A hundred years back, cuss-tough miners employed by the St. Joseph
Lead Company used dynamite to hollow out the massive mine, located
an hour's drive south of St. Louis. It has since been abandoned,
but the miners' world remains - lunch pails, picks, and rock steps
scuffed by boot marks - entombed by the silent weight of a billion
gallons of limestone-filtered water.
CUYANA MINE PITS, MINNESOTA
Minnesota School of Diving, (800) 657-2822,
www.mndiving.com
Central Minnesota's Brainerd Lakes area is best known for fishing
and
golf, but the astute diver will also notice, well, lots and
lots of lakes. These lakes are pocked with interesting dives, and,
an added bonus, potentially shocking visibility (as good as 70
feet). The area highlight is any of the 55 now-flooded open-pit
iron mines, many with sheer walls (some mines descend past 500
feet) and submerged forested meadows, with the occasional flyover
of a huge northern pike.
SUWANNEE RIVER, FLORIDA
Aquaspeleo, (386) 776-1191,
www.aquaspeleo.com
Of the 200-plus springs along northern
Florida's Suwannee River,
several dozen are diveable, and they're spectacular - bath-water
warm and mirror-clear (100-foot-plus visibility). Great places to
snorkel, too. Start on the upper river and dive Troy Springs,
where, 70 feet down, you'll see the wooden ribs of a Civil War
steamer.
THE BLUE HOLE, SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO
Santa Rosa Dive Center, (505) 472-3370
Sixty feet across and 80 feet deep, the Blue Hole's waters match
Santa Rosa's skies; water so clear there's no place for anything to
hide, including the goldfish, carp, bass, trout, catfish, and
crawdads dropped there by area divers. A favorite pastime is gazing
up, from 60 feet down, at night. "You can see the stars, and watch
the moon go over," says diver Rudy Salazar. "It's incredible."