Mammoth Lake Dives

Author: Sundial

Location: Mammoth Lake, Lake Jackson Tx

Dive: 4 Shore

Dates: 08/05/2023-08/06/2023

Scouts: Cool Cuttlefish, Sundial, Orca, Snapper, Sunfish

Dive Pros: Sgt.Major, The Splendid Toad Fish, Queen Trigger Fish

Dive One: 08/05/2023

Max Depth: 35 ft

Average Depth: 24 ft

Dive time: 48.49 minutes

Visibility: average 5 ft

Average Water Temp: 82.4 degrees

Cuttlefish and I were buddies on this dive but in the beginning, everyone went down together. This was everyone's’ first time diving in Mammoth Lake so we all went down on the Big C-130 plane. When Cuttlefish and I went down to find the plane it was huge. We explored along the wings but we were not even able to find the cockpit of the plane. Throughout Mammoth Lake lines connected the different attractions, some were labelled while others were not, some led to an attraction while others ended in silt or had been broken off. When going into the lake we did not know this so Cuttlefish and I followed a line that said it was leading to the Lifeboat. We followed the line as it slowly descended, getting colder down to 73 degrees and darker till we reached 35 feet and could not see anything. Purple spots showed up in our eyes and with the one light we shared we decided to turn around. Neither of us had a wet suit on and with only one light we were not sure what was going on. 

From the plane, we traveled southeast until we met up with another attraction and we started to follow the lines from there to other places south of the C-130. Some things like boats, missiles, and planes we could recognize but others we had no idea what they were and many were not listed on the map. We made it to platform 3 and were met with a fun surprise of a mirror hanging on the side. It was small, only really big enough to see your face but I had never seen myself underwater in real time and it was so much fun to see us in the water, hair floating above our heads as we moved. We soon ended the dive happy to have seen so many different things in that part of the lake.

Dive Two: 08/05/2023

Max Depth: 33 ft

Average Depth: 25 ft

Dive Time: 48:49 minutes

Visibility: Average 6 ft

Average Water Temp: 82.4

Again on this dive Cuttlefish and I were buddies and planned to start out at the Firetruck which we both wanted to see, and make our way to the tower which had a lot of lines coming off it that we could follow. After a long surface swim, we landed on the firetruck and it was so cool. Part of the ladder was extended and you could still see some of the levers and equipment they used attached to the truck. From there we went to the tower and found a line that said it was leading to the jungle gym.

We started on the line to the jungle gym but got impatient because it seemed it was going forever and there was no end in sight so when another line passed us we jumped to that line. We were certainly not trying to get lost but in the end, we went to some interesting places. When we finally got to the jungle gym it looked almost exactly like the tower, so much so that later in the dive I got confused it was the tower. Lines came off it to different places but we followed one that went over to a Parabolic satellite dish that you see on the side of the road ( I had to look up the name). This was a really fun find and we both played inside. 

From there we made our way to one of my Favorite attractions, the semi-truck. When first arriving at it neither Cuttlefish nor I knew what it was. It had a windshield and we could tell it was big but not much else until we made it to the back where you could easily recognize the bumper. One of the doors was open and peeking our head inside we could see a hook on the wall and what looked to be shelves although that could just as well have been the light coming in from through the sides of the semi-truck. 

From there we tried to make our way back to the tower stumbling upon other boats, a tire reef, and the jungle gym again until we made it back. With time still left in the dive we decided it would be fun to follow the line to the swim through. It was labelled swim through and the line was red and passed by some sort of metal or PVC swing set, maybe? Once we made it to the swim through we found a large circular something, with doorways cut out on either side. With no lights after Cuttlefish’ had lost power, we decided to come back on the next dive to do the swim through and surfaced to face a surface swim back to the dive site. 

