Visiting Eugene Oregon in August

[Notso_Ken]

My wife and I are planning to visit our son and his wife in Eugene the last week in August. As part of the trip, my wife would like to revisit Crater Lake. While there, I would like to take advantage of the time to dive Crater Lake.

1) What would be a good dive shop in/around Eugene to be able to rent the gear I don't bring with me?

2) Would it be possible to find a dive buddy sometime that last week in August to join me for the dive in Crater Lake?


Ken

 

[diveborg]

I've read about diving Crater Lake. It isn't easy.

Crater Lake is accessible for diving only by hiking the Cleetwood Trail, located on the north side of Crater Lake. The Cleetwood Trail is 1.1 miles in length and descends 700 feet to the lake surface. You must be able to carry all your equipment up and down the trail. Wheeled vehicles are prohibited. Restrooms are available at the top and bottom of the Cleetwood Trail but there are no food or drinking water facilities.

Because the water is quite cold (temperatures below the surface are consistently in the upper 30’s), a good quality, 0.25-inch full wet suit or a dry suit is required.

That information is from Scuba Diving at Crater Lake National Park

If you still think you'd like to dive there, Eugene Skin Divers Supply is the only shop that I know of in Eugene and they do rent gear.

If you'd like to try out a DUI dry suit, the fine folks at DUI are conducting their annual DOG Rally & Demo Days at the Oregon Coast Aquarium August 22-24. I've done the dives there and it is quite nice, and much easier than I imagine diving Crater Lake to be.

 

[Xelgoer]

Oregon Diving Supply Incorporated is also in the Eugene area. ODSI is in Springfield, just across I-5 Freeway.

 

[RockyHeap]

I've hiked that trail, and NO WAY would any mentally stable person want to lug their gear up or down that trail........there are rest benches every hundred feet for just normal un burdened hikers.

read those trail facts carefully. 700 foot elevation gain on a 1 mile trail. Thats about 1 foot drop/gain for every 7 foot along the trail. THATS pretty steep for a hiking trail.......

you sure you still want to dive it? The hike and boat tour out to wizard island IS very cool, the water is crystal clear. So for sure do it, but just no way is it worth lugging dive gear in or out.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

There are also some restrictions to dive there. They wanted a group of divers I know to all have an altitude speciality before diving there, a computer that factors altitude wasn't good enough.

I've dove the lake and honestly it isn't worth the hike. Go see a movie instead.

 

[Hawk]

That is one of the most, no, the most stupid dive I have ever done. Not worth it at all and it breaks all the rules as far as safe diving is concerned.

Remember that if you want to get to any respectable depth to see even more of nothing, you will need to spend the night near there to keep from being penilized for the altitude gain. You work extremely hard getting down, do one dive, and then excercise very, very hard to get back out while gaining far too much altitude too quickly.

It's great if all you want to see is vertical rock, and be able to brag about having done it afterwards.

To see a movie instead is good, sound advise.

Later, Hawk.

 

[jerrycsr]

I've dove the lake and honestly it isn't worth the hike. Go see a movie instead.

This is a highly unusual statement coming from Al.