Willow Springs?

[Jonny_Rocket]

You can hit 100 feet at Dutch... with a shovel. After the major flooding we had this September we hit like 104 in the hole. The dive Nazi's suck. The BEST thing about it, is you can camp out Friday and Saturday night, which is included in the season pass fee.

 

[Buoyant1]

Dive Nazi's? I gotta hear this one! hahaha!


I'm not OVERLY sensetive to cold, but that's not to say that the moment I get into 50-60 degree water I don't freeze up like a side of beef! I'm working on my life support gear at the moment. I know that I can pick up a big 7mm for less than $200 from LP, or the alternative is to get a 3mm shorty and just wear it over my full 3mm. So the dry suit is at least another year off.

I want to check out Dutch, but have heard that's its REAALLY c-c-cold all year round!

 

[Henryville]

Dive Nazi's? I gotta hear this one! hahaha!


I'm not OVERLY sensetive to cold, but that's not to say that the moment I get into 50-60 degree water I don't freeze up like a side of beef! I'm working on my life support gear at the moment. I know that I can pick up a big 7mm for less than $200 from LP, or the alternative is to get a 3mm shorty and just wear it over my full 3mm. So the dry suit is at least another year off.

I want to check out Dutch, but have heard that's its REAALLY c-c-cold all year round!

You can very comfortably get by with a full 5mm suit from July through September. Probably a little chilly but doable for a month on either side of that, at least that's what works for me.

By the way, there is a nice 7mm suit here
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/dept_id.L2~382/qx/prod_list_display.htm
for $179. I have their 5mm version and like it.

 

[hambleto]

I'm not OVERLY sensetive to cold, but that's not to say that the moment I get into 50-60 degree water I don't freeze up like a side of beef! I'm working on my life support gear at the moment. I know that I can pick up a big 7mm for less than $200 from LP, or the alternative is to get a 3mm shorty and just wear it over my full 3mm. So the dry suit is at least another year off.

I want to check out Dutch, but have heard that's its REAALLY c-c-cold all year round!

It really depends on your defenition of cold. I have dove a 7mil farmer john bottom (left the top on the shore) to about 40' without being cold in late summer. Otherwise I would suggest at least a full suit. A farmer john would be better since you get the extra layer over your torso.

NESS is running a 6.5 mil farmer john on sale now at http://www.Northeastscubasupply.com/specials/wetsuitspecial.html for $189

As far as Willow. It is a nice quary. it is not deep and they have a very good rope system, so tooling around and getting used to gear is nice. The vis is not that good (especialy after the polor bear swim) but I have seen worse. There heated "Lobster Shack" is a deffinete plus. They are pretty laid back there and if you e-mail them a question they will get back to you pretty quick. If you ever want to head up there let us (The Wreck Valley people) know. One of us is always looking to get wet.

Take care,
Ben

 

[idratherbediving]

im just going to agree with what most are saying...
bainbridge- great to get deep, vis is ok (about 10 feet) above 95 feet and about 42-44 degrees all the way down.
willow springs- shallow, very laid back, lots of stuff to see, ropes if you are not great with navigation.
dutch springs- ive only been there one weekend, they are really strict and have a long list of do's and don'ts that they enforce, and if your not a pass holder and plan to camp out sat night they make you pay for sunday diving up front and have to leave by 9 am sunday if you want your money back, also very crowded and a long walk from the parking lot , but the vis is great and it is deep enough and a good amount of stuff to see. more than what is on the map.
as for a suit... if you plan on going deep then i would suggest a dry, semi dry, or a at least a 7mil. even if the surface is 70 in the summer, when you get down to 90 feet it gets pretty cold in a 3 mil.
hope my 2 psi is helpful.

 

[grouchyturtle]

2 seasons ago I dove a full 7mm all season and was very comfortable. Later in the season I added a 5mm core warmer and dove as late as November, still with no problems, at least until I got out of the water.

Last winter started diving dry. This season I dove wet again once it got warmer. At Dutch I was cold once I hit the thermocline, though. So much that I didn't dive for almost 2 months, because I was waiting to get my drysuit back, and in temps that I did dive wet in during the previous year.

 

[Buoyant1]

I may have to spring for a 7mm soon then...just dropped a wad on a BC, reg, octo and gauge..the wife is gonna KILL me!

 

[Jonny_Rocket]

Tell me about it bro... I dropped 950 2 days after Xmas, with my girlfriend standing right there! I picked up my 7mm from NESS (www.northeastscubasupply.com) for stupid cheap though... They should still have farmer johns left for like 190.

 

[hambleto]

I saw him spend it all! She did not even get mad at him! I never spand that much in front of the misses, or she would kill me.

 

[Buoyant1]

My wife COULDN'T get mad because it was all Christmas money! (and gift cert's from the LDS) The last I heard from her about it was a few days after Christmas when she said "well..just don't blow the whole thing right away...maybe you want to research everything first"...did the research! Asked the questions..got the reccomended stuff!

She actually was appearing excited about it when I came home!

There are a few items that I will need kinda soon...taking a trip to Florida at the end of March so I'll need to get everything there...But I think the 7mm is gonna come not too far after that, (If I can swing it) I really want to do more diving up here to stay fresh, and get experience.

Hambleto.. I see you're from Wilmington.. I have a cousin that's certified from that area, do you know Ross DeNisco by any chance?