Diving in Coeur d'Alene, West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole September 13-19, 2018

[tmassey]

Hello!

My family is taking a long-planned trip from Seattle to Yellowstone and back. I hope to do some diving in the Seattle area (Different thread: Diving in Seattle / Olympic National Park September 9-11, 2018), but if possible I'd love to dive in the Coeur d'Alene or Yellowstone area if it makes sense as well.

Details: It will be just me diving. I'm a reasonably experienced cold-water diver from Michigan. I've got roughly 350 dives, a healthy number of which are in cold quarries and inland lakes with 30 feet of viz or less. I have Advanced Wreck, Intro Cave, Ice Diver and AN/DP certifications. I dive exclusively BP/W and HP steel doubles. I'm asking for some advice on how I might be able to make this work.

I've got lots of questions: Where should I dive? Can you recommend something worth the rather large amount of effort while you're on vacation? Who can I dive with? And where can I get some gear--and if possible the "right" gear?

I will be flying into Seattle. I will be bringing one bag of gear. That's normally enough to get all my gear somewhere, but *not* with a drysuit, and given your water temps, I think the drysuit will be the higher priority. Which means I won't be able to get all (or maybe not even most) of my gear out there, so gear will need to be acquired. I would certainly prefer BP/W and doubles, of course, but I'll make do with what I can get!

Any advice? Anyone want to go diving one of those days? Or an operator that would work well? And any suggestions on where gear might be able to be acquired?

Thank you very much!

 

[shurite7]

In ID, there is a dive shop in Coeur d'Alene that may rent gear. It has a new owner, so I am not sure what he offers. I've found it is easier to dive in the lake with someone who knows where the old sunken boats are. Each time that I dived in the lake the viz was less than 20 feet, which is somewhat normal for up hear in the summer; Flathead is normally at 20-25 feet. This year the runoff has been much greater and running longer than normal.

I much prefer Yellowstone Lake, although it is much colder. A drysuit and a good cold water reg is a must. The closest dive shop is Yellowstone Divers in Cody, a two hour drive from the lake. The Spire Field is well worth diving, although it is a 350 yard swim from shore. Firehole River is a fun dive, shallow (deepest point is normally 35 feet), but the water temp is around 77 degrees by mid-July. Of all the lakes I've dived up here, Yellowstone Lake is my favorite.

Do keep in mind Yellowstone NP has been a nightmare flooded with tourists. A friend of mine went two weeks ago and got 8 miles into the part only to turn around and leave. It took him a couple of hours to get 8 miles in.

 

[tmassey]

Yow. Our plan requires us to go from Victor, ID to West Yellowstone, MT between hotels from one night to the next -- and on Saturday, no less. Our intention was to drive through the park. Google says 3 1/2 hours. I'm guessing we may not be able to count on that........ (If we don't go through the park it's only 2 hours so maybe we will still be able to get to our beds at night? Hopefully.)

If the runoff is worse this year, would that lead to worse viz? That's too bad: some of the videos I've seen were stunning, with great viz. I have to say that I'm not real excited to inconvenience my family for a dive with <20' viz...

I will not be able to devote an entire day to a dive, not with only one car and a family that doesn't dive. As neat as a dive Yellowstone Lake might be, if traffic is as you say it would take me forever to *get* there from pretty much anywhere, and even if someone from Cody were willing to come out with the gear I'd need and dive with me, I don't think I'd have time for the dive!

I appreciate very much the boots-on-the-ground details. This will help me tremendously.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've only done 2 dives in Coeur d'Alene. The first dive was down to a little boat that had a cabin. It appeared to have been cleared for divers. The guys seemed to enjoy going in and out. I thought it was deepish, cold and dark and made no sense to me. The second dive was much more shallow and had great visibility and the site contained only the ribs of a bigger boat. I enjoyed that one.

All that said, this was long ago, so I'm really not that much help at all.

 

[tkaelin]

There is so much beauty above ground in Yellowstone I am not sure I would bother trying get a dive in and lug all your gear down. Traffic in the park will be less in Sept but best to get an early start when traveling in the park and get to popular sites early.

 

[Wookie]

Yow. Our plan requires us to go from Victor, ID to West Yellowstone, MT between hotels from one night to the next -- and on Saturday, no less. Our intention was to drive through the park. Google says 3 1/2 hours. I'm guessing we may not be able to count on that........ (If we don't go through the park it's only 2 hours so maybe we will still be able to get to our beds at night? Hopefully.)

I lived in Swan Valley for 12 years, and am a little confused. If you plan to go from Victor to West through the Park, that means south to Jackson, North to Moran, and west to West? In tourist season, that's a 2 day drive, even if it's only 4 hours on google maps. And it's a 2 day drive because there is plenty to see and do without stopping to dive. Lunch at the million dollar cowboy bar, and the scenery is unbelievable. If you plan to go north on 33 to Rexburg and then through Island Park (still a very pretty drive, but nothing like through Jackson) I'd believe 3 hours, but then you never see the Park.

You might still find a dive shop in Idaho Falls, but you won't find anything else around the Park. I would either carry everything (not) or nothing (I highly recommend this), and if you want to dive Coeur d'Alene area, rent stuff. This to me is not a diving vacation, but a driving vacation, and should be treated as such, especially with a non-diving family along.

 

[tmassey]

Thank you all very much for your replies! I really appreciate the help.

