lake rawlings scuba and camping park

I have been diving here for years. I have seen it all through the years. This place has great diving. The Rawlings Quarry Diving Company that runs the place informed me that the $200 dollars I paid up front for my admission is no longer valid, even though it is still "valid". I can see having to kick in a few extra bucks off season or what have you, but to invalidate my validation which is still valid is just plain horrible.

I've camped and dove here a few of times now, and I believe this place is a great diver's playground. When it is not busy, the visibility can be stellar for the region, 40ft+! However, I've been there when it's worse than DC metro traffic, and the visibility went to 5-8ft. I did several of my checkout dives here and also participated in the DUI Dawg Days drysuit testing ($20 incl. lunch and a hat - totally worth it!) in October. It is a great place to do check out dives since they have multiple platforms at different depths to preform different skills and alleviate heavy traffic. I did my SSI Perfect Buoyancy class using their ring obstacle course and learned basic navigation by retracing a route to and around the Black Hawk helicopter. Other cool features include a basketball court, the sail boat from The Replacements, a Cessna airplane (63'), school bus and different sunken relics, vehicles, etc. If you have a chance to take a weekend, I highly recommend camping. The camping there is primitive to rental cabins, and you get to mingle with other divers. They do have a snack bar, but it was closed each time I went. Showers are coin operated ($1.50 minimum) and the bathrooms are clean and well maintained. If you are going by yourself and not with a dive shop, parking is a bit of a hike from the lake. Best tip is to use your dive shop's pavilion (which are located nearest the lake entrance) or drop your gear off and then park. Now for the hard part of the review, the dive shop. I think my instructor put it perfectly, "On good days, they are apathetically indifferent at best." There are a lot of rules that they will not explain to you and probably snap at you if you break them. Here's a few unwritten ones:1) When getting air refills ($9 air/$18 EANx32), make sure to set it in front of the yellow line and not behind it (they'll get snippy) and on the proper side; Air | Nitrox2) Sign in sheets are located on the far counter in a divider rack. Fill out the proper one before you talk to them or you'll stand in line for nothing.3) If you rent gear from them, check it thoroughly and make sure it fits before you leave. Don't trust them to give you the proper gear.4) If you are there with a dive shop, doubly check that your dive shop has put you on their manifest before you get there or signing in will be a pain in the neck. All the other rules should be covered on their website, but try not to take it personally if they get snippy with you.Overall, it is a great place to dive, especially for check out dives and classes. They host some really fun events, and though the customer service is lacking, they do have a dive shop on site in case you forgot anything or need refills. So go there for the diving and take the staff's crankiness with a grain of salt. It is worth the trip.

in a business there are so many things that are not controllable but the way you treat your customers is. the lake is well located to populous areas off the intrastate. in business they say all you need to know is location location location. it must be true because that is the only explanation why they are still in business. i don't expect them to kiss my butt however don't treat me like what comes out of it. 1st impressions are lasting impressions. TERRIBLE 1st impressions. you are EXPECTED to know there procedures and routines if not they bite your head off. they are rude and make the customers feel they are inconveniences. Air fills are charged at twice the going rates. i would have stayed in the dive shop and shopped but they do not want people around. not to mention it is nasty. i dive to relax and enjoy the sport but i refuse to SPEND MY MONEY with jerks. i asked my friend if the owner knew his employees are this rude he responded."he must thats him standing beside the jerk that was abusing a customer." i read the earlier reviews knowing what was coming and was not disappointed, had it not been for the dry suit demo.(which by the dry suit demo was run and executed extremely well) i would have never went to rawlings really sorry i did. instead of rawlings i would encourage people to drive a couple more hours and do the outer banks & get world class diving.The lake has about 20ft vis. it is clean, they have a helicopter, cars, sunken boats and few obstacle courses. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR A BUSINESS TO ABUSE THERE CUSTOMERS my 1st and last trip.

