Lake Wazee
We decided to make a trip up to Black River Falls for Memorial Day weekend and do some diving in Lake Wazee (or Wazee Lake, depending on who you ask). Eric has recently bought a rebreather and finished his initial certification classes, and he needs practice diving with his rebreather before he can move on to the next level. I am still diving open circuit, which means air is only moving in one direction - I breathe in air from my tank, and I expel my breath into the water (hence, all of the bubbles). With his rebreather, Eric is diving closed circuit - his air/breath is contained in a closed loop. He mixes pure oxygen with air, which he breathes in, and when he expels his breath it enters a "scrubber" on his back which eliminates his carbon dioxide. More oxygen is added, and then he can rebreathe that air, hence the term "rebreather." Since all of his air is contained in a closed loop, he doesn't produce any bubbles. There are several draws to diving with a rebreather:
- Bubbles often startle and scare off fish and other aquatic life. Since you don't produce bubbles, you can get a lot closer to fish.
- Without bubbles, diving is a lot less noisy.
- You can dive deeper and spend more time underwater.
- You look super cool and feel like a badass. 😉
Eric is a gear-head and loves to tinker with his gear and understand the science behind diving. I, on the other hand, have no desire to dive with a rebreather; I'm comfortable with my bubbles. 😌
During his rebreather class, Eric dove in Lake Wazee a few times recently, whereas I haven't dove there since 2021. I remember we made a trip up there the summer we became certified as Open Water Divers. It was our first time diving without an instructor or part of a class. It's cool to reflect on how far we have come since then. At the time, there was a dive shop near the lake where you could refill your tanks. That dive shop has since closed, so we had to bring all of our tanks with us this time.
After Sherwood Forest, we packed up the gear and headed to the other side of the lake to try a different site. We ended up diving this same site the rest of the weekend, two more dives on Saturday and two on Sunday. The entry was technically The Gardens, although once underwater we swam to Blue Gill Alley. The dive entry for Blue Gill Alley on shore was packed with divers, as this is a popular spot - smooth entry, lots to see underwater, and easy access to The Wall. We prefer not to be crowded by other divers, so we chose to set up at The Gardens, which is the next site over. There was a picnic table to set up our gear and a fishing pier where we could kit up easily.
Blue Gill Alley is a super cool site - there are lots of objects sunk underwater for divers to explore, such as an outhouse, a wishing well, a park bench, a shark statue, an alligator statue, PVC squares to swim through to test your buoyancy, and several platforms for training. There is also access to a wall with lots of random small objects placed on the wall at various depths. For some reason, there's quite a few skeletons and skulls (fake, of course) down there. It can be a bit creepy.
Saturday evening after diving, we headed into town for dinner at Cinco De Mayo, a local Mexican restaurant. We stayed overnight Friday and Saturday at the Comfort Inn & Suites right off I-94. It was fun to make a weekend out of diving, and I know we will be back to Lake Wazee!
Site Overview
Location: Black River Falls, WisconsinFish Observed: Panfish, Bass, Walleye, TroutMax Lake Depth: 355 feet (108 meters)Average Lake Depth: -- Fee: [Daily Dive $5, Annual Dive $40; Daily Vehicle $5, Annual Vehicle $30]
Dive Log