Beaver Lake, AR

[aihfl]

I will be spending around 6 weeks in and around Eureka Springs, AR mid-June to mid-July, and wanted to know if it's worth lugging my gear all the way up from Florida. Can anyone recommend any NW Arkansas shops that would offer courses in altitude diving (I'm guessing that the region is sufficiently elevated to require this) and drysuit diving (I also read elsewhere in this forum that bottom temps can be in the 40s - something this thin-skinned Florida diver is not used to)? And most importantly, are there any interested dive buddies? I have 10+ years of diving experience and am advanced/Nitrox certified, but Ozarks diving would be completely new to me.

 

[MSltr]

Check the web for candjsports.com. They are located near the dam, which is close to one of the popular dive locations.

 

[k ellis]

Check the web for candjsports.com. They are located near the dam, which is close to one of the popular dive locations.

I second this!

 

[Txfirefighter4305]

C&J is a nice shop close to town, the dam, and Indian Creek.

Indian Creek is a nice cove to dive in. Fairly shallow, most is above '40 or so. Lots of stuff to see. They have sank a couple boats, a boat lift, and some other stuff there.

You might want to call Extreme Sports Scuba in Joplin and see what weekends they will be at the lake. They go to Table Rock and Beaver. Usually take a trailer with a compressor and cascade, and would probably do on site repairs for you. Its nice getting an air fill and never leaving the beach.

 

[natgib200]

There are several dive shops in the area. As far as Altitude Diving the elevation is not great enough to have to worry about. The differance at 33ft was 35ft. I only live about an 1 hour from Beaver Lake and there are some pretty cool sites at anywhere from 25ft to 100ft.