Places to go with viz and driveable distance?

[mhedstrom]

Hey guys, my husband and I are both new local divers (well, new divers, just started in April, and have OW and will be getting AOW this week), and have a trip to Curacao planned for the end of September. We've been doing a bunch of local diving (mostly with Coral Reef Scuba, and in the pond/lake they lease), and have thought about doing a quick weekend trip somewhere around here before Curacao. Essentially we're looking for something with decent viz that's within driving distance of Denver (probably no more than 6-8 hours away). We were thinking about hitting Blue Hole one weekend, but figured I'd ask to see if there was anyplace else around that people would suggest?

 

[rookers]

Nope, they are all pretty poor in the 'vis' department with the exception of Blue Hole (before all the students jump in . In addition some spots are mighty frigid AND murky.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

Denver Aquarium...

 

[georoc01]

Viz wasn't bad at the Homestead Crater. The resort itself is nice, but there isn't much to see in the crater itself.

 

[MAsharkDiver]

If you dive somewhere with limited viz (vs zero viz), and get comfortable with it, then you will be better prepaired for diving in crystal clear waters in the tropics.....

 

[RonFrank]

I would recommend you hook up with us, or go on your own to the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM. The Vis can vary, but is generally rarely less than 30', and I have often spent time on my back viewing the trees from the bottom at 70~80', so vis can be excellent.

I will likely go sometime in Aug, and will post when I am planning to do so. Most likely the third weekend in Aug, as that is when a group dives there from the TX, NM area. Unfortunately the marine life, and overall diving is nothing compared to the Keys, Coz, or really anywhere. However the more I dive the Hole (and I have dove it a lot) the more I enjoy it.

7mm wetsuits, or drysuits are required. I actually dove it in a 3mm with a VERY worn out (almost useless) 7mm shorty, and while I was not warm, in fact cold, I was fine, and that without a hood or gloves. I generally dive it dry, and will NEVER dive it wet again unless I have no alternative! :10:

I'll post when I have another BH trip planned, and maybe you can join us!

 

[ABQdiver]

I would recommend you hook up with us, or go on your own to the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM. The Vis can vary, but is generally rarely less than 30', and I have often spent time on my back viewing the trees from the bottom at 70~80', so vis can be excellent.

I will likely go sometime in Aug, and will post when I am planning to do so. Most likely the third weekend in Aug, as that is when a group dives there from the TX, NM area. Unfortunately the marine life, and overall diving is nothing compared to the Keys, Coz, or really anywhere. However the more I dive the Hole (and I have dove it a lot) the more I enjoy it.

7mm wetsuits, or drysuits are required. I actually dove it in a 3mm with a VERY worn out (almost useless) 7mm shorty, and while I was not warm, in fact cold, I was fine, and that without a hood or gloves. I generally dive it dry, and will NEVER dive it wet again unless I have no alternative! :10:

I'll post when I have another BH trip planned, and maybe you can join us!

Funny you say that! I feel the same way. It's all in the mind set. People can be bored and upset on vacation if they don't want to be there!!

The third Sunday will be August 19th. Anyone up (or down) with that?


It's all in the company!!!

 

[MAsharkDiver]

This Saturday, 7/28, 4pm at the Chatfield Reservoir..... meet at the diving area (dive hole). Anyone interested in attending, pls pm me - non-divers more than welcome to bubble watch!!

Pete
pmarck@underwatereducation.org

 

[mhedstrom]

Thanks Ron, and others for the recommendations. That's pretty much what I thought. We just thought it might be fun to drive someplace before we go to Curacao, but we're doing a ton of local diving (AOW now, Rescue in a couple weeks, plus various specialties and stuff) so we're still getting used to the low vis thing. When we did our peak performance dives, the vis was 10-15 feet, but then all the other dives we've done in the same area have been 5-7 or 5-10.

We'd love to join you guys on a Blue Hole trip, not sure if August will work for us since it's kind of messy. In worst case, we just go on one of the future trips, dive local for now, until we do Curacao at the end of September. We dove in Cozumel already so we know what it's like with good vis, but I heard Curacao is better.

 

[Divedoggie]

The great thing about Curacao is the shore diving. Your diving schedule is at your whim. Go really slowly and observe a 10 foot square area that is teaming with life. We did a few boat dives on famous reefs like Watamula and the Mushroom Forest, but our favorite dives were on the house reef in front of our apartment. Sometimes we went before breakfast, sometimes near midnight. Five dives a day, one a day, whatever felt right.

We are all on the lookout for good Colorado diving. Some friends and I have a couple prospective sights near Glenwood Springs and another in Southwest Colorado, but I'm not getting everyone's hopes up this year with the holy grail of Colorado diving!