Bonne Terre Mine - an underground freshwater dive resort located in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks - recently hosted more than 180 divers for a fun day of diving at its annual Treasure Hunt. Click here to view pictures from the day. The weather for the event was outstanding with blue skies overhead and a refreshing warm breeze continually blowing through the green trees that surround the property. The weather could not have been better.
The goal of each diver was to search for tokens of various denominations that would later be used to bid for over $15,000 in dive vacations and gear that had been donated by major vendors in the dive industry.
The day was made fun and manageable because divers were divided into 10 groups each with their own dive times. After watching a safety video and attending a safety briefing each group was led through the Mule Entrance and down 68 steps to an underground dock floating on the blue lake. Running the length of the Mine’s wooden dock was a bench where each diver was given a spot to set up their gear. After gear was checked by dive staff, the divers entered the water and were led to their first dive site which had been seeded with tokens of different values.
The day was made fun and manageable because divers were divided into 10 groups each with their own dive times. After watching a safety video and attending a safety briefing each group was led through the Mule Entrance and down 68 steps to an underground dock floating on the blue lake. Running the length of the Mine’s wooden dock was a bench where each diver was given a spot to set up their gear. After gear was checked by dive staff, the divers entered the water and were led to their first dive site which had been seeded with tokens of different values.
While above the dive site, and before the hunt began, divers easily spotted tokens they wanted to be the first to reach. The dive began with the sounding of an air horn and flashing of dive lights. Each diver descended and collected tokens in their own mesh bag provided prior to the dive. Some divers later reported success lie in being weighted heavy enough to descend quicker than competing divers.
After a set time a group of divers swam to another area to descend and begin hunting for more tokens. After two areas were hunted the divers were led back to the dock where they hiked out of the Mine to begin a surface interval and prepare for their second dive to collect more “treasure”.
Surface interval consisted of a lot of laughing, smiling, and visiting. Some divers played lawn games and volleyball while others chatted the time away with past dive buddies. Everyone had a great time.
After the surface interval and a second briefing, the divers were led down to the dock to dive a second time in an area different than the first dive. Although the second dive was seeded with the same amount of tokens as the first, many divers collected significantly more tokens having learned valuable technique from talking with other divers.
The day ended with a BBQ dinner and auction of the prizes. View pictures from the day here.
Group B consisted of divers who had previously dove Trails 1-4 and were now moving on to more advanced trails. The trails are dove in order with each subsequent trail revealing features unique to that seen on previous trails.
The City of Houston Underwater Mariners - CHUM - had fun in the sun in between dives
Trail 4 in front of the Mule Entrance before entering the Mine for their last dive of the day
Buddy's before their dive
Two Advanced Open Water students finish their Nitrox Certification after the last Night Dive. For Night Dive certification all the underground stadium lighting is turned off. 
