Guba
Contributor
It's true, and it was totally unexpected.
My dive buddy, David, and I mosied up to Lake Elmer Thomas (near Lawton, Ok) to grab a couple of quick dives, just to scratch the divin' itch. So did a lot of other folks (actually, there were a couple of classes going on), and there were about twenty in the water where we normally put in near the dam. So, we set our flag, skirted the classes, and soon headed for the far side of the lake about 150 yards away. Vis was about 5-8 feet most of the way, so we were navigating by compass. We reached the other side and turned right (west) to follow the wall at about twenty to twenty-five feet. I was higher on the wall than David, who was about four feet lower. After a while, he stopped and signaled we might drop down about ten feet. At first, we miscommunicated a little, but finally we did just that. It got really murky as we crossed a razor-edge thermocline at about 25 feet, but then I saw what he had glimpsed from his deeper vantage point.
The vis opened up...and I'm not kidding a bit...to over 50 feet! Yes, it was a bit dim as we bottomed out at about 45 feet, but we still had plenty of light and I'm not exaggerating a bit. Vis was fantastic! Sure, it was a bit cool (about 60 degrees, I think) but man was it clear! We were so impressed that we returned on the second dive to the same location. It was a great day of diving, and it's always so much fun to find something so totally unexpected, even at a site we consider one of our "regulars".
My dive buddy, David, and I mosied up to Lake Elmer Thomas (near Lawton, Ok) to grab a couple of quick dives, just to scratch the divin' itch. So did a lot of other folks (actually, there were a couple of classes going on), and there were about twenty in the water where we normally put in near the dam. So, we set our flag, skirted the classes, and soon headed for the far side of the lake about 150 yards away. Vis was about 5-8 feet most of the way, so we were navigating by compass. We reached the other side and turned right (west) to follow the wall at about twenty to twenty-five feet. I was higher on the wall than David, who was about four feet lower. After a while, he stopped and signaled we might drop down about ten feet. At first, we miscommunicated a little, but finally we did just that. It got really murky as we crossed a razor-edge thermocline at about 25 feet, but then I saw what he had glimpsed from his deeper vantage point.
The vis opened up...and I'm not kidding a bit...to over 50 feet! Yes, it was a bit dim as we bottomed out at about 45 feet, but we still had plenty of light and I'm not exaggerating a bit. Vis was fantastic! Sure, it was a bit cool (about 60 degrees, I think) but man was it clear! We were so impressed that we returned on the second dive to the same location. It was a great day of diving, and it's always so much fun to find something so totally unexpected, even at a site we consider one of our "regulars".
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