Quarries - What's up with that?

[Rollin Bonz]

My local quarry happens to be Lake Wazee. The mine was in service long enough to get several hundred feet deep and as large as a decent sized natural lake. There are steps to the depth because of how the road spirals down around to the bottom so you get wall dives. The upper steps had a long enough time period before the mine was abandoned to grow full sized forests in places, and thick stands of several inch thick trees in others.
There are fish and plant life but not so much as to cloud the water up with the massive amount of deep area so viz tends to be really good which to me is more than 20 feet and sometimes much more depending on the season.
Its better than a haunted house to swim through a dead forest in the blue gloom at 50+ feet and look out over a several hundred foot cliff into total blackness.
I once borrowed an underwater scooter the local dive shop brought along for people to try out and did a slalom course in the larger shallower trees complete with barrel rolls and loops around some of the large extended branches.
Another neat feature (and an irritation) is the fact that the only map I have ever seen looks like it was drawn by a 5 year old with crayons and only covers the general highlights and some depth markings. So unless you have a guide there are a lot of dives worth of wandering around to figure out where stuff is.
I did my AOW at Haigh quarry which has a fair bit of odd stuff sunk in it in addition to a large rock crusher from the original quarry. It is so overloaded with fish its like a freshwater aquarium in places. I have dove there after OW classes have reduced visibility to arms length at best. Try that at 85 feet and its total blackness. I did my deep dive and my night dive during the day at the same time in 40's F degree water (thermoclines).
You really do need quarry or cold ocean training to be ready for many of the great lakes shipwrecks. A master diver from the tropics would have to practically start over up here.

Sounds like a blast to dive!

 

[WeRtheOcean]

For some of us, it's less about what we *see* and more about what we *do*. For me, the fun of SCUBA is the challenge of it. So any dive that presents a challenge is a good dive.

I guess that's the thing I was missing. Since the whole reason I began to consider diving was what I would *see*, I just wasn't in the mindset of people with tmassey's view.

I'm a diver... not a quarry diver, not an ocean diver... I dive when and where I can.

Whereas I would be a look-at-the-underwater-life diver, and would dive when and where I could do that.

 

[divad]

Then keep snorkeling. You'll save tons of money....and see more wildlife.

 

[happy-diver]

learning to dive requires more learning than looking so eventually you can look with proficiency

it can mirror thread involvement with regards to enthusiasm

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Like I and many others have previously stated.....it's great for training. Work on your buoyancy and navigation in less than optimal diving conditions and you'll be spot on when you're in crystal clear 150+ ft visibility surrounded by all the sea life you could ever want to see. Simply put...quarry diving will make you a better diver.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

I would be a look-at-the-underwater-life diver, and would dive when and where I could do that.

On the flip side of this...

Who amongst us has spent 30 minutes just chillin' in full gear (minus fins) at the bottom of a 5 ft pool because that was the best dive they could come up with at the time....?

 

[Saniflush]

On the flip side of this...

Who amongst us has spent 30 minutes just chillin' in full gear (minus fins) at the bottom of a 5 ft pool because that was the best dive they could come up with at the time....?

View attachment 505434

I would add that I even told Mrs Flush that I wasn't sure gear was working properly so I needed to.....You know, for safety.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Oh I have several times absolutely considered kitting up and plopping down ffm and all in the tub.

#needtoblowbubbles

 

[Rollin Bonz]

Like I and many others have previously stated.....it's great for training. Work on your buoyancy and navigation in less than optimal diving conditions and you'll be spot on when you're in crystal clear 150+ ft visibility surrounded by all the sea life you could ever want to see. Simply put...quarry diving will make you a better diver.

This was indeed a shock to me. Got OW certified in Panama City Beach then spent a year quarry diving (75ish dives) before my next ocean trip. When I splashed it was like diving nirvana ... I could see bright light everywhere, visibility for miles, the water was warm, my trim and buoyancy were spot on, I FELT LIKE AN OCEAN GOD!

 

[Addicted2H2O]

This was indeed a shock to me. Got OW certified in Panama City Beach then spent a year quarry diving (75ish dives) before my next ocean trip. When I splashed it was like diving nirvana ... I could see bright light everywhere, visibility for miles, the water was warm, my trim and buoyancy were spot on, I FELT LIKE AN OCEAN GOD!

This was very much my experience the first time I back rolled in to the Caribbean in Cozumel. I won't say my buoyancy and trim are "spot on" but I'm getting there.