How often can the cranky man running the show there demonstrate bad customer service? In every interaction. We did exactly as instructed, yet were scolded. His mistakes with charges became a big deal, full of sighs and muttering. The shop charges a rental fee for weights. FOR WEIGHTS. Here's a tip : rent everything you need elsewhere and minimize your dealings with the dive shop on site. Just pay for admission upon arrival and speak as little as possible. The lake itself is OK. Some fun stuff rusting away under the surface, like a helicopter and a school bus. A hike from parking area to the pavilions to get gear on, unless you are an instructor. We won't be back.

We completed our AOW diving at Lake Rawlings recently. This was a really enjoyable trip! The staff was nice and everything was very organized. They had a small food stand on site, adequate showers and changing rooms, and there were large camping grounds. The lake itself is beautiful.The water was around 80 degrees even in late September, and all of the dives were fun. Due to the sheer number of divers, the visibility got pretty poor by the second day, but we were still able to enjoy the dives and the various sights underwater, including the helicopter, the bus, and the car.

I have been doing a lot of diving this summer in the Caribbean and just wanted to get a couple more dives in before the craziness of the holidays. My local dive shop arranged a day of diving at Lake Rawlings in mid-September, and the lake is about a 3.5 hour drive from my home in Northern Virginia so I gave it a shot. I had done OW certification in a quarry west of Fairfax, VA, and it was not a great experience. At Lake Rawlings, however, the visibility was okay - about 20-30 feet, which wasn't bad given that there had been a lot of rain in the week prior, so the water had a fair amount of particulate matter. Not a lot of fish, although I did learn to distinguish a bluegill from a large- or small-mouth bass. There are lots of items sunk in the lake - a Blackhawk helicopter, buses, cars, boats, something that looks like a dummy in an ejector seat. They have some playful stuff too, like "the campfire" and "the mystery boat." Lots of platforms at about 15-25 feet down. There were tons of scuba classes going on during the Saturday that I was there, but we weren't all on top of each other. Water temp down to about 20 feet was balmy, in the 70s. Below the thermocline was another matter - very cold. If you stay shallow, you can get by with a 3mm or 5mm, but if you're going deeper (where some of the attractions are) you will definitely want 7mm with a hood. There are shelters that can be rented for groups, or you can bring a tent/shelter and pitch it. Lots of parking, and there's a loading/unloading zone for gear. Bathroom facilities are good - at least 7 bathrooms in the bathhouse and all have shower facilities (50 cents to start, then a quarter for 80 seconds). I didn't use the showers but it was nice to have the option. There's a concession trailer with decent food for sale. A lot of folks have commented on the gruffness of the personnel, but I didn't have any issue. Was a little surprised at the cost of tank refills - $9 for air but $18 for Nitrox. $28 admission to the lake. I didn't camp, so I can't speak to the campsite facilities. I can definitely see going back for some advanced training classes next year, and for an occasional dive it will do if you can't get anyplace else. I'm not a huge fan of lake/quarry diving because I like to see more marine life, but this is a decent place to go when you need to wet your regulator.

Like many others who have reviewed Lake Rawlings, I had the pleasure of getting my open water certification there. I was there the weekend of June 14 and everything that has been said is fairly true. The guy who runs the "shop" was extremely gruff (maybe even a little rude) when we first arrived on Friday morning. When we arrived for our 3 advanced dives on Sunday, he seemed a bit friendlier. I do agree that the dive shop is not somewhere that I would personally buy gear due to the humidity and dusty environment. Tank fill service: The shop filled our dive shops tanks on Saturday. My instructor mentioned that the dive shop fills the tanks WAY to fast resulting in the compressed air heating up. The shop quickly fills to 3000 psi but by the time we got setup (maybe 30 minutes), the pressure was down almost 300 psi. Another worrisome issue with the fills did not happen to any of the tanks that I used, but did to another group going through the open water certification. While on the 10' platform performing their skills, 2 of the divers surfaced and complained that their air tasted like oil. The divemaster surfaced with them and confirmed that their tank did indeed have oil in it. Those tanks had been filled by the dive shop at lake Rawlings.Aside from the above issues, the diving was great. Visibility seemed to be about 50 feet and there are planty of things to swim around and see. Although I am looking forward to more tropical diving, Lake Rawlings seems to be a great spot to get comfortable with diving. I look forward to heading back next month to complete my advanced open water certification!

