Diving Lake Whitney

[bigred177]

I was wondering if anyone here has ever been diving in Lake Whitney. A friend of mine said he went this past summer and found some tunnels in one of the cliffs and was thinking about seeing where they went. Has anyone here been diving in them or know of them?

 

[richerso]

Before I answer, I need to know if you and your buddy have your Tunnel Diver Specialty? If not, you two will need to go get your TD Specialty first.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I have dove lake whitney many times, I learned to dive there. We have been in the caverns/caves there. A few people have gotten into serious trouble here, it is easy to swim into them without knowing it in limited vis. This generally happens on the return from a deep dive, and you are already low on gas. Suddenly you find yourself in an overhead envoirment, low on gas, and no idea which way is out. If you decide to do this,please be sure you have the proper training/experience, and equipment. Be prepared for low vis, low/no light, silt. That being said, they are not dificult to find, anyone with local knowledge could probably show you.

 

[bigred177]

I will not be diving them anytime soon since I do not have the training and have been trying to talk him out of going farther. He has already been in them once and wants to go back. how far back to they go and is there anything to see back there?

 

[Crazyduck]

The problem is that the fore mentioned tunnels tend to be like a chimney.
So as you go up they tend to get smaller; hence having to back track back into deeper water to find the opening.
This is why people are concerned about your safety.

This has to be one of the nastiest lakes I have dove. We used to teach rescue because there is little to no vis.
Also I had my hand trapped in a 55 gallon drum. Why did I do that- the vis was that bad I did not know it was in the drum until I tried to pull on it.
Ten minutes at thirty feet- I was not happy.
Also bring a line cutter or a knife that you can access- lots of fisherman and you cannot see monofilament underwater.

I have heard a rumor of an old marina Anyone have any pictures?

Lake Whitey has potential... but the sulfer smell, dumped 55gallon drums, low (no vis) really limits it.

You might want to inquire about- Blue Hole in NM, or a few Ok lakes

Good luck and have fun diving.
Andrew

 

[bigred177]

The only diving I will be doing in that lake is just looking around on the outside until I am properly trained, I know how quickly things can go wrong and am not looking to become a statistic. I go to the blue hole quite often but where are these OK lakes you are talking about? Are they close to Lubbock? Crazyduck, what say you to some diving in the Dallas area sometime between now and the 1st?

 

[richerso]

Oklahoma lakes are (in no particular order):
Tenkiller (Far NE OK)
Broken Bow (Far SE OK)
Murray (Far S Central OK - just off I-35 and Red River)
Elmer Thomas (SW OK)

All other lakes are not worth the mention for scuba diving.

 

[bigred177]

What is there to see in Elmer Thomas? The only search I found said rocks.

 

[Guba]

I dive ET a couple of times per year. Vis is pretty good in spring and early summer (but it tends to be pretty cool). At the common put-in point near the dam, it's plenty deep...about 95 feet. There is an old dam about 100 feet from the current one. The top of this old rock dam is at about 25 feet, and you can follow it all the way to the far shore (beware, though...compasses go nuts about midway. Just ignore the heading and continue to follow the rock wall to the other side). There are lots of fish and a couple of good walls, though the center of the main dive area is pretty flat and boring.
The surrounding wildlife refuge provides good surface intervals, though, and don't miss out on a big buffalo burger at nearby Meers. Yum!