Visiting Eugene OR in late March

[Notso_Ken]

Hi all from a Great Lakes Wrecking Crew member,

I will be visiting Eugene about 19 to 25 March (final travel arrangements are not yet made, so could vary a little). I'll be interested in getting in a couple dives while out there. Any recommendations in the Eugene area? Within a couple hours drive? I've heard of folks diving Crater Lake - is it worth the dive? Any decent dive shops to be able to rent any gear I don't drag along on the airline?


Ken

 

[Furnari]

I'm fairly new to diving, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Our local dive shop is Eugene Skin Divers Supply, and they've treated me well. They can hook you up with whatever rental gear you need. Another resource would be Eugene Dive Club (oddly enough, at the first meeting I went to back in November, there was a presentation about wreck diving in the Great Lakes).

Crater Lake would probably be inaccessible due to snow in March- bummer because the lake itself is something to see. If you wanted a good taste of local salt water diving, North Jetty at Florence is just over an hour away from Eugene. There's a dive park with a decent entry- it's where I did one of my OW dives. I've only gotten in a few dives on the coast, so I'm not the best resource. Hopefully by March I'll have a bunch more dives, so message me if you want to stay in touch or need more info.

 

[Notso_Ken]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like North Jetty is the most likely location to dive in March, then?

If you're available to dive in March, I will need a local guide to get me oriented, so if you're up for it, let me know. I did find ESDS on the web, and was going to call them today, but never got around to it. I saw their rental gear info on the web, so I'm pretty comfortable leaving almost everything at home.

Most of my experience is here in the great lakes areas, various quarries in Ohio and Indiana, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, but also Monterey CA, fresh water springs in Florida, and in the Gulf of Mexico.


Ken

I'm fairly new to diving, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Our local dive shop is Eugene Skin Divers Supply, and they've treated me well. They can hook you up with whatever rental gear you need. Another resource would be Eugene Dive Club (oddly enough, at the first meeting I went to back in November, there was a presentation about wreck diving in the Great Lakes).

Crater Lake would probably be inaccessible due to snow in March- bummer because the lake itself is something to see. If you wanted a good taste of local salt water diving, North Jetty at Florence is just over an hour away from Eugene. There's a dive park with a decent entry- it's where I did one of my OW dives. I've only gotten in a few dives on the coast, so I'm not the best resource. Hopefully by March I'll have a bunch more dives, so message me if you want to stay in touch or need more info.

 

[Furnari]

Well, I don't know if I'm exactly guide material , but sure- my two brothers and I have been diving most every weekend, so we'd be happy to show you around. If we're not available, we could probably find someone to help you out. Viz on a good day is about 6', so be aware of that. Water temps will probably be in the low 50's. What sort of things are you interested in? Hunting, photography? Not much in the way of wrecks, unfortunately. If you had more time, the place to go for awesome NW diving would be the Hood Canal in Washington. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive, but with much better viz (20'+) and better surf / surge conditions. In fact, the local shop conducts its advanced classes up there.

Anyways, feel free to e-mail me- dr_furnari@yahoo.com. We're looking forward to showing off our state :cool2:

 

[Notso_Ken]

Well, arrive late on the 19th, got family stuff to do over the weekend, so looking to try and get some dives in on the 22nd or 23rd.

Ken

 

[bingediver]

Hey Notso_Ken,

I'm planning a trip to Eugene/Portland in the early fall and was just wondering how your dives ended up working out. Thanks!