288lake or mammoth lake?

[donnad]

what is the vis like at these two lakes lately anyone? went to mammoth last year and vis wasn't good.......i know they were doing things to improve it..........did it work? haven't been to 288lake before.......need to go to one of the two in a couple of weeks. thx all

 

[reticentDiver]

I was at the Mammoth last weekend and vis was just 8-9 feet. Water temp was high (82F). I think it will take alittle time until they sort out the vis completely...

Carlos

 

[divezonescuba]

15 feet vis at Lake 288. Temp at the surface is high 70's to low 80's. 3 mm is ok. If you're going to camp out below the thermocline use a 5 mm.

 

[donnad]

thank you

 

[atlas750]

I will be at Mammoth this weekend. Last time I was there (october) the vis was 3-5'. Hope it is better now.

 

[psychocabbage]

Went to Mammoth on May 24th. Vis was horrendous.

I have yet to hear anything good about 288 (which I wanted to try)..

We went to Blue Lagoon (Lagoon 1 seems to be better than 2 so far this year) and were rewarded in many ways..

The roads have been smoothed out.. The vis in Lagoon 1 was so good, we enjoyed the dives much more than ever before in the lagoons.. 20ft easy.
They even had a contest to find rocks painted like dive flags.. Find one, return it and get a prize. Nifty idea.

 

[atm_diver]

Was also at Blue Lagoon this last weekend. Saturday morning dive was great with 25+ feet visibility in Lagoon 1. Probably the best I have seen in 8 years of diving there. By afternoon the students had mucked it up and dropped the visibilty to 10 or 15 feet though.

 

[divezonescuba]

Psychocabbage:

Here's some good things about Lake 288.

I have dove Lake 288 almost every weekend since mid March. The visibility is better than Mammoth Lake or Twin Lakes. Its almost as good as Blue Lagoon.

The environment is safe, the staff is friendly. There is also a nice beach area with sand. There are many picnic tables for gear. Unlike Blue Lagoon, there is an abundance of waterlife from foot long catfish and perchana to half inch somethings in schools by the hundreds.

The only things that they are missing are a compressor and a snack shop.

Of course, its not the caribbean, but it will do in the meantime.

 

[ReefHound]

288 Lake usually has 10 to 15 foot viz. The wrecks are not as in good shape as BL but the plants and fish make it a more enjoyable dive to me. I also like BL and the topside is better at BL with covered tables and all the trees and more scenic views. The two are different enough that it adds a little diversity to local diving.

Mike and all the folks with Mammoth Lake are working very hard. There is a ton of stuff in that lake and it may one day be the best place to dive in our area.

 

[divezonescuba]

I forgot one thing.

At lake 288 a lot of people are bringing their own overhead shelters. There are some trees, but some fixed overhead shelters would be nice. This will become increasingly important as the summer go on.

Also, a couple of weeks ago, there was a massive downpour. A lot of people left. This was a shame because the clouds passed and the rest of the afternoon was fine.