I have found a couple of dive buddies now and went diving on Sunday to Lake Coleridge.
The lake is situated at about 500m above sea level so is an altitude dive and set amongst some of the best scenery you could hope for. Mt Hutt is just over the tops and there are many ski resorts situated on the mountains around the lake. The lake also feeds a local hydro power station with the inlet some 200m from the entry exit beach.
Visibility is said to be as good as 30m on a good day however, we had a lot of snow melt coming off the hills so vis was down to a modest 5 - 7 metres. Water temperature a steady 8 - 9 deg C with a maximum depth of 16m and 12m. We had short dive times of 27 mins and 35 mins respectively.
There is not a lot to see in the lake which has maximum depths of 200m but it was god to get the two guys out for a dive. We found an old motorcycle, push bike, loads of fresh water mussels and a few small fish. We will explore more the next time we visit.
The two guys I went with are both Open Water divers with some practice required on buoyancy and they will only improve their air consumption with practice. The dive times reflected the air consumption as most of the dive was spent between 6 & 12 m !!! Gary came out with 25 bar after the first dive and 40 bar on the second. The cold water has prompted Gary to purchase a dry suit and we have booked an orientation dive with the local dive centre. I'm trying to get the underwater photos off the hero pro but having issues at the moment. Attached are a couple of surface photos and I will add one or two more later..
This isn't Lake Coleridge, this is the view out over Akaroa inlet on the Pacific side of the Banks Peninsula. There are pods of Hectars Dolphins in these waters.
Gary, Alex and me pre dive.
Lake Coleridge.
Neutral buoyancy, the best feeling in the world !!!
Gary on his Motorbike !!