Round Valley Reservoir (NJ)

[Jersey1971]

Round Valley is opening for SCUBA in a couple of weeks.
It's a nice place to practice with good vis, easy shore access, and best of all....free.

If anyone is interested in going weekday mornings, let me know. I'd like to mostly practice GUE Fundy drills, but am up for just swimming around, too.

Here's a link.

NJDEP | Round Valley Recreation Area | New Jersey State Park Service

NJDEP - Round Valley Recreation Area administered by the New Jersey State Park Service

nj.gov

 

[PeskyMonkey]

My wife and I dove here pretty regularly after we got certified 2 years ago. The low water level made it a pain in the ass to enter, especially with doubles. I think we will be purchasing LP50s this year just so we can have an easier time entering, although I heard the water level has been rising.

We are both GUE divers and would love to practice sometime.

EDIT: Also recommend getting in contact with Ed Hayes. He is the local GUE instructor for the area and owns a quarry in CT. We typically head up there every weekend when we have nothing planned and there are usually several other GUE divers there that you can team up with for some practice.

 

[Jersey1971]

I was last there at the end of October, and I had no problem getting in and out with doubles. There was a bit of a Normandy Beach landing style wade through the shallow water on the way out, but it wasn't too bad.

I've been in touch with Ed and plan to train with him next month to try to upgrade my GUE rating. The only thing is, he's 2.5 hours away, whereas Round Valley is 45 min.

Right now, I'm planning an April 16 trip to Round Valley with another member. If you're interested in joining, DM me! Even if you can't, if you DM me your email, I can add you to our local diver email chat where we coordinate wreck dive dates and training.

 

[rdersovitz]

Round Valley is opening for SCUBA in a couple of weeks.
It's a nice place to practice with good vis, easy shore access, and best of all....free.

If anyone is interested in going weekday mornings, let me know. I'd like to mostly practice GUE Fundy drills, but am up for just swimming around, too.

Here's a link.

NJDEP | Round Valley Recreation Area | New Jersey State Park Service

NJDEP - Round Valley Recreation Area administered by the New Jersey State Park Service

nj.gov

Hello, I'd like to work on the same drills and Friday mornings typically work well for me, when I'm not out on a boat. Much prefer GUE style of diving myself, so meeting up w/ be great. Roni

 

[Jersey1971]

Turns out Round Valley is closed this season to SCUBA divers because of some water level issues.
For North/Central NJ non-boat diving, there's still MacLearie Park in Belmar, but that's really shallow with poor vis most of the time. Divers Two used to organize fun shore dives there, but I don't see any on the calendar for this year. Hopefully Dutch Springs, or whatever it's called now, will re-open to the public soon.

I know that South Jersey Scuba does some shore dives, but they're too far for me.

Any other good spots people are aware of?

 

[rdersovitz]

Just sent you a DM. Thanks. Roni

 

[mlavigne]

@Jersey1971 - "Lake Hydra" (formerly Dutch Springs) is open. All diving must be with a licensed pro (instructor or DM), so no general-admission for fun diving, anymore.

There are various "Rent-a-DM" programs going on (google Lake Hydra and some pop up), or I'm about 5 minutes away from the lake, so if want to dive, send me a DM.

-Michael.