Diving Santee Lakes in San Diego County

[holdfast]

Hey all,

A buddy of mine asked me if I would like to dive Santee Lakes this weekend. I've never been to that location, and never heard of anyone diving it. From what I can see online, it looks like it could be littered with fishing boats and fisherman casting lines all over the place.

My gut said "No" right off the bat, but since I couldn't dig anything up via Google, I thought I'd ask here in case anyone has gone diving there, or knows about the site — diving it may just be a plain bad idea, or it may be even be prohibited.

If anyone has any thoughts on the site, or experience with freshwater sites in the county (can't imagine there are many), I'd sure appreciate hearing them.

Some background on me:

I'm a new diver, been diving for a couple months. OW certified. Mostly hitting La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Shores, and the occasional boat dive in the kelp beds off Pt. Loma.

The guy who asked me is a brand new diver, and would not have experience with the site either.

Thank you!

 

[NAM001]

Its been too long since i have been in SD. However your post amuses me cause I usually hear of people staring in fresh water and have concerns with going into salt as a new diver. when you do get you info on santee make sure you comp for going into fresh water. weight removal. I am 250# and it is about 8# for me. Would hate to hear of your experiences from being too heavy being aided by your buddy who is also too heavy.

 

[Scott]

As a diver that is landlocked and 'stuck' with fresh water lakes, mud holes and geothermal pools unless I'm willing to drive to SoCal, read San Diego. I have a hard time wondering why Santee when you have all those great ocean sites at your disposal.

I would make a call to them and ask if diving is allowed. Since I know nothing of the place other than what I see on their webiste, it looks like a privately owned establishment.

If there is that much fishing going on, definatley have a couple line cutting devices with you if you do end up diving there. Along with a dive flag and float.

 

[Bopper]

Wow. Santee lakes. I can't even imagine it. Avg depth must be 3 ft or something. It's gotta be illegal. If it's not, then is should be illegal.

My buddy fishes there all the time. Its basically a man-made fishing hole.

EDIT: OK my buddy thinks it might be 15 ft deep.

 

[holdfast]

As a diver that is landlocked and 'stuck' with fresh water lakes, mud holes and geothermal pools unless I'm willing to drive to SoCal, read San Diego. I have a hard time wondering why Santee when you have all those great ocean sites at your disposal.

Hey buddy, you haven't lived until you have experienced the unspoiled majesty of east county first hand Seriously though, I agree and was surprised by the suggestion. Just want to do some diligence before committing or dismissing.

I would make a call to them and ask if diving is allowed. Since I know nothing of the place other than what I see on their webiste, it looks like a privately owned establishment.

Yeah, I meant to give them a call today. I will try to do so tomorrow. Definitely not hauling all my gear out there without more intel.

Wow. Santee lakes. I can't even imagine it. Avg depth must be 3 ft or something. It's gotta be illegal. If it's not, then is should be illegal.

My buddy fishes there all the time. Its basically a man-made fishing hole.

EDIT: OK my buddy thinks it might be 15 ft deep.

Haha, thanks for the input. You are confirming what I suspected. As I mention above, I'm going to see if there is someone I can call just to get the official word.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts!

 

[MalibuJerry]

Diving is probably not allowed and for good reason (though I have slipped over the side of the boat before). The bottom is covered with a deep layer of silt. Because of that if you bump into it or use a standard finning technique close to the bottom you will silt out and the vis will go to zero…really zero. There are trees and other junk covered in monofilament and it is easy to get entangled in it. It does not break so you have to know how to cut yourself out of it. And you need to be diving with a reel so you can come back up your boat's anchor line. It is bad news to just surface in a lake used by boaters as propellers and heads do not mix.

Aside from that you will see nothing but green water and grey silt. The only reason I went in was for recovery purposes.

 

[lamarpaulski]

The local ocean diving and Catalina have been great...I'd cancel the mud-hole crapola dive and hit the beach or islands.

 

[pasley]

Disclaimer: 500+ dives all in saltwater. From what In have heard from others here are factors to consider when diving freshwater (Note thus list is Not all inclusive and is in no particular order).
1. Attitude if the lake. If it is over 1,000 above sea level then altitude dive certification should be obtained first and you will need altitude dive tables or a dive computer with an altitude adjustment feature.
2. As with the ocean entanglement is always a risk but potentially more so in a freshwater body with fishing line, trees and buildings etc.
3. Visibility - ponds and lakes usually have silt bottoms.
4. Fresh water fish not nearly as interesting IMHO as an octopus or eel or ray or Giant Black Sea Bass etc.
5. Adjust weights. Freshwater is less dense so you will need less weight.

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[NAM001]

1. Santee is not high enough to have to worry about altitude diving. Have never heard of any thing cuationary concerning altitude till say 4k or more. I think that depending on who's computer you use it will comp for it or it is a menu selection, once again not needed for 1000' elevation dive.

2.3.4 yea
5. this is the big one to consider more than anything else.

Disclaimer: 500+ dives all in saltwater. From what In have heard from others here are factors to consider when diving freshwater (Note thus list is Not all inclusive and is in no particular order).
1. Attitude if the lake. If it is over 1,000 above sea level then altitude dive certification should be obtained first and you will need altitude dive tables or a dive computer with an altitude adjustment feature.
2. As with the ocean entanglement is always a risk but potentially more so in a freshwater body with fishing line, trees and buildings etc.
3. Visibility - ponds and lakes usually have silt bottoms.
4. Fresh water fish not nearly as interesting IMHO as an octopus or eel or ray or Giant Black Sea Bass etc.
5. Adjust weights. Freshwater is less dense so you will need less weight.

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[pasley]

Re altitude diving I quote from the NAUI Basic Scuba course current book page 138 "Before you dive at altitudes above 300 meters (1,000 feet), you must be trained in special altitude diving procedures."

I once took two rides in the chamber following a trip two days after my last dive to 1,400 feet. Long story but that's the short of it

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