Some people have been asking me about the status of diving at Rock lake in Santa Rosa. Here is a report on how things are now.
There was a possibility that it would be closed to diving this past winter, but that moment safely passed. We are back to full diving as before, although the price has increased. As before, you can only get access if you are under the supervision of an instructor who has permission from the owner for access.
I am personally excited about the diving we are planning for this year. We discovered some old maps people had made in the past, people who are apparently no longer diving there. They contained information no one I knew was aware of, but they don't agree on everything. We are looking forward to checking out the discrepancies. For example, they disagree on both the depth at the west wall and what will be found there. None of the people I know have done much diving on the west wall, so we are looking forward to giving it a look. One of the maps says it goes to 300 feet, which would make it deeper than the deepest spot we have found so far (285 feet).
The maps also give a pretty clear indication of the inlet vents at the bottom, and they hint at the presence of a cave beneath the rubble at the bottom. We are looking forward to exploring them more carefully.
There are interesting things in the shallower areas, too. We just found that a section of a ledge at about 130 feet collapsed at some point in the past year or so, and it is revealing new selenite gypsum crystal formations. We also found a well-like structure at about 160 feet, and looking in it we could not see the bottom, so we don't know how deep it goes. When we were looking, we were at our MOD and could not go in and look. (It is plenty wide enough for divers to go down.)
The water temperature at Rock lake, like the Blue Hole, is relatively warm because of the warm water coming in from vents below. It is about the same temperature as the Blue Hole year round, but in the summer it develops a thermocline. That is because the outlet is a huge pipe taking water to the nearby trout hatchery. As a result, the top layer does not flow out at the surface. Right now the top 30-40 feet is over 70°.
Rock Lake is a great diving adventure, but it requires at least AOW certification. It is really the best spot in the Rocky Mountains for advanced diver training, because it is the only place where you can get the depth that training requires. If you are interested, you should contact one of the instructors who has access. Your local dive shop may have such a person, or you can write to me at ScubaBoard.
There was a possibility that it would be closed to diving this past winter, but that moment safely passed. We are back to full diving as before, although the price has increased. As before, you can only get access if you are under the supervision of an instructor who has permission from the owner for access.
I am personally excited about the diving we are planning for this year. We discovered some old maps people had made in the past, people who are apparently no longer diving there. They contained information no one I knew was aware of, but they don't agree on everything. We are looking forward to checking out the discrepancies. For example, they disagree on both the depth at the west wall and what will be found there. None of the people I know have done much diving on the west wall, so we are looking forward to giving it a look. One of the maps says it goes to 300 feet, which would make it deeper than the deepest spot we have found so far (285 feet).
The maps also give a pretty clear indication of the inlet vents at the bottom, and they hint at the presence of a cave beneath the rubble at the bottom. We are looking forward to exploring them more carefully.
There are interesting things in the shallower areas, too. We just found that a section of a ledge at about 130 feet collapsed at some point in the past year or so, and it is revealing new selenite gypsum crystal formations. We also found a well-like structure at about 160 feet, and looking in it we could not see the bottom, so we don't know how deep it goes. When we were looking, we were at our MOD and could not go in and look. (It is plenty wide enough for divers to go down.)
The water temperature at Rock lake, like the Blue Hole, is relatively warm because of the warm water coming in from vents below. It is about the same temperature as the Blue Hole year round, but in the summer it develops a thermocline. That is because the outlet is a huge pipe taking water to the nearby trout hatchery. As a result, the top layer does not flow out at the surface. Right now the top 30-40 feet is over 70°.
Rock Lake is a great diving adventure, but it requires at least AOW certification. It is really the best spot in the Rocky Mountains for advanced diver training, because it is the only place where you can get the depth that training requires. If you are interested, you should contact one of the instructors who has access. Your local dive shop may have such a person, or you can write to me at ScubaBoard.
