Why so Deep?

[=C=]

There is a sunken forest in our local lake. We are building an underwater tree-house (no kidding). The forest starts at 110'.

I too enjoy a good wreck.

Heh.. I thought we were unique in our underwater forests... Go figure. Do you also have fish that rest in the branches like birds?


In any case, where I dive there isn't anything except trash and the odd carp down to 30. In 70 to 90ft I find old cars, a presidential yacht, house boats, bridges, dams, an old Mill, a hotel, and a whole village including a church.

 

[SangP]

The thing is not everyone of us wants to see clown fish or cute looking fish, the stuff I really want to see are reasonably deep.

Over here most of the wrecks are at least around 40m so if you really want to see some big fat groupers n some really interesting warships, you gotta go deep.

SangP

 

[Tortuga68]

For ALL, down there you will find the ability to go through more air and shorten your dive as well as less light and (in many but not all places) colder water

There's also often better viz than in shallower water. The 4 points you mention can all be addressed by taking more gas/deco equipment, a light source and appropriate exposure protection


If you're planning a deep dive to see whatever's down there - be it cave, wreck, marine life, whatever - it's also common practice to do gradual 'work up' dives to that depth (not to mention the required training/certification dives). So a dive that may seem from the outside to have no purpose other than 'going deep for the hell of it' can be worthwhile for training/acclimatisation that will allow you to meet your ultimate goal

 

[carrielsal]

There is a sunken forest in our local lake. We are building an underwater tree-house (no kidding). The forest starts at 110'.

I too enjoy a good wreck.

We also have a sunken forest in our local lake that starts around 100'. It's pitch black and the trees and lake bed are covered in silt. It's like being in a Tim Burton movie.
It's a great place for me to practice lost line drills, entanglement, and a host of other skills in a more challenging environment.

 

[ScubaSteve]

There's also often better viz than in shallower water. The 4 points you mention can all be addressed by taking more gas/deco equipment, a light source and appropriate exposure protection

I was not trying to convince anybody to not go deep or saying it could not be done. I was simply answering the question. Nice and simple.

 

[wrybosome]

To the OP- on the last dive I did everyone who went to the bottom at 130' came back with dinner. All I got was this t shirt.

 

[FireInMyBones]

We also have a sunken forest in our local lake that starts around 100'. It's pitch black and the trees and lake bed are covered in silt. It's like being in a Tim Burton movie.
It's a great place for me to practice lost line drills, entanglement, and a host of other skills in a more challenging environment.

It is like being in a Tim Burton Movie. I love it. We practice all sorts of skills down there. It is perfect for line drills and silt outs.

 

[carrielsal]

Heh.. I thought we were unique in our underwater forests... Go figure. Do you also have fish that rest in the branches like birds?

Fish in the branches? That must be quite the sight.

It is like being in a Tim Burton Movie. I love it. We practice all sorts of skills down there. It is perfect for line drills and silt outs.

It is quiet and peaceful down there. You can be swimming along with 25' vis, then swim through a cloud of muck with 0 viz and back into fantastic vis. There are some really big catfish down there that you might spot if you're lucky. As you swim north the trees really start to get thick. If you have any danglies you missed on the surface, a tree will surely find it.
A couple of weeks ago I was down deep in the dark and practiced a lights out. When I got my backup light on, I was pleased to see that I hadn't silted anything out. It's a great place to practice cave skills.

 

[TSandM]

Are there any people crazier than cave divers? We dive into and under everything we can find; dodge through branches in the dark, practice getting entangled and swimming with our eyes shut. And, if there are two or three cave divers in a big diving group, you will always find them clustered around a table together, with a conversation that goes, " . . . line . . . jump . . . right at the T . . . through the restriction . . ." We're pretty funny.

 

[carrielsal]

Are there any people crazier than cave divers? We dive into and under everything we can find; dodge through branches in the dark, practice getting entangled and swimming with our eyes shut. And, if there are two or three cave divers in a big diving group, you will always find them clustered around a table together, with a conversation that goes, " . . . line . . . jump . . . right at the T . . . through the restriction . . ." We're pretty funny.

haha...Since I started diving with another sm diver, he has me crawling through openings under boulders, under stairs, between the railing of the stairs where they enter the water. I run line all over the place and have my recreational buddy practicing all sorts of crazy skills with me.