Dive Three: 08/06/2023

Max Depth: 38 ft

Average Depth: 24 ft

Dive Time: 56:35 min

Visibility: 8 ft

Average Water Temp: 82.4 degrees

Starting a new day I was buddied with Orca. This was my first time ever being buddies with Orca but I was excited especially because of the plan that had been made. First, we planned on going down on the tower and then going to the swim through, both of us had working lights and had made sure they were totally charged. After that, we planned on following a line to the deep hole and then either keep going and explore more near our site or go back and explore around the tower. We started off with another long surface swim before arriving at the tower and descending to follow a red line, the problem was I assumed the red line was to swim through without checking to see if it had a label and we ended up at the boat. In trying to get back to the tower we took another wrong red line that led us to two big tires and while they were fun to swim through it was not what we had been looking for. We retraced our steps to the boat and eventually found the line back to the tower.

Back at the tower, we found the line to swim through and made it there. It was small but fun and soon we started looking for the lines to the deep hole. We found a few that looked to be heading that way but there were four of them and we ended up not trusting any of the lines to take us there and heading back to the tower and then the firetruck where we knew a line to the deep hole existed. We began to slowly follow that down looking to see if we could find anything but as we went the temperature started to drop and it got darker and darker till it was the same as what Cuttlefish and I had experienced. Neither of us was sure if we should head back or not but ended up deciding to keep going. While I had decided not to wear a wet suit I was pretty much the only one. Everyone had dawned a wet suit on the second dive so being there was freezing. We finally reached the end of the line at 38 feet where it was attached to a concrete block and while there were probably other lines attached neither of us was willing with the very limited light from our lights to let go of the line and look so we turned around. Later looking at my dive computer I saw at 38 feet it had gone down to a temperature of 71.6 degrees. 

Going back up the firetruck which felt hot after going to such cool waters we followed a line going even further up to the submarine. No one in our group had gone here yet so we were not sure what to expect. We swam along the side because we were not sure what it was like inside and if we would be able to penetrate and see the sky from everywhere. We finally reached a giant crack in the side of the sub and decided from here we could definitely still see the sky so we went in a little bit but this led to the discovery that with all the hatches open in the sub, we were able to see the sky from all throughout the sub and were able to go inside and swim through. The first things we found were a toilet and a wall phone before going the other way in the sub and coming to a memorial for a diver. We were running out of time and air for the dive and after going through decided to surface. It was right after surfacing we decided we have to go back and see more of that sub. 

Dive Four: 08/06/2023

Max Depth: 32 ft

Average Depth: 20 ft

Dive Time: 60:35 min

Visibility: 8 ft

Average Water Temp: 87.8 degrees

Our last dive of the trip was very laid back, Orca and I were buddies, and the main purpose of this dive was to see the Sub again. Because everyone wanted to see the sub we descended as a group on platform 3 and went northwest at 340 degrees, we ended up coming upon a line and following that for a little bit before we turned off and continued our northwesterly path. We arrived at a line that headed straight for the nose of the C-130 and followed the plane down to the very tip where a line leading to the sub was attached. Following that we made it to the sub and entered at the end hatch in a single file line of buddy teams. We were at the front so not too much silt had been kicked up but there was some after Sgt.Major decided to sit on the toilet of the sub but I was still able to see the torpedoes and a laptop sitting in the sub. 

From where we followed back to the C-130 but unable to find the line we ended up just setting a course to the south and stayed at about 25ft. Unfortunately for us that took up most of our time because we ended up swimming from the tip of the C-130 all the way down to the crab. From there we explored what we could find from the lines we followed. The crab was awesome, about 15 ft long with huge claws that I was able to stick my head through. Following lines led to a boat and a few platforms but towards the end of the dive we retraced the lines back to the crab where we would minimise our surface swim and that allowed us to take the longest dive we had yet at almost exactly 1 hour. 

Overall, I think everyone loved diving Mammoth Lake, even with the low visibility, the lines that led to nowhere, the confusion, and the long surface swims, we always came up excited about something or other we had seen. After 4 dives in two days, I don’t think anyone was able to see everything, especially with all the things that were not listed on the map. My favorites were the sub, semi-truck, and the crab was really fun to play with but I would definitely come back to dive this lake and have more fun exploring the underwater world of Mammoth Lake.