Heard from SinoScuba about the flooded town and thought I'd share with the board. Not sure that I'd enjoy the 2-4m vis (actually pretty common around where I live now, but I'm not diving around a sunken city either), but the price is not horrible for a quality operation -- just quite an investment for 4 days travel for 4 dives.
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Flooded as part of a hydroelectric project, "Lion
City" in western Zhejiang province disappeared from
view--and memory--in 1959, and did not return to
public view until its rediscovery in 2001.
The walled city lies at 25-30 meters, depending on the
lake's level. Highlights of the trip include: swimming
through the city's North Gate, where the wooden door
that sealed the city at night remains intact; an
eight-meter tall imperial tablet erected during the
time of the Qing Emperor Kang Xi (1662-1723); and one
and two-story homes with most or all of their roof
timbers and roofing tiles intact.
This is an exceptional opportunity for the advanced
diver with an appetite for adventure and discovery.
Only a limited number of places will be available for
this singular diving experience.
Our trips are four days/three
nights, and include transfer to and from Hangzhou
(airport or train station); three nights' hotel
accommodation, a very basic Chinese breakfast; a
proper Chinese lunch with soft drinks on the boat on
diving days; and two diving days (two dives per day)
on the sunken city, including tanks and weights. Other
meals, rental equipment (including a minimum 5mm wet
suit for diving the lake's chilly waters), and
transportation to and from Hangzhou is not included.
Diving the Lake is extremely challenging, and diving
infrastructure there remains rudimentary. Due to
limitations on the local compressor, our normal tank
fill is 170-180 bar. Visibility is limited, and divers
wishing to dive the lake must feel comfortable in
visibility of 2-4 meters and water that dips down to
11-13 degrees Celsius. As such, we generally require
that all potential participants submit their
certification information and number of logged dives
to us prior to booking, and we reserve the right to
disqualify potential participants or require
supervision or training at additional cost. You would
be of course notified this well in advance of your
trip.
The dates for this year's trips are: May 12-15; July
21-24; August 11-14; September 22-25.
This year's package price is RMB 4,999. We require a
50%, non-refundable deposit 30 days prior to the
trip's scheduled departure date. Deposits can be
transferred to another scheduled trip within the same
calendar year no later than 15 days prior to the first
trip's departure date.
ALL participants are required to have valid
recompression and evacuation insurance. We highly
recommend the insurance provided by DAN Asia-Pacific.
SinoScuba is pleased to facilitate your purchase of
DAN insurance, please let us know for assistance.
Please note that this is not an appropriate site for
divers who do not dive regularly and do not own most
or all of their own equipment. For this reason,
although we are happy to assist with replacement and
spare parts, we only rent 5mm suits, although we
recommend 7mm, 7mm semi-dry, or drysuits for optimum
exposure protection.
Thank you again for your interest in SinoScuba
programs. I look forward to hearing from you, and I
hope to see you this summer at the Sunken City.
