Air fills in Tahoe?

[Peter_C]

Seems the only two shops that come up on the internet are GONE! (Sunsports Tahoe, and Diving Edge) Does anyone know somewhere to get air fills...or even better nitrox, without going to Reno?

Looks like Ryan and I are headed there the following weekend for some fun.

Thanks!
Peter

 

[ScubaCrash]

Try Sierra Dive Center. One of the members here did a guided Tahoe Dive with them.

 

[Peter_C]

Unfortunately they are in Reno. I just called them and they said even the buoy installers get their air fills there. Probably means, no one even has a compressor in Tahoe for public use.

Sierra Dive Center is leading a dive on August 25 at Meeks Bay. That is the same weekend we are going, so who knows, we may wind up meeting others. We will have an orange Hobie Kayak and a red...errr pink Scupper Pro with us.

 

[rhlee]

i think there's a shop in carson city, but that's probably just as far as Reno. At least in Reno, you can drop your tanks off and hit the casinos for some food while you wait

 

[fdog]

There are three shops in Reno, and one in Carson City. Which one you'd choose depends a lot on your dive location at Lake Tahoe, and, the profiles you've been diving.

All of the mountain passes involve an altitude change:
Mt. Rose (access from Sand Harbor to Reno) +2700'
Spooner Summit (access to Carson City) +1000'
Brockway Summit (Incline vilage to Truckee) +1000'

Lake Tahoe to Truckee, via Tahoe City (west Lake Tahoe access to Reno) has no elevation gain and is all downhill.

Sand Harbor, a popular spot on the east shore, is about 45 minutes from Reno dive shops, and about the same from Carson City.

All of the west and north shore dive spots are best served by Reno (via Truckee). D.L. Bliss, noted for Rubicon Wall, is an hour an ten minutes from Reno, again, most go to Reno via Truckee instead of circling the Lake to Carson City.


The shops:

Are all closed Sundays.
Reno, choose either Adventure Scuba or Sierra Dive Center. Both have nitrox by partial pressure, Adventure also blends custom trimix (I'm not sure about Sierra Dive on that one). Adventure is about a minute off of the freeway, and Sierra is a bit of torturous in-city driving that can get you lost if you're not a local. Both are quality shops.

There is another shop in Reno, Tropical Penguins, that I would emphatically not reccommend. I'm not sure if they even have a compressor right now, since all their goods and equipment were confiscated a month ago.

Strictly Scuba in Carson City has nitrox by partial pressure, and is closed Sunday as well.

Hope this helps!

 

[sharkattack]

Why not bring the gas with you. That is what we do. Dive Tahoe at least once a year for a fresh water rinse. Bring enough bottles for how many dives you plan. Typically we bring 119 for each of us and an 80 sling or a set of doubles and a 40. I have never filled bottles up in Tahoe. Always filled prior to going up for the weekend.

 

[mtbrider]

Peter, sounds like I'm bringing my two sets of doubles and AL80 stage to your place so you can get them filled at Dolphin. Thanks man, you're the best!! :lol:

Just kidding. Sorta. I'm sure we can figure something out, although PP blending is out of the question for me because my tanks are not O2 clean.

 

[Peter_C]

Well we are bringing 8 tanks total, with 5 of them being HP100's. Right now my Prius is sitting pretty low, so we can get our tanks filled with nitrox, since no local stores do any blending. With all the crap we will be bringing to Tahoe, it will make my 3/4 Suburban ride pretty plush.

 

[boomx5]

We just usually bring enough tanks with us for all the diving we plan to do. Most of the time it involves heading up and back to Sac in the same day so we don't usually need to many tanks. However, if we plan on staying longer, we head over to Adventure Scuba in Reno for fills.

 

[bolantej]

I had a bad experience with Tropical Penguin Scuba in Reno. Short fills, bad customer service, etc. Sierra Dive Center is tops.