Whether you're visiting Nevada for its casinos or for its intriguing history and beautiful desert vistas, or if you're just passing through, Lake Mead offers fantastic opportunities for diving. Formed when the Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, this 158,000 acre lake provides water to seven southwestern states and part of Mexico, plus it attracts more than nine million visitors annually.
Diving Lake Mead: Outstanding Features
If you've never been to Lake Mead before, the first thing that you'll notice upon arrival is that this is a vast body of water. When the lake is full, it holds 9.2 trillion gallons of water, has a length of 110 miles, and offers an astonishing 550 miles of shoreline. The lake and the surrounding recreation area combined encompass an area two times the size of the state of Rhode Island, including Lake Mead, along with the Colorado River below the Hoover Dam, Lake Mohave, and the smaller Davis Dam. Lake Mead begins at the boundary of Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park and ends just 30 miles south of Las Vegas.
While you can dive just about anywhere in the lake, some areas offer better diving than others. One of the best sites is, not surprisingly, the Scuba Park located near the boat harbor along the south side of the causeway leading to Pyramid Island. Here, you'll find plenty of boat wrecks to explore, including a 30 foot motor assisted sailing boat called the Ranger. When water levels are up, the site averages a depth of 90 feet. There is also a cab from a pickup truck here, plus a 36 foot long tunnel constructed from three lengths of 30 inch concrete culvert. Not only is this a good place to work on buoyancy control and practice diving in an overhead environment, it's also a good place to encounter juvenile fish. The bottom is gently sloped and entry from the beach is a snap, plus there's a compass course here where you can hone your skills as you navigate from one point to the next.
Another popular site is located just off the Boulder Islands, which are located about a 20 minute boat ride from the Marina. Here, you'll find plenty of carp, largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappie, and bluegill, all enjoying life among the skeletal remains of chaparral and creosote trees; plus you'll find intriguing underwater rock formations to explore at depths between 12 and 20 feet deep. A short distance away, and a depth of about 70 feet, you'll find the wreck of the Tortuga, a 45 foot long wooden cruiser, and about 100 feet to the west of the islands, you'll find the remains of a 100 foot diameter water tank that was used during the construction of the Hoover Dam. Depths here can be as much as 100 feet, and the tank itself is about 12 feet tall.
Another great boat dive is the Gypsum Reef / Castle Cliffs area, with beautiful white rock drop offs and canyons; to the west, you can find lots of freshwater clams, and in Black Canyon, which is the narrow gorge that leads to the dam, you can enjoy a drift along the canyon walls or even explore a cave that leads into the wall for a distance of about 200 feet. For an even more exciting experience, consider shooting Ringbolt Rapids, located on the outside of the dam; for this amazing and challenging drift, you'll need the help of a local guide.
Whether you elect to camp on the lake, rent a houseboat, or stay at a swank Las Vegas hotel, you'll find there is plenty to keep you occupied topside. Don't miss the Hoover Dam tour - after all, it's thanks to this marvel we have Lake Mead to enjoy.