Hot spring diving

[JR#97]

Howdy all,
I finished up my OW test on Sunday and I am now a member of the club! Here in Utah and near by there are a few spots where you can dive in hot spring "pools" and lakes. I was just wondering if there are any other similar spots around the nation. Makes for great winter diving!

 

[100days-a-year]

JR,here in Fla we have 64 to 76 year round in our springs and caves.There are hundreds of them.It's cool in the summer and warm in the winter.btw a lot of training is done at these sites also.

 

[scubakat]

Wow, that sounds like fun JR! How hot is Hot?

-kate

 

[JR#97]

Originally posted by scubakat
Wow, that sounds like fun JR! How hot is Hot?

-kate

I did my certification in the bottom of a "crater". The water was 95 degrees or so. It was like swimming in a huge hot tub. Because of the shape of the crater, weather is not a factor. It really wears you out in a hurry though and I wish I had taken a cooler full of ice water. I was really dehydrated when I got out. go here for pics: http://kevin.schleyphoto.com/recentproject.asp
go here for info: http://www.utahdiving.com/crater.htm

One of the local dive shops built an inland salt water pond out of some hot springs in the Utah west desert. They've got tropical fish, sharks, etc. in there. Pretty cool. I'm not sure on the temp there, but it's warm enough to go sans wetsuit in the winter. Check it out at http://www.seabase.net. Unfortunately, the visibility isn't the greatest there unless you're the first divers in.

About an hour and a half west of Salt Lake near Wendover, NV, is Blue Lake. Summer water temp is in the 90's, winter is in the 70's-80's. From what I hear, it has excellent visibility. They've sunk some boats and some metal structures for playing around. http://www.utahdiving.com/bluelake.htm

 

[Ldreamin]

That sounds really cool JR. Well I don't guess cool was the right word here. Anyway, I'd love to check that out sometime. I am definitely not a cold water diver(I'm a wimp). I love diving more than anything but I hate to be cold. I have done the dives in the Fla. Springs and they are my winter spots(that are close enough for a weekend) and about as cold as I get. Sometimes even that gets too cold. Now the hot springs sounds just up my alley(since I hate to wear a wetsuit). Thanx for the info.
Ldreamin

 

[TwoBitTxn]

That place sounds awesome. I would love to make a trip just to see it. I can see you dehydration would be a problem with the temps. Does just the one salt water place have fish or does the training crater have life forms in it too.

Thanks for the info

Happy diving

Tom

 

[Tom]

I've been to the crater a few times. Midway, Utah. People look at me weird when I say I was diving at 7000 elevation in January in a blizzard. Water temp was 92F that day. We made snow angels in the parking lot during surface time.

No, there isn't any life. Just a hole about 80 feet across, 65 deep. They don't want you going below 45 due to silt. I did my cert dives there a few years ago. Seemed like the neatest thing in the world. Went back this past March when my son got certified. Pretty boring. If you're ever close by, it's worth it 'cause it's such a unique experience, but you probably won't go back.

Actually, the scenery outside the crater is worth the trip. Pretty awesome area. Only about 30 minutes from the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Tom

 

[TexasMike]

Tom V.

Perhaps the Otisberg dive club does a roadtrip?

--T.Mike

 

[ScubaDon]

This is an old thread but I just wanted to post a reply. We did our OW certifications there a couple of weeks ago at 7:00 in the morning, the outside temperature was a chilly 24 degrees. Inside the creater above the water the fog was so thick you couldn't see 2 feet in front of your face. What was so cool was when you looked underwater and could see everyone from the neck down.

It is a fun dive the first time but it is pretty boring, unless you like to play with plastic turtles.

 

[SD40T-2]

I've only been at seabase and there are a lot of people that think it's too murky but I think the fish interaction offset that. It's a lot of fun to feed the fish and the staff are really concerned with your enjoyment. They actually feed the sharks only after all the divers are out of the water. I'm hoping to go back out later this week so if someone's going to be out there say hi. I'm in a little rustbucket 4x4 painted red.