This weekend, my wife and I will be diving Lake Tahoe.
Diving Lake Tahoe is very similar to many fresh water dive sites as marine life is sparse compared to many ocean sites, but Tahoe has several wall dives that some consider to be world class. Also, when you combine the alpine nature of Tahoe, the casinos, the stunning beauty of Lake Tahoe, and yes, the stunning walls of Lake Tahoe, it is understandable why many people love diving Lake Tahoe.
I enjoy the geology, the clarity of the water, and the marine life of Lake Tahoe.
Dive Sites (best known anyway):
Rubicon Wall is an almost shear granite cliff that decends 800’ into the 1600’ deep lake. It does have some ledges and steps on the way down that gives this dive site interesting things to look at for people who love geology.
Dollar point wall decends about 300’ into the depths of Lake Tahoe.
Stateline wall is another dandy that extends hundreds of feet into the lake.
Conditions:
Lake Tahoe is at 6,249 feet; it is a high altitude dive! The water is between 68 and 50 degrees depending on your depth and season. I have been at 105’ with a water temperature of 55 degrees in September. UC Davis has released their test results for 2008 and the water clarity is almost 75 feet.
Cathy and I are going to Tahoe this weekend to perform some "tune-up" dives as we have not dived for a while and we want to be well prepared for our upcoming trip to Te Nunoa on Moorea. Tahoe requires divers to "pay attention" to detail because of the altitude and depths that can be reached quite easily and quickly. We always use 32% nitrox at Tahoe as it gives us a greater safety margin when we dive conservatively.
http://www.scubadiverinfo.com/mt/starting/archives/2007/08/diving_the_wall.html http://www.saintbrendan.com/cdnjuly02/inland.html http://sdivingaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2006/05/lake-tahoe.html Gin Clear Water to all!
markm