Not sure how I forgot Crater I was just there last week. However I don't think the Crater conditions change much except save that dive for the winter because it is damn hot in there (99)
I am consider doing seabase this week or next. I have never done it. I understand that the viz is not great but feel I should at least try it once. I am waiting to do bear lake until I can go with a more experience diver.
Seabase has three bodies of water. Two of them are connected via a short passage way. The body of water right outside the dressing rooms is the one with fish. I don't remember what types they claim other than angel fish and nurse sharks. They will sell you romain lettuce to feed the angel fish. The viz in that pool is so bad that even if you hold the lettuce right in front of your mask, you can feel the fish stealing it but you can't see them.
If you move through the passage way you are in a bigger body of water where they have the "Habitat", a sawed in half tank. If you dive beneath the habitat, you can come up into an air space. The viz in this body of water is also pretty bad. I "found" the habitat by bumping into it with my forehead.
The third body of water is called "The Abyss". They take a LOT of poetic license with this one. The water is in a sandstone lined pool. At one place, they have sunk a concrete culvert into the desert floor to a depth of about 65 feet. There are a couple of grills set into the side of the culvert so you can sit/stand at that depth. There is a grill on the bottom at 65 feet. The diameter of the culvert is about 6-8 feet. The visibility in "the Abyss" is much better. On the other hand, there is not a single thing to do there.
I have dived there once. That was probably too many times.
If you want a marketting spiel about the Seabase, call Neptune Divers in Salt Lake City. They will probably tell you that they have plans to improve the viz. I think they've had that plan for 5 years or more.
The family that owns Neptune also ownes Seabase. I think that is where they do their OW cert dives.
I don't want to talk you out of diving there. I just don't want you to go in with any false expectations.
The Crater is no great shakes. But at least you can swim around. If you're bored you can dive down to the bottom and go around the sides and find where the hot water enters. There are little bubble streams at the various entry points. The nice thing about the Crater is that you can do cert dives there during the winter. The snow can be 6-8 feet deep around the parking area, but the water is still toasty warm. (Walking back to the car after the dive in the cold can be a bear though).
I have never done Bear Lake. Fom what I hear, it's cold and dark. I'm not sure if there is anything to see or not.
I have heard that visibility is better at Fish Lake. It's pretty high in elevation but there are fish and things to see. Don't know if there are any sunken boats or not.
Blue Lake has visibility problems too. It is much worse when there are classes out there doing cert dives which is most weekends during warm weather. The bottom is very silty and when the new divers hit the bottom is gets stirred up. Since the volume of water flow is fairly small, once it silts up, it takes a while to clear. The visibility is usually pretty good down around the "hot pots" where the hot water enters. Also the bottom material is more like gravel there and there is little or no silt.
You're probably beginning to understand why Utah isn't a diving Mecca.
Have fun. Dive safe.
Art
