Ca mountain diving, other than Tahoe

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6-1

Registered
Messages
14
Reaction score
5
Location
Sierra Nevada
# of dives
200 - 499
Anybody have information, stories, advice, etc about diving in the high sierra. I know about Tahoe, but am looking for something closer to home in the Mammoth Lakes area.
 
Anybody have information, stories, advice, etc about diving in the high sierra. I know about Tahoe, but am looking for something closer to home in the Mammoth Lakes area.

This book:

index2

has reviews of diving in Mountain Lakes all over northern and central Ca., including several in the Yosemite/Mammoth area. You can buy it, or if your local library is a member of the Link Plus system you can get it via interlibrary loan.

I've dived Convict Lake south of Mammoth, Tenaya Lake inside Yosemite, and will probably dive Saddlebag Lake this week (10,087 feet), just to say that I have:D. That being said, my opinion of diving in high altitude lakes remains unchanged - what you see above the surface is a lot more interesting than what's under it. If you just need to get wet, fine, but the dives tend to be pretty boring unless you like collecting fishing lures. You'll see few fish or anything else alive (crawdads are fairly common in Tahoe), just lots of sand or silt, rocks, dead trees and garbage. I've seen more life in 10 minutes in Monterey Bay than in the 10 dives I've done at altitude. But I'm only 1.5 hours from Monterey versus 3+ from the High Sierra, so I've been doing a lot more diving than hiking/backpacking/X-C skiing since I got certified 4+ years ago.

Personally, I think snorkeling probably makes more sense in high altitude lakes unless you know there's something special down there to look at - you get more exercise, spend more time on the surface enjoying the view, and won't get bored as fast. Oh, do some hiking first (not if you're doing scuba, obviously), then get in the water to cool off and follow it by a picnic lunch.

Guy (heading to Tuolumne Meadows tomorrow)
 

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