Dutch Springs - First Impressions

[TSandM]

$38 for a whole day's entertainment? How many places can you find that? You can't get into a theme park for that much. $38 won't cover the cost of a good dinner in a nice restaurant, and that's over a lot faster.

It's like complaining about the fees to get into Ginnie Springs. Would I rather dive for free? Sure. (And I'm lucky, because I do, the majority of the time -- move to Seattle ) But in the grand scheme of what it costs to do stuff, that kind of entry fee just doesn't register.

 

[HenrikBP]

In the interest of full disclosure ... I enjoy diving at Dutch. It's a quarry, yes, and I understand the limitations as well as the fact that "real" diving in open water is an entirely different animal.

But for the price of admission you get:

- nice bathroom/changing facilities that are (mostly) kept clean
- easy shore access
- a good number of sunk "attractions"
- a very nice wall dive - yep, swim along the granite (I think) wall of the quarry with the light shining down through the canopy of overhanging trees. It's really quite pretty.
- well trained safety staff on duty at all times
- if you get there early and don't dally too much you can get in 3 dives in a day. Throw in the Saturday night dive, and you've had pretty good day of diving.

The on site fill station has decently priced air and nitrox fills - although it can take awhile to get a fill on a really busy day.

Anyway - just my 0.02

Henrik

 

[wrybosome]

Hi BlondeMermaid.

My next surprise was how crowded the place was! My word, not just with the divers, but the swimming area as well! I must admit that it did look fun, but the two crowds having to deal with each other can't be that easy to do!

Not a real problem, even on crowded weekends. I've never been unable to find a place to set up. Underwater there are almost always free platforms if you're doing platform stuff, and there are atractions further out that the OW classes don't get to. The swimmers and kayakers are no trouble to deal with at all. Actually it's kind of fun surfafcing out in the middle of the lake near some kayaks and talking to them.

I also did get the impression that there are a great many shops/clubs that dive there on any given day, which is good to see, but the independent diver or divers are left a little too much to the wayside for my tastes.

Not sure what you mean by wayside. I've showed up to meet a friend there plenty of times and so long as we dive I'm happy.

There seemed to be plenty of entry points into the water, but it's shocking to see large groups of divers, most likely classes of some sort, doing their briefings/debriefings right on the entry ramps, totally blocking them from use by any other divers! Not very courteous if you ask me, let alone professional for an instructor.

True, but there multiple docks and they've always let me on the dock they were using without even being asked. Generally, it's quite courteous.

The only thing that didn't surprise me were the prices at the consession counter, abnormally high for what didn't seem very appetizing.

True that, bring a cooler.

As for the diving, I can only imagine that having that many people cycle through the water must have a negative effect on both the visibility and the aquatic life that one wishes to appreciate while diving.

Sometimes it does, especially on the closer attractions. It's still as good (or better) vis as I get in the Atlantic off NJ though.

Why not dive in the ocean?

I do dive in the ocean, but use the quarry too.

For me, it's mainly purpose, price, and friends. I'll use the quarry to test new gear or techniques. It's a no-risk no-current environment that lends itself well for that. It's also 1/3 the price of a boat dive. And best of all, I always run into diving friends up there. DNYers are there all the time, so are people from my shop, etc. I can go up with no plan and no buddy and have someone to dive with in twenty minutes.

Would I rather be in the ocean? Yes. But, if I'm going to do a practice dive or a picnic fun dive with friends, DS is a great place for it.

- a very nice wall dive - yep, swim along the granite (I think) wall of the quarry with the light shining down through the canopy of overhanging trees. It's really quite pretty.

Yep, nice dive there, and at the pumphouse. The wall is limestone.

 

[BlondeMermaid]

Goodness! I'm not sure what is more surprising, such a vehement defense of a dive location of the rather bold implications that I don't want to spend money diving!

If I think that the admission is expensive, then maybe diving isn't the right sport for me? Oh, honey, please, the amount of money we spend on our diving equipment and expenses, while none of your business, is far from modest! I must say I found that response lacking humor and bordering on distasteful.

Now, back to business. As I stated so less than eloquently above, we're not afraid to spend money at all when it comes to diving. That was not the issue! My concern was that the admission price seemed a little high for wanting to just see the place and determine if it would be worth diving there. I guess what I was expecting would have been maybe a five-minute 'sales pitch' about the advantages of Dutch Springs, followed by maybe a few minutes pointing out the major facilities. I wasn't expecting to be so 'on our own' to find out what we wanted to know. I'm sorry if I can't come up with a better way to explain it.

