Located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Dutch Springs is an incredible 50 acre lake with an interesting history, lots of amenities, and attractions at depths all the way to 100 feet beneath the surface. Spring fed by water filtered through limestone from an underground aquifer, this lake is exceptionally clear. With submerged aircraft, a variety of submerged vehicles and other sunken attractions, plus training platforms, it is a paradise for landlocked divers.
About the Lake
Dutch springs arrived on the map in the 1930's after the National Portland Cement Company had purchased 300 acres for the formation of a concrete plant and an adjacent quarry. By 1935, the limestone quarry began to flood even though it was relatively new, and until WWII, pumps kept it dry. The quarry flooded completely during WWII, and though it was pumped dry again after mining resumed, it was used only until the 1970's when it was once again allowed to flood. You can still see the cement company's abandoned smoke stacks rising up from old factory buildings near the lake.
The lake was transformed into a diving facility in 1980, and over the last few decades, amazing things have been happening underwater. For example, there are several training platforms. A favorite is the Diamond Reef System, a group of seven diamonds constructed of PVC piping that are designed for practicing and fine-tuning buoyancy control. Favorite sunken attractions include a tanker truck, which is at depths between 70 and 80 feet, an old fire truck at a depth of 25 feet, and one of the original silos from the quarry, which is only partially submerged and which rises up from a depth of about 25 feet.
A single engine Cessna, four wooden cabin cruisers, a school bus with its doors removed for easy penetration, a fifty foot boat called the Silver Comet, a street trolley built in 1946, and an 88 foot long Sikorsky helicopter are additional attractions. Most of these are connected by permanent lines and are at depths between 40 and 50 feet. A short distance away, the deepest site in the park is a "6x6" troop transport truck at a depth of 90-100 feet. In addition to the attractions added intentionally, there are a number of sunken vehicles that were dumped in the lake before it was purchased as a dive destination in the 1980's - there are a lot of surprises!
Dutch Springs has plenty of attractions to keep non-divers busy, and when you're on a surface interval, you might want to give some of them a shot too. The aquapark has slides and climbing features, and on shore, the sky challenge offers a two story vertical climbing wall and a challenging ropes course. There are dining opportunities to be had, equipment rentals are available, and of course, you can get airfills as well as nitrox and other mixed gases on site. Camping is available, and in case you don't feel like roughing it, there are plenty of accommodations nearby. A great place for all to enjoy, Dutch Springs is located on Hanoverville Road just off Route 191.