Rodney Pits

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Jafo123

Contributor
Messages
188
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0
Location
Hinton,Iowa
# of dives
50 - 99
I was wondering if anyone here has been diving at the Rodney Pits in Iowa? I have heard of people that have but that's it nothing more. As the price of gas keeps getting higher and higher I'm looking for places closer to home to get wet.
 
I was wondering if anyone here has been diving at the Rodney Pits in Iowa? I have heard of people that have but that's it nothing more. As the price of gas keeps getting higher and higher I'm looking for places closer to home to get wet.

I did my open water certification dives in Rodney, IA (according to my log book) however it's been a few years and I have no idea if we were at Rodney Pits or not. We're thinking about checking it out this weekend or next. Our local dive club is always looking for new places to dive. I've placed numerous calls to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Monona County Economic Development Partnership to inquire if diving is allowed at the Rodney Pits but so far I haven't been able to reach anyone who knows. I guess we'll just try it and see. I'll be sure to post a mini report and some pictures if we get over there.

Have you ever been to the Atlantic Quarry in Atlantic, IA? We were diving there the last couple of weekends. Visibility was stellar two weeks ago, here's a link to some pictures. Atlantic Quarry Pictures
 
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I'm in central Missouri, where are these quarry's located?

Nice pictures of Atlantic Quarry, BTW.

Snagel

The Atlantic Quarry is located in Atlantic, IA, not far off I-80 between Omaha and Des Moines. The Rodney Pits are near Rodney, IA, about 40 miles southeast of Sioux City, IA. Our plan is to dive at the Rodney Pits tomorrow. I'll post a mini report and pictures if the visibility is OK.

Regarding the pictures, thanks!
 
Lloyd and I did a dive at the Rodney Pits Recreation Area on Sunday. There are signs posted at each lake/pit that say "Scuba Diving by Permission Only". You can obtain permission by calling the Monona County Conservation Board at 712-423-2400 or by emailing mccb@longlines.com. I had made numerous calls to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources trying to find out who to contact. When we arrived we located the phone number to call on one of the information boards.

The lake we decided to dive first was called Johnston. Visibility was between 5-10 ft. Lloyd spotted a catfish and a few bass, my only sightings were two bass and a school of baby bass. The fish are obviously not used to seeing divers and took off the minute they saw us. We followed the shoreline around the lake so we didn't go very deep. The thermocline was right at 15 ft. Surface temp up to 15 ft. was 74. We had planned to dive at the other lake located at Peters Park, however a park ranger showed up and we decided to call it a day. Now we know who to call for permission. :wink: The third lake/pit, Rodney, is closed and had a sign that said Keep Out.

There are restrooms (vault toilets), picnic tables, grills, a covered shelter, and camping sites that include fire pits at Peters Park. Below is a link to the Monona County Conservation Board website that has a brief description of the Rodney Pits Recreation Area including a picture. Rodney Pits Recreation Area

I've emailed the board to inquire if our local dive club could hold a dive outing there. Hope this information helps! It's always nice to find another local dive site.
 
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Sounds interesting. It looks like it was "divable". Did the park ranger chase you off or did not just want to press your luck?

Snagel

We just didn't want to press our luck.
 
Hey guys I just saw this post and good to see Iowa divers on the board. However scubadiving the Rodney pits is a no go, I know Gary Cisco the conservation officer is a diver and has dove the pits to recover some stuff in the pits for his job but, as far as recreational diving it is no longer allowed.
I was directed by officer Cisco to contact the Monona conservation board and they returned my call and said recreational diving is no longer allowed.
I did get permission for myself as I am a Sherriff's rescue diver for Plymouth county and they do allow Rescue/Recovery divers to dive the pits for training purposes but, even we have to give prior notice that we are going in there, hope this sheds some light on this. Crystal Cove in SSC is divable, the weeds are now gone but, viz is about 2ft. as of last Saturday should be increaing soon though..I know of a few other places that are divable but, am checking to see if they will allow diving to the public if anyone needs any help feel free to let me know.

Regards
 
Hey guys I just saw this post and good to see Iowa divers on the board. However scubadiving the Rodney pits is a no go, I know Gary Cisco the conservation officer is a diver and has dove the pits to recover some stuff in the pits for his job but, as far as recreational diving it is no longer allowed.
I was directed by officer Cisco to contact the Monona conservation board and they returned my call and said recreational diving is no longer allowed.
I did get permission for myself as I am a Sherriff's rescue diver for Plymouth county and they do allow Rescue/Recovery divers to dive the pits for training purposes but, even we have to give prior notice that we are going in there, hope this sheds some light on this. Crystal Cove in SSC is divable, the weeds are now gone but, viz is about 2ft. as of last Saturday should be increaing soon though..I know of a few other places that are divable but, am checking to see if they will allow diving to the public if anyone needs any help feel free to let me know.

Regards

That's strange. I placed a follow up call after our dive to the Monona County Conservation Board and I was told we had to call in advance for permission. Maybe that's changed. If that's the case it's too bad, we're always looking for new places to dive.
 
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