Alternate Title: All about that time I went SCUBA diving in a dormant volcano*.
I mentioned earlier, there are a surprising number of diverse places to go SCUBA diving in Utah; landlocked, square, mountainous, red-rocky Utah. To date, I have only been diving in the confines of a swimming pool, in murky, nasty pond-water with under 2 inches of visibility, and now, inside a dormant volcanic crater.
Anyone want to guess which of those three was the most Awesome?
Why yes, that’s right. A swimming pool is better than nasty pond-water, but that’s not quite the answer I’m looking for. Does anyone else have an idea?
Bingo! Dormant Volcanic Crater is correct! There is just no comparison to the pond or the pool when you’re talking about The Crater at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah.
The Crater is made up of two separate parts. First, there is the dome, which rises about fifty-five feet from the surface of the water with a slightly irregular shaped opening about twenty feet in diameter. A tunnel over a hundred feet long has been blasted through the rock to allow divers, swimmers, and curious passers-by to walk down to the water. There is a small dock built to accommodate divers and their gear, and allow the proprietor to hang out with his beverage, supervising the goings on.
(Looking up from the surface of the water to the top of The Crater.)
The “pool” part of The Crater is approximately sixty feet across, roughly in a circular shape, and sixty-five feet deep. (When you take into account the altitude, 5,600 feet, this makes the diving conditions equivalent to ninety feet deep at sea level.) The fresh water bubbles up from a mineral hot spring and is a comfortable and inviting ninety-six degrees year-round. It’s kind of like being in a giant bathtub with your closest friends…all wearing oxygen tanks and breathing through tubes. Ok, so maybe it’s nothing like being in a giant bathtub. Needless to say, the water is quite lovely. The sides of The Crater are covered in mineral formations; these mini-stalactites are incredibly sharp and kind of look like a vast expanse of moss-covered jaggedy teeth. You need to be careful not to float into the wall because those jaggedy bits are sharp!
As much as I would love to take some time and explore The Crater on my own, this time around I was in class and had to make three high-altitude dives in one afternoon to get my certification done; I had no time to dawdle and snap pictures like crazy. I got my gear together–rash guard, oxygen tank, vest/BCD, octopus, regulator, alternate regulator, dive light, alternate light source, mask, booties, fins, weights, charts/slate, camera–and in I went. My class was small–there was only four of us getting the Advanced Open Water certification–and we had a ton to accomplish. Without further ado, down we all went to the bottom of The Crater.
It was beautiful. Granted, it is probably nothing compared to The Caribbean, or Hawaii, or Thailand or something, but compared to icky murky pond-water, it was stunning. The water is azure blue and for the first 30 feet or so there is enough light that you can see everything. There are no creatures living in The Crater, but there is a plastic lobster, a plastic turtle, and a plastic iguana that can scare the daylights out of you if you’re not in-the-know…not that I was scared by a plastic iguana or anything…ahem.
I carefully and efficiently did all my tests–nitrogen narcosis testing to prevent/recognize underwater craziness, alertness at depth, underwater navigation with a compass, buoyancy testing–and on my last dive I finally had a little time for some fun. My instructor, the one who looks like Katherine Heigl, can blow bubble-rings that rival Gandalf’s smoke rings. I wanted to learn how to do it. With a little coaching and a few un-ringed attempts, this is what I finally accomplished (and please don’t ask me why I am more proud of this than I am of anything else I did that day):
My three dives went by all-together too quickly. I was having a blast and I really would have liked to get my bubble-ring skillz perfected. (See? Again with the bubble rings!) It’s really too bad I didn’t have more time to play. I’m sure my first “real” dives, ya know, in the OCEAN with REAL FISH and CORAL REEFS will leave me thinking The Crater, with it’s (relatively) teensy diving space and plastic animals is amateur and elementary. But, for now I think it is amazing.
*In my research, it has been brought to my attention that The Crater is not actually a dormant volcano, but instead a giant upward-growing mineral grotto that has been forming for 10,000 years. Cool? Yes. As cool as a dormant volcanic crater? Not even close. I am sticking by my initial story because, well, it’s my blog and my opinion is the one that counts; if you’d like to argue about it you can leave scathing comments which will be ignored or email your complaints to Management…which will also go ignored.
**Additional research has proven that my initial founding was (mostly) correct. In several government-published reports this particular geological formation is referred to as a caldera, which is, by definition, “a large crater formed by the collapse of a volcanic code.” I rest my case.
Shockingly, there are places to go SCUBA diving in Utah. Now, in case those of you who live near the ocean don’t get the irony of that statement, let me explain:
- The Rocky Mountains run down the eastern side of Utah.
- The Great Basin Desert, a giant expanse of nothing but salt and sad, take over the western side of Utah.
- Red Rock Country (places like Moab and St. George) take up the bulk of the southern parts of the state.
- Arguably, we have the best skiing in the country.
Geographically speaking, Utah almost has a personality disorder. Mountains, desert, red rock, skiing…where does that leave year-round SCUBA diving?
I was shocked when I saw the list of several dozen bodies of water one could go SCUBA diving in this great state. Particularly, where one could go SCUBA diving all year long, sub-zero temperatures and everything. Here’s the scoop–Utah has several volcanic hot-pots that are deep enough to dive. Who knew!?
