Mr. House,
I've lived (and dived) in Utah almost 30 years now and we do have a few sites as listed in the site above, but for me I've got to say that we have 2 sites and those would be Blue Lake (I think its actually in Nevada, right on the border) and Seabase. Both are warm water springs, making them divable summer or winter. The rest of what we have is cold and high. If you are into drysuit diving of small muddy alpine lakes, you are in luck, but for me I stick to one of these two, both are a must do if you live here, but neither one is something that you would exactly dive on a continuous basis. Blue Lake is fresh water, fairly deep (60') and a natural warm spring on the edge of the salt flats. It is a favorite with local dive shops to certify in. People always complain about the visibility, but I've had good luck, the trick is to NOT go there when there has been a class as the beginning divers stir this place up quickly and it stays murky for a while. Seabase is salt water, no fooling, and is also a hot spring near the Great Salt Lake. Seabase is associated with the Neptune Dive Shop in SLC, one of the two dive shops I recomend (the other being Dive Utah). They took a muddy salt water warm spring and dug it out, lined it to keep the vis usuable and then tossed in some ocean salt water fish. There are actually 6 foot nurse sharks, as well as Angel fish, Puffers and a fair amount of others which you can feed. The main area is only about 25 feet deep, but they have a seperate smaller area that they drilled down to 60 feet. Visibility is highly variable on both spots, beginneers and algae blooms are the factors, I've been in the 60 foot area when there was 25+foot vis, other times when it was 12 inches. Either one of these areas I use as a checkout dive just before a "real" dive trip to the Carribean or elsewhere. I'm not a cold water diver so everything else is out for me. There is another area, a hot spring (about 100 degrees) called the "Crater", this is 60 feet deep and larger than the Seabase deep area. It is in Heber/Midway and is run by the Homestead hot spring resort. 100 degrees sounds good, but this place is at altitude, combine heat and altitude and you have a recipe for the bends, in fact I know at least one person that has gotten the bends at the crater, but this is still also a favorite with certification classes, so buyer beware. The vis here is always excellent and if you stay cool on depth and time, plus calculate in altitude this is also a good checkout area for a "real" dive trip.
I ramble off at the mouth, but I hope that helps....welcome to the desert !
