Diving in Lake George-- New York State
Posted By Tom Dwyer on 10 September 2001
When James Fenimore Cooper was writing about the Adirondack Mountains in "The Last of The Mohicans," back in 1826, I doubt if he could have imagined what the area would look like today: tons of campgrounds, swanky hotels, and leisure activities of every nature doting the once virgin landscape. I'm pretty sure he never envisioned scuba divers descending to admire 200-year-old boats on the bottom of Lake George. Too bad, he always enjoyed a great adventure.
Having recently been certified by PADI, it was my desire to see more of the underwater world that led me to Lake George, a thirty-mile-long lake located in the Adirondack State Park in upper New York state. I planned a long weekend of luxury pampering at the famed Sagamore Resort, located right on the lake. I saw no reason why I couldn't do my underwater exploring, and eat great food, receive massages and visit the steam room at the Sagamore spa. Call it the best of all worlds.
Lake George in August is a busy place. Parasailers drift over head as boats of every size zip around the surprisingly clear water. Standing on the dock of the Sagamore with my bag of diving gear, I spotted Rich Morin who operates two 5-star-PADI dive centers in the area pull up. With him was Chris Hubbell, an IDC Staff Instructor at the Morin Dive Centers. Before I knew it we were speeding across the lake to our first dive site.
I got certified in the Caribbean, so diving in a lake was foreign to me. The type of gear needed in a lake where the water temperature can drop 20 degrees in 40 feet in the summertime--is a whole different story! The wetsuit I put on was heavy gauge, and I needed twenty-four pounds of weights to get me to the bottom. Add the hood and heavy gloves and I had a diving ensemble that would make a seal jealous.
After Rich and Chris went over the dive plans and hand signals with me, we entered the water doing backrolls off of the side of the boat. I swam to the anchor line which led down to our first dive site. The Lake George area is rich in American history. And scattered along the bottom of the lake are hundreds of boats: canoes, paddle boats, schooners, and a floating gun battery that dates back as far as 1750. Most can be viewed around the 40 to 60 feet depths.
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