Lake Martin SCUBA: ANY IDEAS?

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	Name:	CC_Diver -
	Subject:	ANY IDEAS?
	Date:	11/8/2007 10:00:14 PM

The news, I'm afraid, is not so great if you want to dive in Martin.

Being a lake, the visibility is very poor due to silt deposits and the like, and with the current lake levels fluctuating so much, vis is all the worse for it. In addition, it is DARK down there. Anything below 50 feet might as well be a night dive as far as Martin goes.

As far as depths, you can vary...drop anchor in a cove in Smith Mountain and you're not going to be diving to anything more than twenty-thirty feet. For a pretty sweet dive that is fairly deep, head out to The Rock in the early morning before the insanity begins and dive at the base. Depths are 160, so don't dive too far unless you are certified to do so. All sorts of nice treasures can be found at the bottom as a result of the incredible amount of personnel traffic (many of them absolute idiots) that the area gets.

And now for the really bad news...

The temp in the lake is BRUTAL year-round. It may be 85 on the surface during the summer months, but you're going to hit as many as three separate thermoclines all in the space of 60' of depth, bringing the temp down to well below 50 degrees...For most of us, that means dry suits. A 7mm wetsuit and hood might cut it for shallower depths, but anything below 30 or 40 feet and you'll want the drysuit for sure.

So basically, unless you've got a bunch of certifications, the lake doesn't offer much...however, with drysuit and tec, there is plenty of stuff to get at and look for--sunken city anyone?

Other messages in this thread:

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ANY IDEAS? - brant002 - 3/13/2006 11:15:38 PM

ANY IDEAS? - CC_Diver - 11/8/2007 10:00:14 PM

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