last week ends dive in Missouri

[diver tom]

Wanted to report the diving I did in Bonne Terre ,Missouri over the weekend. It is in and old lead mine that a dive shop leases. They have a good set up and some good re-con divers as guides. Did 5 dives over three days. I would highly reccommend it to anyone. I would say you would want to be at least an "advanced" diver since it is low light and in some cases overhead diving. Overall I would rate it as awesome. Tom

 

[Campana]

I had heard that it was very expensive. I dive caves in Mo, Roubidoux near St. Robert/Waynsville and last month Mine Lamotte near Fredricktown. Roubidoux is free and Mine Lamotte is $15/day, but there are no guides--I'm taking instruction up there and my instructor is with me. No one should dive these caves without certification and/or an instructor.

How much was Bonne Terre? Was it sort of a "tourist" attraction? I dove Dos Ojos in Akumal, Mexico, once, and though it was a tourist deal, it got me interested in Cave Diving.

 

[CheeseWhiz]

I dove Bonne Terre last April and it was $60 per dive, so it sounds like someone spent $300. Not saying it's not worth it, because it is a fascinating place.

They also don't give any discounts for return divers. If you dove there 100 times, dive #101 is $60.

 

[DocVikingo]

For us WWWs, someone might want to mention the 62 degree water temp.

Youch.

DocVikingo

 

[KC_Scubabunny]

62 degrees in January in Missouri is balmy! Normally we are ice diving this time of year. Bonne Terre is considered a winter diving retreat in Missouri when all the other lakes are frozen or frigid!

I have previously posted a link to the Bonne Terre website. I have never been there because the cost seems high to me but have heard good things from other local divers how have been there. I will try to find the link again and post!

KC_Scubabunny

 

[KC_Scubabunny]

www.2dive.com

Happy diving!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Part of our honeymoon dive trip is tentatively planned for Bonne Terre and all reports are very helpful.

CheeseWhiz $60 per dive wow! How long are the dives? Is there a time limit or do you just dive the rule of thirds?

DocVikingo 62 degrees is perfect for a 1/4 inch farmer john with hood, even I stay warm BTW, I saw your article about children and diving re-published in NAUI's "Sources" magazine, good stuff, thank you for allowing them to publish it!

Ber

 

[CheeseWhiz]

The dives are highly structured, actually a little more so than I like, but I understand the reason for it.

The first time you dive Bonne Terre, you must go on "Trail 1," which starts with the entire party descending to about 30' immediately upon entering and demonstrating buddy breathing and mask clearing to the dive master. When I initially heard this, I was a bit put off by this waste of time: after all, here I am, Rescue Diver certified, having to show that I was certified once upon a time. However, in gearing up, it came up that 2 of the member of our dive group hadn't dived in about 3 years. There was another little sub-group of 3 fellow, one of whom asked the dive master for help in setting up his equipment...he didn't know which direction the regulator should face when installed!! After seeing that, I was actually glad we did the skills check.

The dives themselves are conducted by a dive master, whom you must follow like a little puppy. The mine is somewhat sporadically lit and the dive master has the only light in the group, so following him is actually quite a good idea.

I only went on two dives at BT, but both of them were enjoyable. There are a number of remnants of the mining operation left over for you to look at and marvel about. However, at $60 a pop, as fascinating as it was, I'm not sure I'll be back anytime soon. But it's something you should do once.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Still sounds like fun, how many trails are there? How long were your dives? I don't mind being asked to demonstrate my skills, it shows that the operation cares enough about my safety and my buddies safety to make sure I am who I say I am. Do they want octopus exchange or is single regulator exchange ok? The octopus became the preferred method after my buddy and I learned to dive and my instinctive reaction to the out-of-air signal is still single regulator exchange though I'm working to change that (old training dies hard!).

Thanks again!
Ber

 

[stevsgarage]

I'm also from the KC area although I really havn't done a lot of diving in Mo. only in Table Rock lake a few times. I would be interested if some time when your heading back to the"mines" you'd give me a heads up, might be interesting and a lot cheeper than going to Cozumel.