Greetings, everyone - new member & first post here, looks like a great community!
My daughter and I are new divers [...]
Welcome, Kirk, and congratulations.
I live in Minnesota, and frequently dive in areas here and elsewhere that do not ordinarily attract much interest from divers. I'll see if I can help.
1. Legal Restrictions: I surely appreciate respecting any restrictions on privately-owned waters, however, for public lakes, rivers, bays, etc., what is the "rulebook" for understanding if they can be dived legally / safely? It's surprising to me that I haven't found any clear governance - if it weren't for the frequent comments on boards like this suggesting "go practice in your local lake", I would just assume public waters were off-limits.
The situation varies from state to state and is complex because much of the law is not codified or specified in statute. Water access is based on English common law and has been interpreted differently by courts in different jurisdictions. Most of the case law is based on 19th and early 20th century decisions that predate the emergence of recreational scuba diving in the 1950s. In Minnesota, the landmark cases are Lamprey v. Metcalf (1893) and Johnson v. Seifert (1960s), but those don't apply in Pennsylvania and the situation does differ considerably among states.
Ordinarily there is no problem SCUBA diving in an area where you can lawfully swim and boat, except for a few jurisdictions that specifically prohibit SCUBA diving or require a permit or license for SCUBA diving. Most commonly, in my experience, these restrictions are imposed by park boards, either because of perceived safety problems, as part of a general prohibition against swimming, as a result of complaints from people trying to fish, or because of complaints from lifeguards. Lifeguards usually don't like SCUBA divers.
Most jurisdictions require you to tow a dive flag for reasons of safety; the same laws require boats to stay away from dive flags. In areas where diving is common the flags are recognized, enforcement is common, and it makes sense to use a flag. In lakes that hardly ever get divers, and in lakes without motorized boat traffic, I don't use a flag. Most boaters in these areas don't know what the flag is and are more likely to come over and investigate than they are to stay away. In many cases law enforcement doesn't know what the flag is, either.
2. Safety Considerations: To date, all but one of our dives have included a DM or were part of an organized group. Ideally, I would like to invite some other, more experienced divers to join us, but if that doesn't work out, what specific concerns would I need to consider? A surface buoy, compass & first aid kit are obvious items, but I'd surely hate to omit anything critical.
Your training is supposed to have prepared you to dive without an instructor or DM. Follow your training, use good gear, plan your dive, do buddy checks, and so on. I'm not going to go into that in detail, but you have to take the same steps you would take at a widely-used shore diving site, or on a boat where there is no DM provided.
If you're in a new lake, the first thing is that you have to know the lake.
Navionics ChartViewer has depth information for many lakes but not for Lake Wynonah. If there are other resources available locally, use those. Find out what to expect for visibility and temperature.
Amenities of Lake Wynonah PA has some information, 90' deep it says. Look at the satellite view on Google Maps. It can give you an idea on depths and visibility -- it looks to me like the lake is clear enough for good diving.
You will want to be prepared for the temperatures you are likely to encounter. I'm guessing you're thinking summer -- not now -- there may be ice at this point and if not it's going to be really cold. Usually the best visibility in freshwater lakes is in the spring or early summer. It's going to be cold, usually around 70 near the surface, and in deeper lakes like these there will be a thermocline and if you're going past about 20' it's going to get very cold very quickly and you would want a 7mm wetsuit. Later in the year the surface will warm up more but the viz usually deteriorates, and it's still cold at depth.
The main hazard is boats. You want to understand the local usage patterns and stay out of heavily used areas. Water skiing boats will not watch for you even if you have a flag. In that lake, I would use a flag. You will be able to hear boats, and if your buoyancy control and dive planning are good enough, you can avoid surfacing when there is one in your area. You will want to pay attention when surfacing and be prepared for a quick descent if you're about to get hit. Even if you are diving from shore, you can have a friend follow you with a kayak or canoe or something which helps a great deal, then you can surface next to that.
Since there is fishing you may encounter abandoned monofilament line underwater. Freshwater line doesn't usually pose a serious entanglement risk, because it's light enough that you can break it, but bring a line cutter or knife to be sure.
Lakes with dams sometimes have water outlets, stay away from those as they are dangerous and you can get stuck to them. Though rare there have been accidents, usually when the viz is bad and people can't see them.
On larger lakes, navigation becomes a factor as you don't want to get lost and surface too far from shore. Wynonah is small enough that you should be able to swim to shore from any point in it without much trouble. Bring a compass, but you'll end up using depth as your guide, shallower=closer to shore.
3. Disclaimer: Perhaps this should have been listed first LOL - I do want to stress that I have no intention of jumping into every lake or river I can find, and my common sense would surely not allow me to dive without the proper information to be safe. This is really just an inquiry about one particular lake with which I am familiar. Lake Wynonah is a crystal-clear, 175-acre beauty with depths to 90' and tons of freshwater fish; IF I can verify that I can dive it legally and safely, it would be an incredible opportunity to get dive/practice time during our visits there.
I appreciate any advice or guidance anyone has to offer!
People will ask you what you're doing and what you saw. They will also ask about experience and safety, because the public perception is that scuba diving is dangerous. It is wise to have some answers ready that emphasize your training and such experience as you may have. Once you have some more dives behind you, I would suggest taking a camera and shooting some video and posting it. It will go a long way towards being sure that the locals like you so you can keep diving there.
Lakes that are rarely dived usually accumulate various "treasures" and you are likely to find some fishing rods, lures, anchors, cell phones, snorkeling gear, etc. I usually give away anything I find that is usable, or leave it on the dock if I have a good idea who it would belong to. It's funny how people remember stuff. People get attached to particular fishing lures and you can make some good friends pretty quickly. You may be asked to find objects, can be fun, use your judgement, be careful with anything heavy enough to screw up your buoyancy.
It looks like a fun lake, probably better than anything I have around here.
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