dove in Tahoe once, just this past Labor Day weekend at Diver's Cove at Sand Harbor on the Nevada side near Incline Village (about 45 minutes from Reno). The lake is beautiful to look at and swim in; crystal clear water surrounded by the Sierra Mountains. But, as another post noted, it's pretty barren so far as life goes. I saw a couple of large schools of small minnows and a lot of small crayfish (they call them "crawdads") on the bottom. There are a lot of interesting looking boulders and such. Great viz but nothing to see. Most of the fish they do have are either invasive or otherwise non-native (I saw nothing bigger than finger sized minnow and 'crawdads').

I was perfectly comfortable at that time of year wearing only a 3mm with no gloves or hood, but I only dove at around 30' for the most part with a maximum depth of 40'. The people I dove with were wearing 7mm with gloves and hoods and felt oversuited. My dive computer recorded an average temperature of 66 degrees Fahrenheit.