The summer of 2018 and my exploration of our new quarry, Juturna Springs continued this weekend DWF got to run his first PADI Advanced Open Water class there. I’ve the last month or so I’ve been able to get more familiar with the quarry and it just keeps getting better and better. This weekend I had a few AOW students and some help from Divemaster In Training (DMiT) Amy.
The biggest win about Juturna is that I could teach Advanced Open Water there (specifically the deep dive) without doing the 6-hour (round trip) drive up to one of the next two closest quarries with the appropriate depth.
Logistics continues to improve at Juturna Springs. On Saturday there were OVER 100 waivers signed! I spoke to divers from Washington DC, and a couple from New Jersey as well. It seems like word is starting to get around. Word on the streets is that they just got their permit to install to install electrical that will feed tank fills! Being able to fill tanks will be one more bonus for the facility.
When I teach Advanced Open Water I like to give my students a little latitude to actually choose the specialties we will be sampling. So here’s how we spent our weekend.
Saturday:
And since we were on a Photography dive it was actually okay to take a few photos during class.
Sunday:
Now here’s what you really want to know! Visibility was 10-30 feet. It was very pleasant to look down at the platform 25 feet down and be able to see it clearly.
There way a layer of black silt right at 65 feet. Even touching it affects visibility significantly. I’ve spoken with several other divers and it’s pretty consistent starting at 65-70 feet in multiple parts of the quarry.
Temperatures:
- Surface was about 82 degrees F.
- 44 degrees F at 65 feet.
- 51 degrees F at 44 feet.
- 68 degrees F at 26 feet.
This was a great way to spend a weekend.
So let me be first to congratulate Columbia Scuba‘s newest Advanced Open Water Scuba Divers!
