Commercial gone Scuba

[UnderPressure82]

Hey All,
I'm new to the Springfield Missouri area. Just got out of commercial diving after 12 years and working at Diventures on S. Campbell in Springfield Missouri. I haven't done any diving here and would love to hear about all the great sites. I am especially interested in caves, and the underwater town or towns that lay at the bottom of our man made lakes. thanks again.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from south Florida......

 

[TulsaTime]

Welcome from just down the road in Tulsa. You're light-years ahead of me in diving experience but here are some "nearby" sites that I'm aware of:

• Lake Tenkiller, OK: This is the only site I've personally dived. Supposed to be one of the clearest lakes in OK but I've found viz to be hit and miss. It does have a dedicated scuba park with a sunken bus, plane, helicopter, and several boats. There's also supposed to be foundations and such from the original town site before the lake but I think those sites are only accessible by boat.
• Beaver Lake, AR (near the MO border): Supposed to be one of the best dive spots in this area due to its clarity.
• Table Rock Lake, AR/MO: Another good viz dive spot with a few sunken vessels.
• Bonne Terre Mine just outside of St Louis, MO: May be the closest you're going to get to a "cave" dive in this area. I haven't dove with them but reports here seem to indicate that they're pretty anal about their diving and some people have a problem with that. I think you have to progress through their dive sequence before you get to the point of diving in any actual overhead environments.

My son and I are going to be at Tenkiller this weekend getting our AOW. There may be other groups closer to you but someone from the Oklahoma Aquanauts group is usually diving Beaver or Table Rock most weekends.

Welcome again to the area and safe diving!

 

[Compressor]

Welcome to SB.