Bummer indeed.
---------- Post added August 12th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ----------
Anyone interested in making a non-sponsored, mini-event-on-the-fly? I'd like to meet there, meet folks and learn dive logistics at Aurora, as I have not yet had the pleasure.
As a newbie to Aurora Reservoir, I'd appreciate someone filling me in on 'park' entrance, fees, where you typically meet, etc.
I've only been there once in the last couple of years, and that was about a month ago. They have made a a lot of improvements. There is really good sand on the scuba beach. There are no permanent pavilions with good picnic tables, changing areas, and even lockers. All of that is very good.
What is really bad is the parking situation. There is a nice parking lot, but it is pretty far from the scuba beach. You can take a vehicle to the scuba beach to drop off your gear, but to do that you have to pay $15 for a placard and a key through the gate. When you are done dropping off your gear, you drive back to the parking lot, lock the gate, and walk back to the scuba beach. So there is a $10 entry fee plus another $15 if you want the key to be able to drop off gear. That makes it a whole lot pricier than Chatfield.
If you are with a group of people with cars, you can get away with using one vehicle that has a key, just running a shuttle service up and down the hill.
The dive area is much nicer than the normal diving area at Chatfield. It has much more depth, especially in the early summer when the water is high. That does not mean good depth--you are still looking at maybe 34 feet. There is a small Cessna carcass out a ways.
Your dive profile indicates that you have a fair number of dives with certifications from SDI/TDI. In that case, you may be interested in more distant "local" diving. I will be taking a couple of technical diving students to Santa Rosa, NM the first weekend in September, and I go there from time to time with or without students. Santa Rosa has three diving sites that may interest you and make the trip worth while. The Blue Hole is the one that is most well known. It is a sink hole 60 feet across at the top, 120 feet across at the bottom, and about 85 feet deep at the maximum. The water is very clear there. It is fed from a blocked off cave entrance at the bottom. Perch Lake is nearby--I have never been in it. We will be doing our diving at a third site--Rock lake. Rock Lake is a sink hole on private property, and you need special permission to enter. It is 300-400 feet across at the top, and I have no idea how big it is at the bottom. Depending upon where you drop, it is about 300 feet deep. It is a natural site, with no amenities and occasionally cattle grazing at the water's edge.
