Oronogo

[DeepDiverBob]

I figured I would start this over here, instead of continuing it in the intro thread.

What is the story about getting charged more of diving doubles?

[theskull]

Captain John has always charged more for tech diving (below 130' or doing deco). The reason is to offset the much higher liability, chance of accidents and lawsuits, and the cost of release forms to cover these things. In the past he has mainly relied on the honor system and backed it up by checking computers of people he had questions about. By charging a little more for everyone diving doubles it simplifies the process and monitoring for him and is fair for all who dive there. Rare is the diver who goes to Oronogo in doubles to make recreational dives (in my experience).

Oronogo is one of the few commercial sites in the midwest that encourages and is set up for deco diving, with depths of 200 ft. and caverns and tunnels to explore. Viz is usually very good at depth and it is not too cold.

theskull

[DeepDiverBob]

As far as the liability, I guess I can understand that. When you say not that cold, what is not too cold? Just curious. Also, at what depth does the vis open up pretty good? Is it like Table Rock where after 40 feet it opens up in the summer, or much deeper than that? I am really looking forward to this place now.

[juls64]

Yes, post a little more info because I am also interested.

J;)

[theskull]

Much can be found here http://www.oronogo.com (http://www.oronogo.com/) . Surface temp will vary with the weather, getting up into the 80s in late summer. Bottom temp is always near 50 F. Visibility in the shallows is usually in the 10-15 ft. range, but below about 50 ft. viz is typically 30-40 ft. or better. This continues down to app. 180 ft. where it will often be dark and murky. There is a huge beautiful cavern-like area called "the 4 doors" that was once repair bays for the mining equipment--this area is at depths between 50 and 110 feet. The shallow area (less than 40 ft.) can be compared favorably to the shallow side of Mermet, with "attractions" such as cars, a small plane, and some mining equipment. The walls contain some cool tunnels that require cave cert to dive, and the deep area in the center is pretty much just a silty bottom when you get to it.

theskull