Willow Springs Dive Park
Has anyone been to Willow Springs Dive Park in PA this year? LadyDog and I are thinking about going there in two weeks and we were wondering about the viz. I'm told that in previous years it has been pretty bad, but they had been working on it this summer.
Mountain Dog
It's not the destination, it's the journey.
Yo Mountain Dog,
If you have any questions about Willow Springs, I am your man. I go there at least a few times per week.
The visibility in Willow is not even close to Dutch, but lately it has been really good. It seems directly related to the amount of rain. In the begining of the season, we had a ton of rain and the visibility got down as bad as 6" in some places! Lately things have been really good at least 15-20' and even better in some places....BUT there are a few spots that still offer limited visibility.
The new owners have been treating the water with bales of barley which are supposed to help clear up the water. From what I have been told, they put down 50 bales but would need at least 200 to treat that amount of water. I don't know if it is true or not, because the visibility has been increasing every dive since they added the barley.
Now if you would like a guided tour of the underwater attractions at Willow, just let me know.
Ace,
I have been to Willow a few times and I am considering making the trip in August with my kid who holds a Jr. Certification in August. Would you recommend camping on site or not?
By the way we will be at Dutch this weekend!!
You can definately camp at Willow. They have electrical hook-ups for RV's but no water/sewer connections. This is all down on the one side of the park. On the other side there is a nice grassy area with areas shaded by trees and an area without shade (this side would be for tent camping).
There are restrooms and showers, just like some campgrounds. There are picnic tables and I think fire rings and even a few bbq's around. They have a nice volley ball field set up as well. Swimming area for the non divers in your party and even fishing if you are so inclined...you don't even need a fishing license as it is a privately stocked facility.
Now, the entire facility is not nearly as nice as Dutch Springs where everything is nice and new. The buildings are old and the grounds are not as nice, but that is in the process of changing. The new owners are putting a ton of time and money into making the place great. Like I said before, they have treated the water and visibility is getting better. They have been working on the landscaping and are always fixing things there. They are in the middle of building a new grand entrance to the park. They are also in the process of remodeling the park office and dive shop.
Oh yea' they just had the compressor system service and all of the filters changed!
Let me know when you are going to be there, we can have a BBQ and a few dives.
If there is anything else you would like to know, just ask.
Hi Ace,
Thanks for the great info on Willow. I had heard they were using barley bales, but I didn't know how successful that was. LadyDog and I are going to go camping/diving either at Rawlings or Willow July 21 & 22. We've been to Rawlings a few times already this year. Based on your fairly glowing review, I think Willow is going to get the nod.
Couple more Q's. What is max depth at Willow? What are water temps? How big is the weekend crowd?
Mountain Dog
It's not the destination, it's the journey.
The max depth in Willow is 55 ffw. Most of the attractions are in the 40-45 foot range. As far as water temps, I dive dry so I usually don't look at the temp gauge often. Surface temps are in the 70's. I think we are in the upper 50's at depth. Funny we get a bunch of divers that drive up for the warm water. LOL
Crowds......LMAO.....Ok, the big crowd is Thursady night, it is when our local divers meet for dinner and diving....maybe about 20 of us. Last Sunday for example there were a total of 10 divers. There are different areas, so I only saw one group of divers at a picnic table eating lunch and saw no one while under water. In fact I have never seen another diver besides my buddy while submerged at Willow....ever unlike Dutch where you almost have to wait in line to see something. They have a sectioned off swimming area and on a hot day there may be 200 swimmers, but they are not even near the camping or scuba areas.
The place is VERY laid back, basically you pay to get in and you are on your own. They don't have anyone watching you or telling you what you can or can not do. You can dive at 3:00am if you want! Of course you can only get air fills during regular business hours, so plan accordingly.
FYI :
Make a right out of the parking lot and follow the road to the traffic light. Make a right (RT 422 East) and follow it down for a few miles, there will me a McDeath's on the right side and a small supermarket and drug store across the street..
When you decide for sure, let me know and we'll meet up. My wife also dives, so it may be a nice treat for your wife to have a fellow woman diver there.
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