Utah Diving in December??? Thoughts?

[sdmaize]

My friend and I are discussing a dive trip to Salt Lake City in December... I saw a few lakes as well as Homestead Crater that might be good for diving.

What are some thoughts on diving this time of year?
Any preferred dive ops? locations?

We'll only have 1-2 days for diving.

Thanks in advance,
Merissa

 

[RonFrank]

My thought is that there is a reason folks go to UT, and CO in the winter, and that is to SKI! Diving in this area kinda sucks. However we are a short plane flight from S.CA, Cozumel, and even FL, and if you want to dive, that is what I'd suggest.

Going to SLC to dive is kinda like going to FL to ski... kinda pointless!

If you want to dive, I'd recommend Blue Hole NM over just about anything else in this area especially in Winter.

 

[CCR Josh]

During the winter, the only diving that is not dry suit diving is the Crater. If you have never been to the crater, it is worth a trip- kinda fun to dive in 94 degree water in the middle of the winter!

Other than the crater, it is all COLD water diving. We all still dive the cold water, just most people don't want to.

I will be up at the crater teaching some courses between Christmas and New Years if you wanna come dive with us.

 

[RonFrank]

Both the Crater and BH, NM along with a couple other lakes in the Santa Rosa area are fed from underground. BH is a constant 62F which is cold, but not too cold, and much better than the frozen lakes in CO.

The Crater is hot as Josh indicates. It's a very popular spot for OW certifications in SLC, but it's a bit expensive to dive. Last I knew maybe $25 per dive, and they limit the time, but I'm not sure to what, or if that is strictly enforced. It's a novel experience to be sure, but there is no life in the Crater.

 

[CCR Josh]

Both the Crater and BH, NM along with a couple other lakes in the Santa Rosa area are fed from underground. BH is a constant 62F which is cold, but not too cold, and much better than the frozen lakes in CO.

The Crater is hot as Josh indicates. It's a very popular spot for OW certifications in SLC, but it's a bit expensive to dive. Last I knew maybe $25 per dive, and they limit the time, but I'm not sure to what, or if that is strictly enforced. It's a novel experience to be sure, but there is no life in the Crater.

Yes it is about $25 for 2 hours time- if it is not super busy they will not kick you out.

 

[DiverLS]

The Crater is not the only diving. There is Seabase off I_80 west. I don't recommend it for diving because of an algae infestion. They do have tropical fish in there but depth is shallow and where it's deep, it's only about 6' across.

Then there is Blue Lake, a geothermal hot spring off Highway 93 S. of Wendover (On I-80 on the Utah/Nevada state line. The only problem there is getting out of the water in December. We dive it dry so we can get out but not this next weekend. It's too cold to even get out of the truck.

 

[sdmaize]

Thank you.. All of you for your feedback.. I appreciate the info and I look forward to doing some diving out of Kansas in the next few months.

Merissa

 

[Cyberkruz]

Although I don't think you should plan a whole dive trip out of Salt Lake City if you ever are stuck here in the winter you do have options. The Crater is definitely one of the warmer options. I just did a dive in Blue Lake (previously mentioned) in a 7mm two days ago and we had a blast. The water temp was 70 degrees and there was snow everywhere. While Seabase does have low vis at times it does have 2 stingrays, 2 nursesharks, and a plethora of other tropical fish that can be scoped out. It also has the abyss section that is pretty warm and deep although there isn't much to see in there. You can also go up to Belmont up north and dive 95 degree water as well.