Freshwater Diving in Lake George, NY

So, having been used to diving in crystal clear, warm water for pretty much my entire scuba career, I felt that it was time to try something a bit different and do a spot of freshwater scuba diving! The only other time I dived in freshwater was way back during my PADI open water certification when we did one dive in a freshwater gravel pit - it was an interesting experience in that is was very clear all the way down to the bottom until someone kicked up all the sediment and silt and I couldn’t see anything. Anyway, that was years ago and due to where I live nowadays options are limited so I thought it why not give it another go. Here in upstate New York options for diving are somewhat limited, not being by the sea is one drawback and even if we were, the waters are generally pretty cold here anyway. As luck would have it, there is one scuba shop here in Albany, Kraken Scuba who during the summer months run a series of “fun dives'“ to Lake George about a hour away from Albany. So, feeling like I was getting withdrawal symptoms and needing a scuba fix over the past couple of summers I have signed up for a few of these excursions as they are a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

There are a few additional considerations when diving in freshwater compared to clear, tropical warm sea water - firstly, the lake is a lot colder than I had previously been used to and I was advised that even though it was summer, it would still be cold so I rented a 7mm wetsuit rather than buying my own straight off the bat. The other point to remember is that these would be freshwater dives and therefore no salt to increase your buoyancy - therefore technically I would need less weight - however, I have been enjoying a bit too much pizza and put on a few extra pounds and I would also be using a 7mm wetsuit too - as a result of this I ended up with 14lbs of weight (about 7kg vs the normal 2kg I used to use). Diving here is also a little more DIY than the full service, resort based diving I had been used to. So, on the sSturday morning I collected a couple of air cylinders along with the wetsuit and weight from the dive shop and stowed them away in the back of my truck. Once I had this sorted out I then set about checking my gear and getting my camera and reg/BCD all ready and batteries for torches and strobes all charged up! (This laborious task unfortunately doesn’t change regardless of fresh or salty water, warm or cold!)

A perch hiding underneath a fallen tree in Lake George, NY

With everything ready in the truck I set out for Hearthstone Point campsite at Lake George where I was to meet the team that I would be diving with today. It’s about an hours drive so as I cruised along the hgihway I wondered what it would be like. I was admittedly a little nervous, would the freshwater affect my buoyancy, would I be able to move OK in the thick 7mm wetsuit? As I pulled up to the campsite I found where the rest of the group was and quickly began to move my gear from the truck onto a tarp to stop everything from getting too dirty. Once everything was down I proceeded to set everything up - it hadn’t been too long since I had been diving in Florida so that wasn't a worry - the biggest challenge was getting into the wetsuit - something I hadn’t don in a long time! Once all kitted up we walked down to the shoreline and waded out to about chest height and put fins on whilst trying not to fall over which would have looked hilarious form the lakeside I imagine. Once in the water I did a quick weight test - my main preoccupation was whether I would be able to sink down with this 7mm wetsuit - thankfully I was weighted enough, possibly slightly over but for the first dive I was happy to be able to get down.

The fuselage of a sunken plane in Lake George, NY

Once everyone was ready we split into two groups and began to sink beneath the surface. While the water temperature wasn’t too bad, especially with the 7mm wetsuit, the visibility was pretty bad - I had a powerful torch with me, but you had to make sure you kept with the rest of the group to ensure you didnt get lost. The feeling under the water was a bit eery really, although you could hear a few boats overhead, there was no current and a slightly haunting atmosphere.

The sunken car in Lake George, NY - getting down to it requires swimming through a thermocline which definitely sends shivers through you!

Adding to the haunting feeling was that there isn’t as much to see when diving in a lake as there is in salty water, I had my camera with me and normally in the ocean, certainly when in Asia I would be constantly taking pictures of the beautiful corals or interesting marine life, here there wasn’t much to distract me. Maybe it was me being overly cautious and not wanting to get separated from the group as the visibility was not good, but apart from a sunken car and plane there really isn’t much to see. Having said that, I did find myself taking the time to swim around the plane especially to try and photograph it, but with quite a few other divers it was hard to get a good shot of it without lots of other divers in strange positions and loads of bubbles. Still, I managed a few pictures and you can see some here.

In terms of underwater photography, shooting freshwater, especially a lake with questionable visibility I found quite a challenge. You still have the same challenges in terms of positioning of strobes and backscatter, but with green water it brings a whole new element. I have found it quite challenging to get the lighting right and get a colour and tone of the water closer to what I saw. Of the pictures featured here, I think the first, showing a perch hiding underneath a fallen tree trunk the best. This was taken with a Sony a7R V, Sony 28mm lens with Nauticam WWL-1B and twin Sea&Sea YS-D2J stores. Having moaned a little bit about the conditions and lack of much to see I actually quite enjoyed the challenge and will be going back again next summer to keep on trying to get better - that’s one of the joys about photography in general, you can always shoot the same scene and subject again and from different angles with different settings to get a completely different picture!

The diving was pretty easy once under the waters surface and though I hadn’t dived in quite some time I was pretty pleased with how I got into the groove. I suppose not having surge and current to contend with does make things a lot easier and my air consumption was pretty good all things considered. The dives were pretty short, around 30-35 minutes as most people (apart from the dive pro’s) were pretty inexperienced and used air quite quickly. One other big difference I noticed was that being used to reading and reporting my air consumption to the guide in “bar” a metric unit I initially confused everyone as they were used to using the imperial measurement of “psi” - I managed to quickly correct this, but it was one of those small little details you have to watch out for - it could end up causing a safety issue if you don’t keep on top of it. The other main difference was the temperature - I was glad i was in a 7mm suit and although it took a little getting used it. When swimming down to the sunken car you have to go through a thermocline and i could certainly feel it in my head as I wasn’t using a hood. Note to self - purchase a warm hood to go with the 7mm wetsuit!

Overall, while not as exciting as diving in warm tropical water I would definitely recommend freshwater diving in Lake George, New York. It’s a great way to get your fix of scuba diving and keep your skills honed. It taught me a few things and one of those is that i am defiantly a scuba addict - I will be going back for more. Come back soon to find out what my next scuba adventure is!