On a recent scuba diving visit to Falling Rock Park in LaGrange, Kentucky I found conditions somewhat different than the last time I dove the quarry.

This underwater excursion was on May 30. And the day was perfect for diving. Ninety-plus degrees with blue skies and sunshine.

I’m spending Memorial Day week at Outpost Campgrounds in Salt Lick, Kentucky. That’s approximately 130 miles from LaGrange. My dive buddy for this underwater excursion is Steven (my grandson). He lives in nearby Mount Sterling.

We arrived at Falling Rock around eleven thirty, and the park was already packed. I was somewhat surprised because I wasn’t expecting a lot of divers. The surprise faded quickly as I realized all the people I seen were swimming.

We did find three divers gearing up for a dive. We talked a while, and they went into the water. I don’t think they stayed down more than 30 minutes. One of them told me that he didn’t really have a pleasant dive with all the swimmers. But since they were out for a gear check that day they didn’t need that much time in the water.

Steven and I finished putting on our dive equipment and headed in. We snorkeled over to a training platform. And we made our initial descent after taking some bearings on buoys across the quarry. (I made this a training dive as I gave my buddy some instruction on underwater navigation.)

Around the platform lay a couple old boat motors.

As we moved away from the platform I spotted a large anchor, and a nearby boat. I followed Steven as he followed his compass course toward our first target destination. It turned out to be a small boat.

Then we turned to steer toward the next point on our course. We missed that one, and had to return to it on the surface. Before we dropped back into the water we got a quick bearing confirmation on the next destination. Then we went down to find a large cabin cruiser at the bottom of the buoy line.

 I swam through the cruiser, and then let Steven lead us to the next stop.

The next attraction was a police car from the city of Louisville. It sits at around 20 foot. As we explored the car one swimmer came down and swam through the car.

We decided to look around the area of the police car for a while. We noted a number of large bass in the vicinity.

As I finned around I came upon a computer at one spot. In another spot I found a large screen television. On top of the TV sat a very large bass that didn’t move until I got almost close enough to touch it. In another spot I saw a large bluegill that was old enough to exhibit fading colors. I also spotted some large catfish swimming around during my time underwater.

The visibility was fifteen to twenty feet this day. Though we found a few places so stirred up that we had zero vis. For the most part we had a decent view of our surroundings.

I understand the park just opened to swimming this year. That might turn into a setback for the diving community. During our visit air mattresses floated everywhere around the surface of the quarry.

Be careful if you dive along the west wall. The swimmers jump off the bank over there. And they don’t bother watching for divers below.

Parking became scarce with so many people present. Luckily we managed to get a decent spot next to an entry dock.

My grandson and I don’t get to dive together often because of our individual schedules so we had a fun time. We stayed away from the west wall, and ignored the swimmers.

If you don’t mind all those people swimming around above you, and the risk of somebody jumping in over your head, Falling Rock Park is still a decent cold water scuba diving destination.