Ontwreckdiver
Contributor
I read somewhere that there is a B-29 plane sunk there. How deep is it and are you allowed to dive it. thanks.
Lake Mead Question
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Hi, Welcome to SB. I'm guessing you're asking about Lake Mead located between Arizona and Nevada. There is a B29 there that was known to have gone down over 50 yrs ago, but the location wasn't discovered until a few years ago. I'm not sure how deep it is, but it's located next to the old river bed about 60' above it. Lake Mead can get as deep as 500' when at full level. I don't think it's quite that deep, but it might be beyond recreational level. There was a diving restriction on it until about a week and a half ago because they're doing archaeological research on it. I don't know if they've extended it or not. They do occasionally give out permits. I've never dived it myself, but do have plans to if the restriction does end. This post might get some more knowledgable replies in the AZ Scuba forum. Maybe a mod can move it? You may also want to PM JS1Scuba. He is a tech diver in Lake Havasu City and may have more information on it.
Jay_SMART_Diver
Contributor
Here's a cool Lake Mead site I found with an interactive map http://www.nevada-scuba.com/lakemead.html
I saw that same documentary and I remember it being around 200+ feet and the lake was much lower than normal.Pillow:
It is divable but definately not a recreational dive.
It looked like a great dive though, the wreck was pretty much intact.
TT
Lake Mead is currently about 90' down. A lot of AZ lakes are quite a bit low. Did the documentary say it was 200+ when the lake was full or with the level at the time. If it's at 200+ at full level, then it's pretty close to rec limits now.
I remember doing some rough figuring last time I saw the documentary and thinking it was about 180ish.
Who has the coordinates? I assume we will need a boat....do any of the local dive ops go there now that the ban has been (temporarily?) lifted?
I checked at the Deco Stop and the B-29 was in 230 ft when discovered and the estimate was that it was in about 180 ft in late 2003. But the lake has dropepd another 50 ft or so since then and by October 04 the estimate was that it was only in about 110-130 ft of water.
Ocean Planet in Tempe was trying to put together a trip to the B-29 but was having to go through a permit process.
It was apparently not a big deal when it was 230 ft deep and "dive it but don't disturb it" was the rule. But now that it is a lot shallower, the NPS is poking its nose into things and is essentially trying to assert ownership or conservancy or something to protect the wreck.
If the current drought continues, we don't get any smarter on water management, and the lake level keeps falling at the current rate, we can probably all just hike to the wreck site in the fall or winter of 2007.
Ocean Planet in Tempe was trying to put together a trip to the B-29 but was having to go through a permit process.
It was apparently not a big deal when it was 230 ft deep and "dive it but don't disturb it" was the rule. But now that it is a lot shallower, the NPS is poking its nose into things and is essentially trying to assert ownership or conservancy or something to protect the wreck.
If the current drought continues, we don't get any smarter on water management, and the lake level keeps falling at the current rate, we can probably all just hike to the wreck site in the fall or winter of 2007.
Otter:
The permit requirement expired 10 days ago, so I doubt there are any regular scheduled trips there yet. Like DA said, the NPS has a tight leash on this one. I'm guessing the restriction will be renewed. Yes, a boat will be necessary, but there are quite a few dive ops in the area and rentals on the lake. And mine will probably be up and running this summer!
DA Aquamaster:
Ain't that the truth... :frown:
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