Colorado Scuba Diving Academy

This is a great location to familiarize yourself with local diving. It is just 10 minutes from the local dive store. A nice parking area with covered picnic tables exists. All this with a beautiful view of the mountains and some great local diving.

86 degree F/ 30°C heated pool in the High Plains Scuba facility. Maintained with two large sand filters and chlorine. Pool can be reserved for $25/person/hour.

The Saddle at Carter Lake is a common Open Water training site and a fun dive location. There are plenty of local fish. The gentle slope is great for beginners while the limited visibility offers something for intermediate to advanced divers whether that be Navigation, Search and Recovery, or Night/Limited vis.

The Saddle lies in a no-boating area, though kayaks, canoes and paddleboards are allowed to launch from this area. Thermoclines are common throughout the summer between 17-25ft/5-8m and later in the season, another thermocline 35-40ft/10-12m.

Ocean First’s indoor pool is kept at a balmy 89ºF and the ambient air temperature within about 10 degrees of that to ensure swimmers and divers are comfortable getting in and out of the water. The pool has both a 4’ shallow end and a large 12’ deep well.

Yankee Doodle Lake, at an elevation 10,715 ft., is located in the Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado. The lake is found on the East side of Rollins Pass, along the historic rail route. Guinn Mountain, encircling the lake, was used for mining from the early 1870s.