Lake Jocassee Dive Shop

Lake Jocassee offers some of the clearest freshwater diving in the Southeast — over 360 feet deep with visibility reaching 50 feet, hiding submerged camps, steel bridges, and a Chinese sailboat on the bottom. Come explore South Carolina's mountain lakes with one of the region's most knowledgeable dive operators.

Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western South Carolina, Lake Jocassee Dive Shop operates out of Salem, SC — roughly 2½ hours from both Atlanta and Charlotte. The shop's primary dive vessel is a 28-foot custom pontoon dive boat with 42 linear feet of shaded bench seating, tank racks, a 6-foot-wide center aisle, and a signature 30-degree incline dive ladder wide enough for side-mount divers. Charters run on Lake Jocassee and neighboring Lake Keowee, with morning, afternoon, and night diving available any day of the week with a minimum of 6 paying divers. Lake Jocassee is a man-made reservoir covering over 7,000 surface acres and exceeding 360 feet in depth, fed by pristine trout rivers that keep visibility between 20 and 50 feet. Beneath the surface lie remarkable submerged sites — a Chinese sailboat ("Junk"), a steel bridge, Camp Jocassee for Girls, the Attakulla Lodge, a motorcycle, and more, all researched and located by owner Bill Routh. Lake Keowee adds unique lake-environment drift diving driven by a nearby power plant, plus a three-story building sitting in 80 feet of water. Owner, operator, and chief instructor Bill Routh has been diving South Carolina's lakes and rivers since 1981, and has shot underwater footage for the Discovery Channel and CNN. He holds PADI instructor certification (number 167144) and TDI/SDI instructor credentials (number 11577), including Trimix instruction for technical divers. The shop also offers equipment rental, air and nitrox fills, and participates in both the PADI e-Learning and SDI/TDI eLearning programs.

Dive details

Dive trips

Dive sites

Where you'll dive

Salem, United States

Included

Compared across booking platforms

You'll book directly with the operator on their site. Prices, availability, payments, cancellations, and safety are handled entirely by the operator — verify details before paying. We may earn a commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you.