Mid-Mo Divers

[nagel]

Hi,

My name is Steve Nagel and I live in Knob Noster, Missouri right next to Whiteman Air Force Base. This is about 1/2 way between Sedalia and Warrensburg on highway 50.

I'm curious, who on this board lives near me? And Where do you dive?

My wife does not dive, and my "normal" dive buddies live in St. Louis. So, I was thinking maybe I should get to know any divers that are local and possibly we could help each other out sometime.

S. Nagel

 

[plot]

Kansas City, not much closer than St. Louis. Not that there's anywhere in this area to dive....

 

[cummings66]

Moberly which is not that close to you and it takes a long time to drive to your location. I used to go to Whiteman on a regular basis for CAP meetings and I hated the long drive because there simply is no straight path there. I can fly to Sedalia in about 45 minutes compared to a 2 hour or more drive there.

 

[DivingCRNA]

I am in Joplin.

Blue water lake is 15 minutes from here. I have worked in Sedalia and Warrensburg. There is no good way to get to either place.

Any time you want to dive in Oronogo, I will go with you. I hear of folks diving lake of the ozarks, but otherwise it is the caves, Oronogo, Table Rock, and Beaver.

I would take 65 down to table rock to dive, if I were you. It is about 2 hours from you and a pretty decent dive.

 

[nagel]

Thanks for responding. Yea, I'm kinda stuck in the middle of "nowhere" when it comes to diving. I received my certification through Scuba Down Under in Sedalia and took the open water at the Eugene Quarry's. I've dove Table Rock, Mermet, Bull Shoals (have two dive trips already set for June at Bull Shoals), and Haigh (Chicago). Even made a trip to Mexico last November.

The reasoning for the post really was to see if anybody down the street that I wasn't aware of was a diver and maybe we could hook up sometime and maybe to see if there were any quick local places to dive that I wasn't aware of. My current options are Eugene for a quick thing about a 1 1/2 hour drive and nothing special or drive down to Table Rock about a 3 1/2 hour dive.

I agree Lake of Ozarks simply isn't divable. Haven't tried, but have been familiar with the lakes for years and they are simply nasty in terms of diving. I was hoping a couple months ago that Finger Lake up in Columbia would be something quick and easy, but Cummings66 you shattered that dream when you posted after you checked it out.

Oronogo is something my dive buddies from St. Louis and I have been thinking about doing. Really hasn't been a high priority because we have seen so many mixed reviews, but we have it penciled in for some time this year.

For what it's worth, here are my plans for the upcoming season (Yea, Cummings66 I wish I was already diving dry and out there right now with you).

Bull Shoals in June - House Boat Trip and another trip where we will rent a cabin and pontoon.
Back to Mermett atleast a couple times
Haigh - We dove there last October - Picked a very nasty cold windy day - not fun. Would like to go back when the weather is a little better.
Table Rock
Beaver - Looking at DUI Days in April
Lake Norfork - Haven't dove there, but research of dive sites on lake look interesting.
Oronogo
Bennett Springs - Contiplating a dive for Mid February - Might be interesting and cold.
Mexico - Going back to Mexico in November (Riveara Maya, South of Cancun). Might make it over to Coz this year.

My diving goals this year is to complete Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diving.

Again, thanks for the postings and maybe I'll see around sometime.

S. Nagel

 

[plot]

Oronogo has mixed reviews? Compared to everything else around here, it's an awesome little day trip dive site. Dirt cheap too.

 

[DivingCRNA]

Oronogo has mixed reviews? Compared to everything else around here, it's an awesome little day trip dive site. Dirt cheap too.

I agree with you. People act like the $10 to get in is breaking the bank or something.

It is a great place to do a lot of skills. There are caverns, platforms, things to dive on, a road that makes deep dives easier, and plenty of depth if you want to do technical stuff.

It is not significantly colder than Table Rock Lake or Beaver Lake below the thermocline and the vis can be the same depending on local conditions.

Some complain about walking the hill to get out, but it can be just as bad at the lakes, depending on the dive site.

I really like Blue Water Lake. Especially since it is 15 minutes from home If you want to dive there and need a buddy, just drop me a PM.

 

[nagel]

Thanks for the input on Oronogo. I don't know, I've never been there. It seemed I was getting a little flamed for saying "mixed reviews". I can only comment on what I've heard and read here in this forum. Much of what I've heard is, "good place to get wet, but nothing special" If you do a search you will see (as with any topic I suppose) mixed opinions. I'm not putting Oronogo down by any means; in fact, I'm planning on diving there this year - it's great to hear such good reviews of it. I'm not interested in getting into a war about it being good or bad, because I don't know. All I'm saying is that it is about a 3-4 hours trip for me to dive Oronogo, not 15 minutes. I'm sure if I had a place like Oronogo 15 minutes away, it would be awsome. If I'm going to make the trip, would it better to do some lake diving or drive to Mermett which may be a little farther? Again, thanks and it's great to hear such strong opinions, makes me want to go even more.

As far as $10, very reasonable in my mind. Mermett and Haigh are both $20. I don't own a quarry, so I'm willing to pay a little to dive.

Thanks for the invite. Hope I didn't seem a little %itchy, because it wasn't intended to be.

S. Nagel

 

[cummings66]

I'd agree that it's a place to get wet. There is NO WAY I'll drive there specifically to dive. I did a New Years dive there a couple years back and my opinion like that of some of my dive buddies is this. There is simply put much nicer places to dive. It really is not that special.

Sure it's got some things tossed in it, but considering the vis it routinely has it's not worth the effort for me to dive there. The lakes normally have vis as good and often better than Oronogo does.

As to cost, not bad. I pay $4 to dive in the State Parks so it's not that much more. As for the walk, I've never had a walk up a hill like that at any of the dive spots I've dove anywhere else. Not that it's bad, but I'd rather carry my steel tanks for as short a time as I can.

If I was in the neighborhood I'd dive Oronogo, it's as good if not better by far than the Eugene quarry's. Trust me, I've dove them both and if Oronogo was at Eugene I'd dive there more often.

So, for me the options are like this. 1 hour 45 minute drive to Eugene to dive, or 4 hours to Table Rock, 5 hours to Beaver Lake. Lets see, I'll take the lakes given a weekend, the quarry given a day.

 

[plot]

It's not a place to travel across country to dive... but then again, neither is beaver or table rock. As far as local diving goes, it's great.


And I wasn't flaming nagal, just a bit surprised that you'd be so quickly to put Oronogo so far down on the list of places to dive around here.