Santa Rosa, NM

[Robby6Pack]

I know that the Blue hole is the go to place here, but I was reading and wondering about other places. Has anyone ever been to the other lakes associated with the aquifer that feeds it? Site says there are Twin, perch, hidden, post and rock lakes. Anyone know about these, and are they worth diving? That is if I make the 7 hour drive to dive a hole in the desert.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am very familiar with Rock Lake. I will be there this weekend.

The lake is huge in comparison to the the others. I estimate it is about 400 feet across east-west and about 500 feet across north-south. The deepest part is supposed to be 285 feet, but I have not found that yet. The deepest I have been is 275. Like the Blue Hole, it is a sinkhole fed by relatively warm water, meaning that the water is roughly the same temperature year round (about 60° F). The water enters through several openings in the bottom. We have been playing around with opening them some more by pulling out loose rocks and silt, secretly hoping to find something like a cave. (No luck so far.)

It is a typical sinkhole, with steep cliffs and overhangs. At the upper levels, the water plants hang down over the cliffs like the hanging gardens of Babylon. The rock walls are covered in blue/black goethite, so it is very dark. Selenite gypsum crystal clusters have formed in a number of places. Most of them are also covered in goethite, making them purple, but some are still clear crystal. There are also rare freshwater sponges there. I personally think it is one of the most beautiful sites that I dive regularly.

The water exits through a massive pipe that goes to the Rock Lake trout hatchery, at a depth of about 35 feet. This creates a layer starting at that depth that warms up in the summer. The water temperature at that level can get into the 70s then.

The surroundings of the lake are purely natural. The only structures there are a bench for setting up tanks and a open and collapsing tin shed. There is no running water, no electricity, and no plumbing of any kind. I bring a camping toilet. There are wooden steps leading into the water, build many years ago by divers.

The lake is on private property, and entrance is tightly controlled by the owner. Waivers are required, and, of course, a daily entrance fee. You can only get into the lake if you have at least AOW certification and are being supervised (loosely) by one of the instructors who is approved by the owner.

I am one of those instructors. If you are interested in joining me on a trip, let me know. I will be away for 3-4 months after this weekend, but I will be ready to go in the spring.

 

[g2]

I dove Perch Lake back in the day. Vis was poor.

There was a sunken Beechcraft airplane in it. It makes a good navigational dive for advanced classes, and it's a nice break from the madness around the Blue Hole.

 

[Robby6Pack]

Thanks. looking at the aerial view, twin lake and bass lake look cool. I'll bet the viz in perch lake is incredible compared to any lake here in OK.

 

[boulderjohn]

Bass Lake is on private property, and the owner does not allow diving. There was an exception made for a research project, and the people who dived it said it is not as good as Rock Lake. I would love to try it, though.

No one has mentioned Swan Lake, which is next to Rock Lake on the same property. The owner has ideas of making it work for basic diving, but that would not be easy. I dived it a number of years ago, and my buddy on that dive and I are the only ones I know who have been in it during the last decade or so. It is very hard to get into it. The water spills out evenly, so there is standing water and big tufts of grass all the way around. The owner hopes to put in a dock to help out. Once you reach the edge, there is a wide ring of shallow silt with only a foot or so of water on top of it surrounding the lake. When we dived it, We sat on a tuft of grass at water's edge, put our gear on, filled our wings completely, put our regulators in our mouths, flopped forward, and paddled out to the real water. It was 60 feet deep, and the visibility was horrible at the bottom. It cleared up rapidly as you ascended, though. At 30 feet the visibility as pretty darn good. We found a PVC diamond floating, tied to an anchor. The lake has obviously been used for instruction at some time in the distant past.

 

[g2]

If you get desperate... There's always Park Lake, the shallow pond in the park, just before the Blue Hole.

That's where I learned search and recovery diving. The instructor threw a weight belt out in the middle and said, "Go find it!"

Vis was 6 inches or less. Max depth, 6 feet. The bottom was about a foot thick layer of goop, loose duck crap and silt. So gross. But we did find the weight belt.

 

[Robby6Pack]

If you get desperate... There's always Park Lake, the shallow pond in the park, just before the Blue Hole.

That's where I learned search and recovery diving. The instructor threw a weight belt out in the middle and said, "Go find it!"

Vis was 6 inches or less. Max depth, 6 feet. The bottom was about a foot thick layer of goop, loose duck crap and silt. So gross. But we did find the weight belt.

That sounds awful!