All divers have dreamed of traveling to faraway places with palm trees and blue water. However, most people can only do one or two trips a year. So, how do we maintain our diving skills? The answer is to dive locally. Some divers are lucky and live in an area with world-class diving, but this is not always obvious.
For divers that are in the NYC area, there is excellent wreck diving area named Lake Hydra right off our coast. The cold but beautiful green water with occasional low visibility takes some time to get used to. However, once you’re hooked, it is hard to not be fascinated.
It is important to practice dive skills in a somewhat controlled environment before jumping off a New York coast boat. Just like all other NYC activities: If you could make it here., you could make it anywhere!
What is Lake Hydra?
About 90 miles from NYC and 70 miles from Philadelphia is a playground for scuba divers. Formerly known as Dutch Springs, Lake Hydra is a limestone quarry that attracts northeastern beginner scuba divers to train, practice, try new gear, and socialize.
Lake Hydra’s History
Lake Hydra wasn’t always a diving spot. Back in 1933, the National Portland Cement Company purchased a number of farms. They used the land to mine limestone and manufacture cement. As the mining operation continued, the quarry began to fill with water. For the remainder of the quarry’s operational life, water had to be continuously pumped out.
When National Portland Cement shut down in the 1970s, the pumps stopped pumping and the quarry turned into a 47-acre lake. In 1980, Stu Schooley purchased the land and turned it into a place for divers. The spring-fed freshwater lake is 100’ deep in some areas, but most of the attractions are located in 20 to 60’ underwater.
Lake Hydra: An Underwater Playground
Lake Hydra is also referred to as the Pennsylvania Caribbean, a place that’s gone through many changes since the 80s. Platforms were built for instructors to safely teach students skills including buoyancy and trim in a controlled environment. Over the years many items have been sunk for divers to play on. Besides boats there is a school bus, tanker, crane, cars, trucks, and a number of planes. The pump house and blasting station left over from the days of a working limestone quarry are now underwater. These attractions are perfect for practicing underwater photography and video.
The centerpiece of the quarry is a Sikorsky H-37 helicopter, sunk in November 1995. It measures 88 feet long, 27 feet wide, and 22 feet high. It is suspended in the water with the top at about 25 feet deep and the bottom at 55 feet. You can see the floats supporting the helicopter from the surface, but there aren’t any lines underwater attaching it to the platforms or other underwater attractions. Because of its size and lack of lines, some divers refer to the Sikorsky as the Andrea Doria of Dutch Springs; a reference to the sunken ocean liner in 250 feet of water known as the Mount Everest of wreck diving. The outside of the helicopter is a real treat to dive around and the interior is fun to swim through.
The atmosphere at Lake Hydra is always social and welcoming. While getting ready to dive, you meet old and new friends. It does not matter why you come to Lake Hydra, you will always have a warm enjoyable experience in the Pennsylvania Caribbean.
What You Need to Know About Lake Hydra
Getting There
Lake Hydra is located at 4733 Hanoverville Road, Bethlehem, PA off Rt. 191 North
When to Go
- Open from the middle of April to the week before Thanksgiving
- Instructors can make appointments to bring students year round
What to Do There
Join a PADI Open Water Diver course. For $899, enjoy these inclusions:
- PADI eLearning, logbook, dive table
- 1 day at the pool (confined water dives) & 4 open water checkout dives
- Lake Hydra admission & 2 tank fills per day
- Full set of Rental Gear
- Reg, Octo, BC, Gauge, 7mm wetsuit, boots, gloves, hood, mask, fins, snorkel, tank & weights
Conditions
- Air temps can be in the 40s or 50s during April, and November and in the 90s during July and August
- Water temps are around 40 to 50° F -Visibility is between 20 and 60 feet.
Price Tags
- Student divers will pay $60 for a Single-Day Use Pass. Meanwhile, non-divers will pay $20.
- Student divers will pay $120 for a Two-Day Use Pass. Meanwhile, non-divers will pay $40.
- For both Pass types above, student codes are required.
- Overnight accommodations are available within Lake Hydra, costing upwards of $120.
Facilities
- Heated changing and restrooms
- Camping
- Food
- Tank rentals
- Fill station supplying air and nitrox
Visit Lake Hydra!
You’ll be surprised what scuba diving paradise awaits you on the outskirts of New York City. Introduce your diving passion to Lake Hydra, where scuba meets history. Meet new people, equip yourself with new skills, and become a better diver!
Guest article submission by Olga Torrey.
