This unique adventure, can be your “Dive to the Center of the Earth”. Bonne Terre Mine, a national historic site, is the world’s largest freshwater dive resort. Water conditions remain constant with over 100-foot visibility, Sights include mammoth architecture and guaranteed year-round diving conditions. Cal falls, oar carts, scaffolding, grating, staircases, pillars, slurry pipes, the famed elevator shaft, and much more.
Bonne Terre Mine is without a doubt one of the most unusual, beautiful, and relaxing full-service dive resorts anywhere. Your accommodations located In the rolling foothills of the Ozark mountains are elegant at the nearby 1909 Depot, or if you prefer a more casual atmosphere, the Divers Lodge, located at the Mine.
The Billion Gallon Lake is illuminated with over 500,000 watts of lighting, a total of twenty-four dive trails have been laid out in the lake, taking the diver through mammoth archways, past beautiful calcium falls, around gargantuan pillars and to the many abandoned mining artifacts. The depths of the dive tours average between 40 to 60 feet. Divers are toured through the mine in groups of ten by two specially trained dive guides. Super 80 cubic ft. aluminum tanks are provided for each diver. Dive lights are not permitted in the lake, because they detract from the natural beauty of the illuminated surroundings.
The Billion Gallon Lake is 58°F and not affected by outside temperatures, there are no thermoclines. Air temperature is 62°F year round. The lighting on the rock formations is spectacular. One can descend to 80 feet and look up to see divers silhouetted against a rainbow. Man-carved pillars grace the entire Billion Gallon Lake. The 200-foot solid-rock pillar rising from depths and mining artifacts on the walls and floor make for spectacular underwater photography.
On average, the mine attracts 15,000 scuba divers a year and anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 tourists. Multiple weddings have taken place in the mine over the years.
According to bonneterremine.com. Source of photos: internet