One point that comes up over and again is the referral to 'getting with a group' while diving at Dutch Springs. I just want to add something from a message I posted earlier that may have been overlooked by some people. My husband and I enjoy diving together, as a buddy team. We normally don't mesh well with the 'large group' aspect of diving. Things like 'guided' dives and 'dive guides' have never been our sort of thing either. we prefer to go on our own, to do as we wish. We've never joined dive clubs or group charters. We're perfectly comfortable working together from a dive boat with very little, if any, assistance from the crew on board.

That said, I have enjoyed many surface intervals with other divers while heading from one location to another, or even just staying on location during a lunch break. We have no problems socializing, and actually quite enjoy it. Our diving though is our priority on dive days, first and foremost.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I do so hope I can get some more positive feedback regarding Dutch Springs. To those of you that have provided it thus far, thank you so much! To those of you who think you know better how we should or shouldn't be spending our own money, please keep your 'advice' to yourself. There is much, much more to diving than just the financial aspect of it.

My apologies for appearing anything other than ladylike.

 

[ringmod65]

I'm not surprised that you weren't impressed. When I responded to your earlier inquiry re: N/E diving your response was needlessly derisive.

Last time I checked I-95 still runs south.

 

[Chewie07]

Two words.... ZEBRA MUSSELS !

I've been diving DS for years with students and just for fun. I really enjoy all the attractions and especially the opposite side of the quarry by the stairs (awesome view!).

I mean, really, Bus, boats, planes, helicopter, deuce & 1/2, firetruck, hidden hole, cranes... As long as you get there before the students, there is great visibility and I find them to be great wrecks to dive.

When the bathrooms are USUALLY clean, at night and just before the instructors come in the gate in the early morning and destroy the place (seriously, it's a disaster! They must drink a Big Gulp worth of coffee on the way to DS), they are perfect for a hot shower and other hygiene needs, while camping.

Weekend camping is a blast with friends and family (tents, cooking, "sodas", it's all fantastic).

I've been enjoying it for years and will continue to do so.

Besides, my afternoon pilgrimmage to Cigars International are always a mini vacation, in and of itself.

Well worth the money!

P.S. If you don't enjoy diving in groups, you can pick up an attraction slate at the gift shop (don't remember if they have compass headings anymore) and dive with a buddy as long as often as you'd like. I have no problems getting in 5+ dives per day.

 

[ScubaSteve]

You should never go to Dutch. Your attitude deserves the waters of Truk. See ya later and enjoy the extended SI. At least DS will not get polluted with what you seem to have to offer.

 

[crd_kats]

You should never go to Dutch. Your attitude deserves the waters of Truk. See ya later and enjoy the extended SI. At least DS will not get polluted with what you seem to have to offer.

Who are you talking to? Because your response seems a little rude.

I find the OP to have been honest in her expectations of a facility. In no way did she insult any one person.

I've never been to Dutch Springs, but have been to several amusement parks, caves, and camping / nature parks which require an entrance fee. Usually the more exorbitant the cost the more people will respect the facility as it's a privilege to enter and spend their hard earned dollar. It's sad to see a couple of posts here about the usually or almost clean bathing/restrooms. Those who frequent DS can probably inform the management and / or take matters into their own hands and put up signs for everyone to please respect others and clean up after themselves.

 

[ScubaSam]

Could someone please tell me what the positive points of this place would be?

To the OP, we can agree to disagree about Dutch Springs but the positives for me are:

• It is a fantastic training facility to practice new skills and play with new gear, which has improved my diving skills exponentially.
• The underwater attractions, the fishes, the wall dive, and the damn platforms where I spent countless hours working on skills.
• Air conditioned bath houses, air-fill house and camping grounds on the property.
• An aqua park (which was included in your $19 admission ticket) where the dive buddies non-diving spouses and children enjoy and I can meet them during SI.
• Dive buddies, dive buddies, dive buddies! You're lucky to have a diving partner because no one in my family or circle of friends dive so I had no local dive buddies until I joined SB's Dive NY group. DNY has brought a network of local dive buddies into my life. A large majority of the DNY dive Dutch Springs so when I go to Dutch I will have buddies. SI are just as much fun as the dives.
• I learn a lot from others during SI as buddies help other buddies tweak their gear or fix a regulator.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I was responding to the OP in the very same tone I took from her last post.....yes that tone was rude. People responded in a polite and open manner....hers was not that way.

Who are you talking to? Because your response seems a little rude.

I find the OP to have been honest in her expectations of a facility. In no way did she insult any one person.

I've never been to Dutch Springs, but have been to several amusement parks, caves, and camping / nature parks which require an entrance fee. Usually the more exorbitant the cost the more people will respect the facility as it's a privilege to enter and spend their hard earned dollar. It's sad to see a couple of posts here about the usually or almost clean bathing/restrooms. Those who frequent DS can probably inform the management and / or take matters into their own hands and put up signs for everyone to please respect others and clean up after themselves.