Dutch Springs offers a lot of diving opportunities that you cannot easily find all in one place at one time.
1. Excellent visibility - visit during the week and you will be astounded at the clarity of the water. My team of divers just finished shooting training pictures and videos there. During weekends, the visibility drops a bit, but even on weekends an early morning dive will yield good visibility.
2. "Quaribbean" diving - there is no need to freeze in Dutch Springs. At the height of the summer there are several interesting dive sites that you can enjoy in water as warm as the 70's down to 20 or 30 feet. Currently, the surface temperature is 82 F according to my UWATEC digital depth gauge/bottom timer. The shallow area of the student side will bring curious bass in your face hoping you will scare them up some crayfish for a quick meal. I'm against picking up rocks to find crayfish to feed the bass as many do. To me, that is like locking the doors to your home, setting your alarm system, turning on the TV and settling in for a day of football only to have an alien species pry the roof off your house and feed you to another alien species. Have a heart! The island in the center of Dutch is another great dive. It is easily circled in the shallows to enjoy the sunfish that protect their nests and there is a Cessna aircraft in 30 feet of water to add to the island's appeal. The very best attraction to see in the shallows is the upper structure of the pump house. It resembles a Gulf of Mexico oil rig and is a favorite haunt of koi. There are interesting walls leading to the pump house, a silo, a fire truck, and a pier. Past the pump house winding around to the south wall, you will find a descending road, the scary tree that used to shade an office building when Dutch was a working quarry, and an area that a friend of mine named Ed Jewell coined "The Aquarium". It is a shallow area on the south wall that is heavily populated by fish. The old Cessna now rests there near some doors and other structures. If you enjoy wall diving in the Caribbean, Dutch Springs is the closest you will find to warm, clear water. Even on weekends you can swim far away from the crowds and enjoy the solitude of the "Dutch Reef" - the wall that circumnavigates the park for 1.34 miles. If swimming while diving is more work than fun, Lehigh Valley Dive Center on Rte. 191 rents Tusa diver propulsion vehicles to divers with an AOW certification or above. I'd be happy to run a DPV class for you.
3. Theme tours - I'm always available to take people diving when I'm not teaching a class. This began when I had a conversation with a couple in an RV visiting from out of town one day. They had driven from the Midwest to enjoy the attractions at Dutch Springs and because of poor navigational skills and map reading, they hadn't seen much. I felt bad for them. Since Dutch is "my home office" I asked if they'd like to do a dive with me so I could guide them to all the places they missed before they headed home. They tipped me and came back year after year and brought friends for a tours. It was worth it for them to simply enjoy being taken to things they wanted to see and to be shown things that few people know exist in Dutch. I developed dives in which divers could see all the aircraft on one dive, or see the majority of attractions Dutch Springs has to offer, or avoid all the artificial attractions and see the history.
4. Ultimate Scuba Gym - let's face it. Scuba diving is a sport and divers need to practice the same way golfers, football players, and mountain climbers workout and practice. As a recreational and technical diving instructor, Dutch Springs allows me to simulate many diving challenges that divers may face and use the tools in the environment for class or coaching. Divers will find the myriad of attractions, depths and bottom conditions hugely beneficial to practice for upcoming dives or dive trips.
5. Access to world class talent - on any given day at Dutch Springs, world-class divers and educators may be found. Sometimes the Whose Who of diving may all be gathered for events or there by chance. It is a chance to eavesdrop and pick up information or find yourself a new dive center based upon listening to the dive pros educate one another or their students. Events such as product demo days, dive shop or club socials, or guest speakers add to some of the topside value.
6. Freediving and swimming - Dutch Springs offers freedivers and triathletes the opportunity to train. I use the 105 feet of water column for fun, freediving courses, and to stay in shape. Stu Schooley, the owner of Dutch Springs, has been getting out and swimming for fitness himself. Stu allows people to enjoy these sports in boat free waters. Tomorrow, my plan is to freedive in the morning under my own power, freedive with Gavin scooters, then switch to scuba for a couple of fun dives before heading home to the Poconos for the first time in days and days.
7. Water park, sky challenge, and other assorted fun - every once in a while I need to be a kid again and decide to play.
8. Confined water area - new to Dutch is "pool like" conditions for instructors to run open water classes.
9. Solo Diving - Dutch Springs allows divers certified as "Solo Divers" through SDI, PDIC or other agencies that may have the course to enjoy the underwater world of Dutch Springs by themselves.
10. Dutch Patrol - dive masters, dive instructors and EMT's overlook the water and rescue help is immediate. Most of the time rescues are performed by instructors teaching courses alerted to emergencies since they are already geared up. Because most of the hard core divers and instructors who are often at Dutch Springs are also friends and dive buddies, in an emergency, all the help an injured or missing diver could ask for is at the ready.
I have to admit that I'm probably one of the ones responsible for being discourteous on ramps since I not only perform full dive briefings there, but I have students do S-drills, valve drills, basic skills and exercises on the ramps. However, I think all instructors and divers do a very good job of giving exiting teams the right of way and making room for others on ramps. I have never felt that an instructor or other divers hasn't made room for me, my buddies or my students and I have always attempted to be courteous to others entering or exiting.
Dutch Springs is one of the most professionally-run, if not the most professionally run, inland diver recreational facilities that I have visited. For me, personally, it has been a place of fun, adventure, friendships, and growth as a diver for nearly 30 years.
You really should give Dutch Springs a chance as a diver. You may be impressed beyond your first impressions.
