duration: 2 Days of Diving
min_age: 18
group_size: 9 People
description: Join us for a two-day technical diving weekend at Lake Jocassee, featuring four disciplined dives in one of the Southeast’s most unique freshwater environments. We’ll explore the underwater cemetery, submerged forest, and the dramatic wall, with maximum planned depths around 200 feet using altitude-adjusted dive planning. Expect thermoclines, cold water at depth, and conditions that demand precise buoyancy, trim, and strong team awareness. This is an excellent opportunity to complete or refine your Trimix training in a controlled yet challenging setting. Designed for experienced technical divers running redundant gas systems, each day includes detailed briefings, structured execution, and thorough debriefs. This isn’t sightseeing — it’s focused, skill-driven technical diving done right.
itinerary: ##Two Days of Diving | 2 Dives Each Day

We will conduct two structured technical dives per day.

We recommend arriving the day before and departing the day after to allow proper rest, gas preparation, and safe post-dive travel.
highlights: Before it was a deep, cold technical playground, Lake Jocassee was a river valley. In the early 1970s, the valley was flooded after the construction of Jocassee Dam as part of Duke Power’s hydroelectric project. Entire communities, homesteads, roads, and family cemeteries were relocated—or in some cases, left beneath the rising water. What we descend into today is not artificial reef material; it’s preserved Appalachian history.

The “underwater forest” exists because the lake filled standing timber instead of clearing it completely. Those submerged hardwoods now rise from the depths like a cathedral of trunks, remarkably intact thanks to cold freshwater conditions. The lack of salt, shipworms, and heavy current has helped preserve wood structure for decades.

The cemetery site carries deeper historical weight. Prior to flooding, families were given the opportunity to relocate remains, but markers and portions of burial grounds remain part of the submerged landscape. Divers treat the area with respect—it’s a historical site first and a dive site second.

The wall formations are natural geology. The lake sits at the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, where steep terrain drops quickly into deep water. These dramatic vertical faces weren’t built—they were simply flooded, creating one of the Southeast’s most unique deep freshwater profiles.

When you descend here, you’re not just diving a lake. You’re diving a preserved mountain valley frozen in time.
special_requirements: This is a cold, deep, altitude technical diving environment. Divers must meet the following requirements to participate:

• Technical certification appropriate for planned depths (Trimix training strongly recommended for profiles approaching 200 ft)
• Recent diving experience (within 6 months preferred)
• Comfortable managing redundant gas systems and staged decompression
• Drysuit or exposure protection suitable for cold water at depth

All dives will be altitude-adjusted and require disciplined gas planning. Divers must analyze and label all gases prior to diving.

Each diver is responsible for properly maintained equipment, including redundant regulators, backup lights, two cutting devices, DSMB and reel, and appropriate thermal protection.

We will be team diving, so same mixes and profiles will be agreed upon by all members.

This trip is not suitable for newly certified divers or single-tank recreational configurations.
disclaimers: Lake Jocassee technical diving involves inherent risks including, but not limited to, deep water exposure (up to approximately 200 feet), decompression obligation, cold water conditions, thermoclines, limited visibility, altitude-related decompression considerations, submerged trees and entanglement hazards, equipment failure, and other environmental factors beyond the control of trip leaders.

By registering for this trip, participants acknowledge that they are appropriately trained, medically fit for diving, and certified for the depths and gases they intend to use. Divers are solely responsible for their equipment configuration, gas analysis, dive computer settings, and personal dive planning.

Depth Finder’s Scuba and trip leaders reserve the right to deny participation to any diver deemed unprepared, improperly equipped, or unsafe.

Diving activities are weather dependent and may be modified, delayed, or canceled for safety reasons. No guarantees are made regarding specific sites, depths, or conditions.

Dive within your training and experience limits at all times.