First off: I claim that *none* of this plan is intelligent, but it's what we've got so far. (And I wasn't going to go into it because it's most definitely *not* diving related, but you asked.... )

As mentioned, this is part of a larger trip from Seattle to Yellowstone and back. We have a total of 5 nights in the Yellowstone area. We arrive in the Jackson Hole area Friday night, where we pick up my oldest daughter, who is now old enough to have her own job, etc., at the airport, and spend the night in Victor. (Why Victor? We're a family of five doing a 3-week vacation. Paying $250/night for rooms every night is not possible, and we need big rooms to sleep 5. Victor was less than half the cost of Jackson Hole.) The next day we drive to West Yellowstone. Our intention was to drive all through the park, to certainly visit some things, but also for reconnaissance. Yes, we would drive back down to Jackson Hole and then back north and west. Google says 4 hours rather than 2, but like you said, the point is we're also going through the park.

We would then have two nights in West Yellowstone. That would allow us one full day centered in West Yellowstone, doing things on that side, and then one more day where we drive back to Jackson Hole (actually Victor again), doing things we saw on our first pass but didn't do. That night we stay in Victor, and the next morning we drop our daughter back off at the airport. We then have that day and the next to do things centered in Victor: Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. At the end of the second day we leave the Yellowstone area and drive about 4 hours in the evening back toward Portland to shorten that 13 hour drive somewhat for the next day.

The two airport trips tie us to Jackson Hole. The pricing pushes us out toward Victor. As it is, the two nights in West Yellowstone are the most expensive of the trip: literally *double* the cost of any other night on the trip, and triple the average cost of the rest of the hotels on our trip!

All of this is a heavy compromise between airport trips, budget and distance (which you have a *lot* of out there...). I'm open for any thoughts you might have!

Now, as for diving:

I've seen a few videos of diving in the Coeur d'Alene area that were intriguing. Caribbean-clear with interesting (not exciting, but interesting) scenery. If I could make a dive or two like that work in a morning, I'd do it.

I asked about Yellowstone because if there was a life-changing dive in the area I'd do it. I *will* have most of my gear just because I'm *also* diving in Seattle and water temps say I will need a drysuit, and the extra bag on the plane is cheaper than renting one even once -- and I know it fits. So, I'll have whatever gear will fit with the drysuit in the suitcase. But I agree with @takelin: it's pretty enough above the water that I don't want to waste lots of time (and my family's time) worrying about diving.

And that was before you guys have described what getting around in this area is like. Once I heard that, it was pretty much obvious that diving in and around Yellowstone is out.

And I'm not really interested in <20' viz in cold water to see small man-made objects at the bottom of a lake. I can see that any weekend in Michigan, and in the Great Lakes they're at least really *big* man-made objects you can go in! I don't think Idaho water molecules make it that much more exciting...

But if there's a dive in the Coeur d'Alene area worth doing, and acquiring the dive infrastructure isn't too difficult (I'd need at least tanks, weights and dive buddy!), I am all for it. Which was the main point of my question.

Again, thank you all very much for your help. I'm grateful for any thoughts or information you might have -- diving or Yellowstone related! The best feedback I've gotten in the thread for the Seattle part of my trip has made a bigger difference in touring Olympic National Park than it has for the actual diving part, and will likely make a noticeable improvement. And I can really use the help!

 

[tkaelin]

We spent a week long vacation the 2nd week September last year in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Started in Bozeman, drove down to WYS on a Monday, hit some of the more well known roadside attractions on our way down to GTs. Very busy around the Old Faithful area around lunch time. The drive from Old Faithful to GTs was beautiful and not too busy. We were surprised by how beautiful Jackson and GTs were. Spent 4 days hiking around the easy trails and lakes in GT. Did the tram up Jackson Hole and did a nice loop hike on the summit. Went back through YS, spent a night in the park, exited at WYS, had a breakfast and back up to BOZ. From what I was told the crowds were less than in the summer but we saw exiting the park on a Sat through WYS that there was a line of cars coming in and the park seemed very busy in this area (Old fathful to WYS). Again, early starts are key even in Sept. Enjoy.

 

[shurite7]

If the runoff is worse this year, would that lead to worse viz? That's too bad: some of the videos I've seen were stunning, with great viz. I have to say that I'm not real excited to inconvenience my family for a dive with <20' viz...

Yes, runoff will reduce visibility dramatically. The rivers in my area are still brown from the runoff. Normally they are fairly clear by the 4th. In Glacier NP McDonald Creek can be very clear, but if it rains the night before, the viz drops to less than five feet.

I find it extremely difficult to imagine Lake Coeur d'Alene having crystal clear water. In the shallows in a bay perhaps the the viz is fairly clear, but in most cases it is less than 20 feet. In my experience the lake is murkier than the lakes east of it in my neck of the woods. I've seen pictures of Flathead Lake indicating crystal clear water, but they were in a bay where it was shallow. I've never seen the lakes anywhere close to being that clear. Do keep in mind, for us 20-25 feet of viz is a good day, 10 to 20 feet is normal, and 5 feet is still acceptable for a day of recreational diving.

Back in May both Glacier and Yellowstone had record crowds in the park. Expect the drive to be slow and sometimes annoying, much like driving on I-635 in Dallas during rush hour. Get an early start; the sun rises around 5:00am. If you want to dive in the park make the trip a dive trip. It will be much easier, especially if you can dive from a boat. September will offer better viz for diving.