anyone up for diving on sat?

[miai]

Oh brother

There's plenty to see in Butzen, and any other lake, if you take the time to educate yourself and look. What kind of fish did you see, where was it's habitat, behavior? I've seen 4 main species there myself. Did you observe sculpin nesting sites or become interested in the fact that sticklebacks can live in fresh and salt water? Did you see the otter that sometimes swims with us? What kind of vegetation (yes it's there) and what exists in the littoral zone? Where did those logs come from (natural or man made structures)? Did you see the old pier pilings? what about the wall that John mentioned? We've found three or four.

A dive report like that tells me more about the diver than the location.

And what does that tell you about me? The fish I saw was some kind of sculpin. It was dwelling happily on the bottom searching for food. No nesting sites observed. I didn't become interested in the sticklebacks due to their unavailability at the time. Also unavailable was the otter. I left the studying of the vegetation for the next visit there because it does not require scuba gear. It only grows in the first 30 cm of water. The logs were all natural. I didn't see the old pier or the wall (hey, it's a big lake). To summarize, it sucked.

Dale, I don't think we should be equally enthralled by the same places. It was my opinion, not a rigorous dive report. You're free to disagree with me, of course, but I don't think you should criticize others just because they don't think like you do.

 

[mustang_5l]

I personally like buntzen lake due to its proximity to home... I can be in the water in 30 min. There is lots to see... you just got to look. There are many cool things you can find there too (like the 20$ bill I found floating in the water). Lots of geographical changes and lots of stuff left over underwater from weekenders and fishermen. So from a "treasure seekers" standpoint its a great place. It's relatively untouched by divers (except for us). You just gotta know where to go. BTW Sassamat Lake is cool too especially around the cement platforms. You can find lots of cool stuff there too...

 

[DaleC]

Fair enough comment - I have edited my original post to delete the negative connotations towards you personally. As someone who appreciates the flora and fauna of lakes (and water in general) I guess I felt you gave ol Buntzen a rather hard rap. To each their own though.

Gabriel, I have found the shore at Buntzen to be crowded at times and wind up suiting up and walking down from the parking lot. The earlier the better. In the less crowded off season we usually drive down to the boat launch and unload the gear there. If you swim left off the dock around the islet you should hit the walls. We hit two or three that led us further out into the lake instead of along the islet. The terrain should go shallow - deep - shallow (as you cross over a hump) and then deep again as you swim back into the main part of the lake. There is a hump between the islet and the far shore. The good vis is the result of it being an Oligotrophic lake (low nutrient load), one of the few accessable lakes of its kind in the lower mainland. Here's a link that will tell you more: http://www.sharphooks.com/tripplanner.aspx?subpage=lakeinfo&lake=buntzen+lake+-+south&lakeid=133

Belcarra is rather flat and shallow for a long way out though I did think veering right off the main dock might warrent further investigation. If you swim way out to the daymarker in the bay there is a little patch of life around it.

 

[miai]

If you swim left off the dock around the islet you should hit the walls.

I dived the right side off the dock, first time just straight ahead and the second time along the shoreline till where the dog area starts. The right side gets deep very fast, down to about 70-80 feet and then it gets flat. Along the shore you can see big dead trees lined up and around them you can see some troutlets. The sloping area really looks like it was freshly excavated and that's why I didn't like the lake, it looks artificial. You can even see the different types of soil.