Home Hours Directions

 

 

 

 

Bonne Terre, Missouri
Deep Earth Mine Diving

May 6th thru 8th, 2005

Past Trip Report

 

Jason, Rich, and Dave, Underwater Deep Earth Explorers

 

The Dive Center topside. There were a number of artifacts topside to explore between dives. We had an awesome time on this trip.  The dives were "out of this world"  like "diving on another  planet cool!" The experience will be one that we are looking forward to doing again.  It was an amazing place.  Not a quarry but an actual underground lake lit from above with electric lights. 

The Dive Briefings were very thorough. The entrance to the mine. We started at the dive center with a very structured dive briefing.  The guide used a map to take through our tours every step of the way.   Because it was easy to get lost, each dive we had a predetermined check point and there were two guides.. one leading and one as a safety diver to the rear of the group.  

We enter through the old mule trail building Plenty of handrails to help you down the narrow stepsEntering through the mines old Mule trail,  the steps and trails took us over 160 vertical feet down to the platform.  The trip down was not too bad with gravity helping us on our way.    At the platform we each picked a spot on the benches where we could leave our equipment between dives. 

The Deck is Huge and each person gets their own little section on the bench for the day. The Cavern is lit with electric lights throughout the dive area. Tanks are kept on the dock keeping you from having to lug them up and down the stairs. Weights need to be rented. The views were dramatic above the water as well as below.

   

This Drill was just left by the miners when the mine closed. On Trail one. Jason in the Keyhole A passage way to get to trail 4The views underwater were dramatic.  With visibility over 100' it was something so cool that you just have to experience it to believe it.   The super clear water was a bit chilly at 58degrees but it was cool and refreshing after the long hike down into the mine.   We did trails 1, 2, and 4 on Saturday seeing a number of underwater sites including the famous Structure pictured in all of the literature of the area.   Inthere was an ore cart full of artifacts on almost every trail. This is the end of the tracks with a tip over. between dives we had an opportunity to leave our equipment in the mine and travel topside to warm up and dry off our wetsuits. Climbing the stairs was not as difficult as I had thought but it was still a little bit of a workout after a long winter.

Front of the Train on Trail 7 Lights of the train engine. Underwater Locomotive lying on its side. The Interior of the Train on Trail 7

 Greg in the Structure.. Lights were allowed on trails 3-7On Sunday we did trail 3 in the morning and Divers Incorporated divers were treated to a privateJason up the cavern called fatman on Trail 7 Trail 7 tour.   The Sunday dives were the most spectacular with incredible rooms,  views and underwater sights.   The chapel room was really cool and the steam engine train was something that many divers never get to see. It is easy to see why this site is listed as one of America's top 10 greatest adventures by National Geographic.

The pictures show you some of the underwater artifacts that were in the mine,  but the most spectacular underwater sights were the incredible canyons, caverns and views many cameras can never take.

Stair where the miners used to enter the mine. On Trail 4 Bathtub on trail one. Cotton Pierce wrote his name on the wall here in 1943 "Smoke" one of the interesting sites in the mine was in areas not frequented. It looked like the rings of saturn. Jason in the time Keeper Shack Time Keeper's Chair

           

[ Home ] [ Up ] 

Send mail to webmaster@diversinc.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Divers Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
Last modified: 04/22/08

It is one thing to IMAGINE and another to PARTICIPATE...