Dive Cerulean

Dive Cerulean

by Dale Gumm

Publication Date: December 1999

Okay, Dive Cerulean is not Cayman Brac or the beautiful blue waters of Hawaii - it's not supposed to be folks. However, it is a great place in southwestern Kentucky for scuba diving students to get their open water training. It is also ideal for those experienced divers who want to remain current and hone their diving skills between those exotic trips.

Dive Cerulean (pronounced suh rill yen) is a 16-acre, spring filled, limestone rock quarry about twenty miles from Lake Barkley. It is used exclusively for scuba diving. The owners, David and Cindy Westerfield, do not allow fishing in the quarry. They have done a terrific job in nurturing the growing fish population there.

I saw lots of bass, bluegill, crappie, and some carp, but it was the monster catfish that really fascinated me. David Westerfield claims that some of them will eat right out of your hand and considers them underwater pets. He would throw out handfuls of dog food that brought a school of the scavengers to the surface in a feeding frenzy. Some of them weighed as much as 60 or 70 pounds and looked like small nurse sharks!

My devious imagination went to work immediately. I remembered the scene in Jaws 69 where some young miscreants strapped dorsal fins to the top of their heads and caused a mass panic on Roy Scheiders beach. But then I thought, trying to corral a 70-pound catfish long enough to strap on a shark fin and scare some of my friends wasnt too smart. Some dive operations offer trips where you can swim with the dolphinsat Dive Cerulean, you can swim with the catfish!

There are many cool things to see underwater there. Most of them are marked by buoys that are very helpful. However, it was more fun when we tried to discover these underwater treasures navigating with a compass. We found a 30 foot cabin cruiser, an old washing machine, coke machine, some neat rock formations, and an old Pink Cadillac that wasn't pink anymore. We never did find the old bike, bathtub, rock crusher, or the second boat. We will save those adventures for the next trip.

There was also a neat obstacle course that was fun to swim through. There were several steel pipes of varying lengths and diameters. The long narrow pipes were not for those with claustrophobia. When the silt got stirred up from the bottom, it made the water very murky. You could not see the other end of the pipe. I loved it, but it was a little spooky in there as my scuba tank banged against the top of the pipe as I swam through the dark passage.

Average depths in the quarry rang from 20 to 30 feet with the deepest point nearly 40 feet. Because the quarry is not very deep, the water temperature is in the eighty degree range in the summer. We were there in late August and several people were diving without wetsuits. They remarked how they were quite comfortable.

Visibility was pretty good on the early Saturday morning dive. We could see objects at twenty feet away. But as the day passed, students stirred up the mud and silt with their fins resulting in poor visibility. There were more than a hundred divers there during our visit, but it didnt seem crowded because the quarry is so big.

The scuba instructors I talked to really liked Dive Cerulean, saying it was very student friendly. There are many training platforms in the water at various depths. They are clearly marked with buoys at the surface. The compass course is great for teaching navigational skills. There is a boat simulator deck, an entry deck with stairs, and a giant stride area for scuba students practicing their entry into the water. There are several easy entry/exit points around the quarry.

The dive operation is self-contained and convenient in many ways. It has on-site air refills for your scuba tanks. This is great if you plan multiple dives. My friends and I made four dives, including a night dive during our recent visit there. If you forget some of your gear, no problem. Dive Cerulean has a dive shop and will rent you any item that you might need. You can also buy soft drinks, water, and a variety of snacks.

Primitive camping is available and most of the cliff sites overlook the quarry. We really enjoyed sitting around the campfire after our night dive and telling our, "no kidding, there I was," tales. There are a few motels not too far from the quarry. There are several picnic tables placed around the quarry. There is a changing trailer and the porta-potties were actually clean. It is very family oriented, and my wife Jamey and I were glad we brought our kids. My fourteen-year-old son, Daniel, got to do some shallow diving. My ten-year-old daughter, Lauren, breathed off her mothers regulator at the surface. Both had a great time and look forward to returning.

DC is open from April through the last weekend in October. The hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Saturday and Sunday. You can call and make an appointment if you want to dive through the week. Westerfield has tried to encourage some winter diving for those divers with the proper equipment.

You must be a certified scuba diver to dive at the quarry and make sure you bring your certification card as proof. The daily fee for divers is $12.50 and $5.00 for non-divers. All current scuba instructors are admitted free-of-charge. This does not apply to assistant instructors or dive masters; you must be at least an open water instructor.

No one is allowed in the water without a flotation device. If you bring a non-diving guest, adult or child, bring them a life jacket. A wet-suit or ski-belt is not considered a flotation device. You will also be required to sign a liability waiver before you can enter the quarry. It is very important to note that Dive Cerulean only accepts cash or personal checks. They do not accept credit cards or debit cards.

The Westerfields have also opened another dive operation in Lebanon, Tennessee called Deep Blue. This eight-acre quarry is 160 feet deep and perfect for cold water diving. For further information on either dive operation, call (502)235-2713. Dive Cerulean also has a great website at www.ziggycom.net/business/dive.

So remember, if its going to be a while before you can scuba in Aruba, then Dive Cerulean, where it wont cost you a million.