Traveling to Denver/Lakewood area

[PaulSmithTek]

I will be in Denver the 19Th - the 21st of September. Looking for some locals to either dive with or advice on places to dive in the area?

Thanks in advanced

 

[BigBubbaJ]

That weekend we are all headed down to Blue Hole for the BIG scuba board shindig.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ro...o-south-meet-greet-dive-eat-sept-20-21st.html

 

[RonFrank]

Go hiking, rent a mountain bike, Visit Estates Park, go to Glenwood Springs, basically ANYTHING you can think of to do in the Denver area is going to be MUCH better than diving here.

If I were in town, I'd be happy to show you the crawdads at Aurora Res, but as Bubba indicated, many of the hard core divers that post here will be visiting Luxurious Santa Rosa, home of the Hollywood elite and supermodels! :blinking:

 

[MtnPlayVA]

Good news - we might finally be moving to Denver so I can be closer to my daughter. Bad news....this is so depressing - I was hoping for some close by diving spots but reading through the boards it doesn't sound like there's much there. Six hours to Santa Rosa or some place in Utah? I'm new at diving but have been diving in a quarry in PA so I'm used to cold, low viz, not much to really look at other than the stuff they've sunk to make it interesting for divers but at least we have something fairly close by. Sigh.....

 

[RonFrank]

The diving here in the winter is non-existent. The water all freezes. In the summer however there are a bunch of places to dive. However those lakes are variable. The vis is best in early spring, but the water temps are cold especially in the high lakes where they can be in the 30's.

Vis at Aurora Res (close) can be 20', but that is rare. 10~15' is good, and this is common at a lot of lakes as well. At Turquoise (near Leadville) the vis is generally in the 10~15 feet range, but it can run closer to 40' if you hit it on a good day.

I manage to eeek out 40 or more dives a year here, and round it off with about the a few dozen when I travel. Most of my diving however is in Santa Rosa. Six hours is a bit of a drive, but we turn this into a road trip with buddies, and it's fun.

I just did a trip on my own hooking up with Tom, a buddy in Taos, and spending a couple days there, and a couple days diving. The trip home was long, but still worth the drive.

If you want to dive here, you can, but it involves some planning, gas/ride sharing, and folks that are serious about diving. Another option is that we are about 3 short hours from Coz. Unfortunately the airfare is making things more difficult, so flying into Cancun, and taking the Ferry is becoming a popular option.

Colorado has a LOT of divers, but most do NOT dive here. Those that do however will hook up with you, and are generally very good divers if they have been around long.

 

[roakey]

...so flying into Cancun, and taking the Ferry is becoming a popular option.

Blood donors: Taking the ferry knocks you out of donating for a year, due to the fact that you travel through a "malarial region" between Cancun and the Ferry.

Neither Cancun nor Cozumel is considered a malarial area. Travel outside either and you’re toast (donation-wise).

Just an FYI.

Roak

 

[MtnPlayVA]

Colorado has a LOT of divers,

I guess that's what surprised me when I started looking - there's a bunch of dive shops so I expected places to dive. Thanks for the info and I should know by next week if I am actually moving. My husband's interview is on Monday

Other than cold and pretty low visibility, what is the diving like? The place here has sunk a couple cars, a crane, school bus, and other random things to look at. Provides a little entertainment I guess but mostly I just like diving!

I didn't think about how close it is to fly to some of the warmer spots - makes it a little harder financially but still an option every now and then. What is Blue Hole like? Considering I lived in NM for over 20 years you'd think I'd have some idea but I wasn't into diving then.

Thanks for all the info!
Julie

 

[robint]

I guess that's what surprised me when I started looking - there's a bunch of dive shops so I expected places to dive. Thanks for the info and I should know by next week if I am actually moving. My husband's interview is on Monday

Other than cold and pretty low visibility, what is the diving like? The place here has sunk a couple cars, a crane, school bus, and other random things to look at. Provides a little entertainment I guess but mostly I just like diving!

I didn't think about how close it is to fly to some of the warmer spots - makes it a little harder financially but still an option every now and then. What is Blue Hole like? Considering I lived in NM for over 20 years you'd think I'd have some idea but I wasn't into diving then.

Thanks for all the info!
Julie

What is Blue HOle like?
watch my videos: Robin Tackett's Blue Hole, New Mexico album on Vimeo

robin

 

[MtnPlayVA]

Thanks Robin! I'm excited to dive there. Now we have to keep fingers crossed that my husband gets the job offer

Julie

 

[Tjack]

Hey Robint, great Blue Hole videos. I am especially digging the music on "diving into clear water" What is this music?