Bonne Terre Mine questions!!

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I had a great time diving at Bonne Terre. We opted to do 3 dives on Saturday and drive the 6 hour trip home on Sunday without doing any dives on Sunday.
I am looking forward to taking another trip there to do more trails.

So, did you do Trails 1, 2 and 3? Were you cold? What did you wear, dry suit, 7mm?

I'm hoping to get out there sometime after the 1st of the year.
 
Bonne Terre is not as bright as the pictures make it out to be. We took a class of OW students and I would not recommend that others do the same. Two of the group got wierded out and did not finish their dives, one came back this summer and finished.

The vistas are real cool partly because only the guide have lights and you get a back lighting effect from the fixed lights. With only guides with lights the divers are much less likely to wander off into pitch black. Went down there last December and this was still the policy.

They also have a pontoon boat tour.

I would agree with the idea that it is darker then one might expect based on the photo's especially in certain parts of the mine. I organized a trip there a couple of years ago and I had opened up to divers of all level's including OW. As it turned out, I didn't have anyone on the trip that were only OW but I remember thinking during the dives, that I wouldn't have been comfortable as an OW diver in some parts of the mine.

That said, I had a great time and will be going back this year for at least one weekend and possibly 2 (planning on an extended road trip so thinking of doing 5 dives one weekend and then another 5 on the way back on a following weekend).
 
So, did you do Trails 1, 2 and 3? Were you cold? What did you wear, dry suit, 7mm?

I'm hoping to get out there sometime after the 1st of the year.

The first 3 trails they have you do...is trails 1, 2, & 4.
Trail 3 is a deeper dive, so they said they normally hold that trail off for the fourth dive.

Yes, I wore a 7mm. As for was I cold... the first initial shock once I got into the water was chilly...but I did 3 one-hour dives and I was ok during each dive. (But I normally do not tend to get that cold). It was after we went back on the topside that I got chilled. After the first dive we went for lunch at Subway and I ordered soup. After our second dive, we did go back to our hotel (cranked the heater) and we either tried to warm up under covers or took a warm shower to try to help. After the third dive, I went back to the hotel (the room was like a sauna since I let the heat on full blast) and took a long warm shower.

I would definitely suggest anyone to dive there..Just keep the hotel heater on so its nice and toasty if you need to go warm up some. :)
Any more questions, feel free to ask!
 
the hardest thing about diving Bonne Terre is to get people past the price; as an instructor I was fascinated by the priocess and how well organized they are; I was mildly amused by having TWO female DM's the week after one lady here in town told me no women dive in cold water :-)

I was also amused by how many of the dive leaders wore Force fins the first time I was there ;)

In the group the 4 of us were placed with, I have alot of respect for them as they are dealing with all skill levels and personalities. We had 4 from another club in our group of 8; they had no experience in 7mm suits, or gloves or heavy weight belts; first dive they were NOT comfortable at all! Meanwhile our group of 4 was 3 instructors and a DM, all with cold water experience. So this one group of 8 had the gamut of skills, and the two DM's worked well with all of us.

One thing, if gpoing in winter, get dry when you go up top in-between dives. Keeping the wetsuit on is a great way to get/stay cold. get the top off and a sweatshirt/coat/hoodie etc on; plus a ski cap etc. Help yourself mitigate the cold, give the soup some help :-)
 
Bonne Terre is not as bright as the pictures make it out to be...

That's exactly right. I spend way more time shooting high ISO, in the 800-1600 range, than I thought I would or wanted to. It's difficult shooting at best to try and capture what you're eyes see. And you really don't want to dive with a lot of lights on so your eyes can adjust and really capture the essence of the place. The vistas are spectacular but make no mistake, even with all those lights it's dark and could easily be spooky to new divers.
 
The vistas are spectacular but make no mistake, even with all those lights it's dark and could easily be spooky to new divers.

Well put! That was definitely my favorite part. Let you eyes adjust and just soak in the amazing vistas with the columns, walls and tunnels. It's a very cool place to dive!
 
I've been told that if you miss a year of diving at Bonne Terre then they won't let you pick back up at the higher number trails. I.e. if you dive trails 1-4 in 2009, but then don't dive there in 2010, when you return in 2011 - you have to start back at trail 1. Does anyone know if this is correct?
 
The good stuff at Bonne Terre is at the deeper depths. I went there a couple of years ago with an advanced group of divers. We were disappointed when we could not go deeper than 50 feet. The first dive was cool because it is hard to believe that any dive spot in Missouri has over 100+ feet of viz. But on the second and third dives it was rock, rock, rock, rock, coal car, rock, rock, rock, miner's shovel, rock, rock, rock. The way I understand it and I could be wrong, take an advance course with the dive shop and they take you off the beaten path from the "tourists." I was disappointed for the money but it was a good experience.
 
Just got back from 5 dives at Bonne Terre. They explained that they use lights to signal between the DM's and safety divers. So other divers lights confuse communications.

Nonetheless, we were allowed to carry smaller lights on our last dive, I think it was Trail 7.

Shawn
 
Be forewarned, you have to sign a contract that states you must make any changes or cancellations at least 45 days ahead of time and you must pay in full at the time of reservation. From first hand, recent experience, THEY MEAN IT AND ENFORCE IT.

I booked a 4-dive, 2-night package. The Friday afternoon I was to leave I came down with the worst stomach flu I've had in over 8 years. I emailed and called and asked to simply shift to another weekend in one of the coming months. I didn't expect nor ask for a refund.

Their response? Unanswered emails and a cold shoulder from Donna on the phone. She said, "I have to ask Doug. He has the final say. I'll get back to you." Yea right. I'm still waiting. :dontknow:

Per the signed contract they are clearly within their rights. However, given the circumstances, I was hoping for a bit of compassion on their part. No sign of any yet.
 

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