In order to get certified as a SCUBA diver you need four dives under your belt. A couple of hours north of Salt Lake is CamperWorld, previously known as Belmont Hot Springs which just sounds so much nicer. At any rate, CamperWorld/Belmont there are several mineral hot springs that are over twenty-five feet deep and naturally kept at 93-95 degrees year-round. The best part, there is absolutely no smell of sulphur, which would make me nauseus in 4 minutes flat.
The day Handsome & I drove north to Belmont it was crazy-raining. We’re talking, CRAZY raining. Inches and inches of raining; which, while your in a heated automobile with snacks is just fine. But when you’re scampering around in a swimming suit and flip-flops trying to haul an 80 lb. SCUBA vest and tank 300 yards to the actual pool…um, it’s not so fine. You can’t even imagine how excited I was to jump into the 90-something degree water. Ahhhh, heaven!
It was a long day of floating, diving and hanging out in the water. And by the end of the day I was offiically certified as a SCUBA diver, and starving.
Our SCUBA class (all 30 of us!) went to Maddox Steakhouse, a Brigham City landmark, where I had my first Buffalo steak. It was alright, not as lean as I expected it to be–everyone tells me buffalo meat is super-lean—but it was fantastic and their rolls are to die for.
Today I am getting my Advanced Open Water SCUBA Certification in a volcanic crater in Midway, Utah. I’m making sure to take a camera with me so you can see what it’s like to go SCUBA diving in a dormant volcanic crater at 5,600 feet.
Filed under: Skoobering
I don’t mind spiders. I don’t mind snakes. I don’t mind walking home by myself in the dark (with a can of pepper-spray, of course). I actually like heights and tiny spaces and while I do prefer the smell of bleach to dirt, I don’t consider myself a germaphobe, yet.
However, I am afraid of sharks. Very afraid. I’ve never seen a shark alive and in person–shockingly, they aren’t indigenous to the Great American West–and I’ve never seen “Jaws”. But I can imagine it would be something like when the rest of the planet saw Psycho; blood and gore and bad dreams for months. I did see a Barracuda that had been washed up on the beach in Hawaii, the beach I WAS LOUNGING ON THE DAY BEFORE, but by the time I laid eyes on it’s terrible jaws and rows of spike-teeth.
Shudder. Sharks. Me no likey.
That being said, you may remember that I have been working towards getting SCUBA certified, Handsome is already certified and surprised me with SCUBA lessons. The bulk of my training was in a lovely, clean swimming pool. The water was heated and there were bathrooms and showers less than 15 feet away. After the novelty of breathing under-water wore off a bit, it occurred to me that this was not the ideal place to go diving, despite the perks of heated water and close-by amenities. Swimming pool tile is only interesting for so long, really. Even though I had Daniel Craig and Katherine Heigl look-alike instructors, all that SCUBA gear makes it impossible to gawk for more than 30 minutes before losing the celebrity behind masks and tanks and regulators.
Not Katherine Heigl, just me. Hi, wanna see my tongue?
Allegedly, the best SCUBA diving is in the ocean. The same ocean where they keep the sharks. Clearly, something has got to give. Now, there are several “ok” places to go diving here in the desert. There are a couple of places with natural hot springs that are deep enough to dive. Here’s the problem–no cool fish live in hot springs, just nasty bugs and little minnow-fishies who chomp on your toes. To see the cool fish, and the coral, and to see for more than 3 feet in front of your face you need to go to someplace Big. Like the shark-infested ocean. You can see where I’m going with this, right?
During my SCUBA class we watched a video clip from one of our instructors on a dive in the Bahamas…or Bermuda…or something. The Divemaster (that’s SCUBA-speak for Head Honcho In Charge Under Water) was in a chain-mail suit, underwater, feeding sharks. Dozens and dozens of sharks. And everyone was watching. I almost lost my lunch. But as the clip went on, it showed the Divemaster putting these sharks into a trace-like state, and then the shark would do whatever the Divemaster wanted it to do. Like balance on his nose in the Divemaster’s hand. Seriously. These are not trained sharks, these were completely wild animals that the Shark Whisperer tamed in under 3 minutes. I was immediately fascinated.
Like, unnaturally fascinated. For the first time I actually wanted to get into the ocean with an 80-pound pack of gear, find some sharks, and learn how to make one balance on my hand without chomping it off. I was in. It’s crazy! I don’t live anywhere near an ocean! I doubt they even have sharks at my zoo! But, so help me, I want to become a Shark Whisperer*.
*You had to know there was going to be a disclaimer, right? Ok, as long as we’re clear that I’m not completely off my rocker and do have a few conditions when it comes to playing with sharks. A Shark Whisperer is my term for someone who is a) not afraid of sharks and b) may or may not be capable of putting a shark to sleep. Seriously, it’s awesome, check it out. This is not to be confused with Someone Who Kisses Sharks, or otherwise allows a shark to chomp it’s face, hand, leg, head, etc. (Watch the Shark Kisser video at your own risk, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I am not including links to the other chompings because I assume if you’re into that sort of thing you’ve already got a queue of Shark Attack! clips waiting for you at home.)
