Natural Springs
- Thread starter BryceM
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
BryceM:
I don't know, I haven't looked at their website . . . do you have a link to it?
It's a fairly shallow quarry, tough to get belopw about 25 feet, I think I actually found 30' once. I don't know if they still have the fresh watewr jellyfish or not, last time there, I didn't see any. But, they've got a variety of fish, crawdads, things to look at, air fills available.
Good place to dive once in a while for variety.
Ken
OP
The majority of the site is 18 feet deep, there is a trench at the far side that goes to 25 feet.
From the website:
"Natural Springs Resort scuba diving provides some of the clearest water experience in this area with lots of underwater excitement and a perfect environment for scuba training."
Ummm, clear water? During the winter and mid-week, after the silt has settled out from the weekend divers you can get 20+ feet of visibility. The weekends will be anywhere from zero to 10 feet. The water is shallow and in the summer the weeds grow almost to the surface so you are fighting through them when you dive and they get tangled in your gear easily. The trench at the far side is too deep for the weeds, it's also where you will find the thermocline.
There is a lot of unseen metal in the bottom of the quarry and in some places compass navigation is impossible. I have literally seen a compass start spinning and never find magnetic North, it just kept spinning until we moved from our location (nowhere near any attractions) then it gave us a reading that was 45 degrees off.
During the summer you are not allowed to dive in the swimming area. This is not marked off underwater unless you happen to have enough visibility to see one of the few anchors (I believe there are 2, maybe 3 and the area is large) used to hold the buoys that mark off the swimming area. It's extremely easy to stray into the swimming area and you will hear about it--the potential for injury to swimmers who jump into the water from floating platforms and land on you is probably the reason for the rule.
The shallow water usually warms up quickly and by the end of a warm summer it's feasible to be diving in a 3mm suit if you don't stray below the thermocline for long. It's a nice place to go and get wet and practice basic skills.
The campground is first rate this site is first and foremost for campers, diving is more of a sideline than anything.
The locals will tell you there is a car in there from someone committing suicide by driving off the cliff. Ummm, right after they removed the motor
You may hear that a tunnel under the road connects Natural Springs to another body of water across the road--NOT! Then there is the train that's in the trench--LOL, right! All of these are things you can use to entertain the local non-divers while you tell your fish tales.
There are platforms, boats, cars, a computer (never seen the desk they mention), a bicycle and various other little items on the bottom for your enjoyment and they have lines that connect MOST of the attractions.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Any other questions please ask. I'll be out there May 6-7 with my advanced students.
Ber :lilbunny:
From the website:
"Natural Springs Resort scuba diving provides some of the clearest water experience in this area with lots of underwater excitement and a perfect environment for scuba training."
Ummm, clear water? During the winter and mid-week, after the silt has settled out from the weekend divers you can get 20+ feet of visibility. The weekends will be anywhere from zero to 10 feet. The water is shallow and in the summer the weeds grow almost to the surface so you are fighting through them when you dive and they get tangled in your gear easily. The trench at the far side is too deep for the weeds, it's also where you will find the thermocline.
There is a lot of unseen metal in the bottom of the quarry and in some places compass navigation is impossible. I have literally seen a compass start spinning and never find magnetic North, it just kept spinning until we moved from our location (nowhere near any attractions) then it gave us a reading that was 45 degrees off.
During the summer you are not allowed to dive in the swimming area. This is not marked off underwater unless you happen to have enough visibility to see one of the few anchors (I believe there are 2, maybe 3 and the area is large) used to hold the buoys that mark off the swimming area. It's extremely easy to stray into the swimming area and you will hear about it--the potential for injury to swimmers who jump into the water from floating platforms and land on you is probably the reason for the rule.
The shallow water usually warms up quickly and by the end of a warm summer it's feasible to be diving in a 3mm suit if you don't stray below the thermocline for long. It's a nice place to go and get wet and practice basic skills.
The campground is first rate this site is first and foremost for campers, diving is more of a sideline than anything.
The locals will tell you there is a car in there from someone committing suicide by driving off the cliff. Ummm, right after they removed the motor
You may hear that a tunnel under the road connects Natural Springs to another body of water across the road--NOT! Then there is the train that's in the trench--LOL, right! All of these are things you can use to entertain the local non-divers while you tell your fish tales.There are platforms, boats, cars, a computer (never seen the desk they mention), a bicycle and various other little items on the bottom for your enjoyment and they have lines that connect MOST of the attractions.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Any other questions please ask. I'll be out there May 6-7 with my advanced students.
Ber :lilbunny:
skyking
Contributor
Right under the 3rd platform the trench is 30 feet deep. There are cars where you wouldn't expect them - like the crumbling one in the north end of the trench, and the station wagon in 5 ft of water in the north part of the quarry. Also the large boat 20 feet off the rope that you'd never see unless you go in the off season. Oh - yes there's a nice (well, less than 30 ft deep) wall that forms the east side of the quarry and part of the trench about 50 ft from the last platform. A nice place to spend a day of kicked-back diving. Watch out for the fishermen - they're not supposed to fish the north part of the quarry when there are divers in the water but they nearly always do and the south is open-game for a fishing line all the time. Never had a problem, though several of us were once plotting a 50-degree bath for grandpa and his 13-year-old in one of those little 1-person rowboats who didn't choose to listen to our warnings of "divers in the water" while trolling. Last year they added concrete steps right into the water - sit your gear on the edge of the brick-surface entry area, step in, back up/hook/up, and launch. Think they raised the price a couple of dollars this year, but you get one free air fill and even with an AL 80 it's easy to get a couple of nice dives in.
Similar threads
Question
Vortex Spring
