Why You Should Love Your Local Quarry
Everyone dreams of diving into the crystal clear ocean, seeing rainbows of colors on fish and corals, while enjoying the refreshing temperatures of tropical waters. What’s not to love about these environments? If you're like me, even before I started diving I was picking up diving magazines. I would drool over spectacular dive destinations such as the Cayman Islands, Bonaire, BVI, and Belize, just to name a few. I couldn't wait to sign up at my local dive shop to start my new found hobby. All I had to do was line up dive training; I chose the shop that was closest to me, Scuba Venture in Reading, Pa.
After talking with the staff I had my lessons all lined up. It was finally going to happen get my scuba certification and tour the world! Well, high hope anyways. We finished our classroom and pool sessions and it was time to do our open water diving. The shop chose a lake in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania called Dutch Springs. Dutch is one of the best places around to dive. If you live within 100 miles of this beautiful lake, you probably already heard of it, or better yet, you've been there. I’ve seen divers from Maryland, New Jersey, and New York at this place. Its famed for its clear water due to the zebra mussels, which filter out the algae and lets you have quality visibility up to 60-70 feet at times.
In Pennsylvania, along with the eastern coast, you will hear countless stories like mine. People who fall in love with scuba diving. Their first taste of open water is usually a quarry. Its the most accessible water for miles around. In most of these quarries and lakes, like Dutch Springs, there are countless training platforms submerged 20-40 feet underwater. These are perfect for practicing your new found skills. It keeps you off the bottom so you don't have to worry about the newbies silting everything out.
After I received my certification, I continued to dive at Dutch Springs here and there. They have some cool events like DEMO days. This is where vendors like DUI and other manufactures let you test their gear. I've had the privilege to participate in these events and it's an exceptional way to see if you like a certain piece of equipment before making a significant investment. One of the things I was able to test was a Sealife camera at a Demo day. The vendor downloaded my pics onto a flash drive and let you keep them. That was really neat. I have also tested out ScubaPro’s seawing nova fins when they first came out. I hope to get back to one of these demo day again. They have regs, lights, masks and a plethora of other things to test out. Best of all, its FREE! There is no rental cost involved.
Another thing I love about quarries is you never know what you will find down there. At the time of my writing, Dutch Springs is currently prepping a jet to be sunk. They already have a Sikorsky H-37 Helicopter suspended from a floating platform around 40 feet. They also have a school bus, tanker, trolley, an old crane, numerous boats, a 1944 helldiver replica airplane and a cesna airplane. These are scattered all throughout the lake at varying depths. Not only are they neat to see in an underwater environment but they can also help with your continuing education.
If you want to get wreck certified you can practice your skills on the silver comet at Dutch. It's a 50 foot boat off the training platforms near the aqua park. An even longer vessel to practice wreck diving on is the Quest. This 72 foot boat can be found in Willow Springs, another quarry, just an hour away. The Quest simulates wreck diving better than anything at Dutch. It's not as open as the Silver Comet, so its darker and feels more like a penetration dive rather than just swimming through the Comet that is very open. Willow Springs is my home quarry. It's only a 20 minute drive from my house. It's not as good as Dutch because the viz is terrible at Willow. On a good day you may get 15 feet of viz, but on average you can see 3-5 feet. So basically I dive in low viz constantly. If you were ever interested in night or low viz diving Willow is the place to come. I don't complain about WIllow to much….well, maybe a little. It would be nice to have viz over 20 feet, but the algae blooms keep that dream from happening. It does make you an excellent diver though.
Quarries will remain a staple in my scuba diet. It is a place where I can hone my skills and continue to gain knowledge and self confidence. I can think of no other place that will challenge me as much as Willow Springs. Lakes and quarries like Dutch and Willow offer a multitude of experiences that are hard to come by anywhere else. You get awesome events like DUI Demo Day, Scuba Venture's annual picnic, and much more. Quarries are the perfect place to practice your skills and learn new things. You can advance yourself by picking up classes at your local dive shop to challenge yourself and broaden your possibilities. Last but definitely not least, you get to dive with friends, family and even make some new dive buddies as you go.
There will always be a place in my heart for our mud holes (AKA quarries, hahaha.) So before you write off your local quarry for that once-a-year vacation dive, reconsider what you could be missing.
Pictures
1. Crystal Lentz waiting to jump in at WIllow Springs
2. Certification Day at Dutch Springs with my dive buddy Sam Garmin
3. Silver Comet at Dutch Springs
4. Crystal Lentz splashing in at Willow Springs
