FOLLOW UP TO PRESS RELEASE, BONNE TERRE MINE

1/26/2010 by Capt. Darrick Lorenzen | 2 Comments | 241 Views

National Geographic Adventure named diving at Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri as one of the top 10 adventures in America, and it is easy to see why. Back in the day, the mine’s deepest reaches were not underwater. A massive pump system stemmed the flow of encroaching groundwater as the miners pushed deeper. But when this, world’s largest lead mine, was all mined out, the pumps were turned off and the water trickled in to fill the void. These days, the mines owners Doug and Cathy Georgens, maintain a constant water level providing divers with access to their unique underwater vision. The dive deck hovers over the water’s surface 150-feet from terra firma. Underwater Pillars, shafts, archways, walls and ceilings stretch for miles in all directions, a sprawling maze beneath the town of Bonne Terre, Missouri. Artifacts like shovels, drills and ore carts lay everywhere. You will also be struck by the electric blue water, the result of the 1,000,000 watts of high-powered stadium lighting installed by the owners. There are more than 50 planned trails open to the public and the mine is accessible to most divers. Every group of divers is assigned a guide and safety divers and recreational divers must dive the trails in a preset sequence. The dives become more advanced with additional swim throughs and archways to navigate as the trails progress to the more difficult. Under special circumstances exploratory dives are possible here as well. You can go “where no man has ever gone before”. These trails are dubbed “Bear Trails” named after Bear Fritz, the most experienced trail guide. These more advanced, guided dives delve into the unlit and underexplored sections of the mine. Bear trails are only for divers who prove they have got the skills and air consumption that are required to make these dives. This is the lure of what the Bonne Terre crew has dubbed “deep earth diving,” a seemingly endless underwater world, frozen in time.
 
Source: Sport Diver

On 3/9/2010 captdarrick said:

The reason why it is regulated is that if you dove in this facility alone you would get lost and perhaps die! I have been diving at the Mine for over 20 years, and I can assure you I would get lost if diving my own and have been lost even with a guide. Expensive? Not for the uniqueness of the facility and the only place in the Midwest where you can train and dive year round!

On 2/12/2010 skubaduk said:

I dove here when I lived in the Cincinnati area. Interesting. A bit too regulated & " it ain't cheap ! ".