I had the fortune of being able to do my Open Water & parts of my Advanced Open Water at Lake Rawlings. I say it was a fortune because once you dip below the surface and start taking in how clear the water is, how neat all the underwater attractions are, and how many fish there are that will swim right up to you, you really do forget about some of the downsides. I would have to agree that most of the comments on here about the staff are fairly accurate. The main gentleman that works the dive shop is excessively "gruff" (kindest way to put it). The dive shack staff are regularly dismissive and will often not acknowledge customers that are new to "Rawling's Regimen." After you go a few times you know to keep your mouth shut until it's your turn, don't step behind their lines, don't stand in their way (this will require dodging), and definitely don't smile and look like this is your first open water experience. Also, it doesn't hurt to have your Cert Card, Driver's License, and payment method readily available for when your turn finally arrives.The Shack is old and hasn't been maintained, but it does have a rustic and almost "charming" feel to it. I wouldn't buy gear from them because there really is no telling how old it is or how it has been maintained as many things are stored in a very humid/hot environment heavy with dust and dirt. They fill your tanks standing on the concrete floor instead of in a tub of water to cool them so you will notice a slight variance in the PSI of a filled tank there vs. your nice professional home dive center. Most of my tanks were about 300 psi light after a full fill, however a full day air refill card (not Nitrox) is only $18.00 so it's not all that big a deal. The parking situation isn't that big of a deal if you go with one of the dive centers that typically train there. They are pretty flexbile with divers temporarily parking at the huts and unloading gear, so long as they unload and load quickly as the lower lot is very busy and fills quickly. Don't assume this is OK for your situation, just ask for permission first and nobody will hassle you.The concessions stand there is run by a family that is not afiliated with Lake Rawlings ownership. They rent their space and run their own operation. I found that it wasn't over-priced to get a sandwich and soda (about $5-$6) so I'm not sure where the over-priced concessions complaint came from. They don't have any problem with bringing in food in coolers and they even have charcoal campsite grills if you really want to have a nice time, so plan ahead.Bottom Line: Just go for the water, folks. It's a beautiful place with a lot of fun and exciting things to experience. Don't get sidetracked and ruffled feathers by rude staff and pay-per-showers. Go with your friends and family and just enjoy yourself. Safe diving!!

Our group likes to try different locations for diving and this is good except the drive takes us 4 hrs. We like the clear water, but will wait till the water warms up some. Lots to see and roped course to follow if you have enough air to make it the full course. The helo is on left side as entering so ask other divers about which direction to go. Good family location and can be crowded on weekends. During the week is our prefered if all can schedule. I have seen the "not so nice" at check in, but try to look past and enjoy the water. It's worth one trip just to log the entry. Vis is good and water can get warm depending on month you go. Have fun..

I have dived here a couple of times, definitely better than the Milbrook Quarry. Water clarity is decent. if you can get there early you're better off, especially when all the OW classes start. If you can off set your surface interval with them you should be good to go. I don't really have too many bad instances of negative customer service from the staff, although they do act like they're doing you a favor by waiting on you. There are a couple small things, just like others have commented on that are rather annoying...paying for shower water and walking down a relatively dangerous path to get to the water. I actually bring my filled tanks with me, I have heard accounts of compressor oil getting in the tanks from people who got tanks fills from them. I don't have first knowledge of that, but I don't really want to take the chance. Inside the dive shop, it's utterly disgusting - dust and filth on top of the equipment and just an unorganized operation in the morning with everyone trying to pay their admission. That being said, I do enjoy the diving and would go back without reservation.

A lot of time and money went towards making this lake a diver's dream. So well used the fish come right up to you. We learned about it through Lynnhaven Dive Center in VB, Va. That's the review I really wanted to do but it wouldn't pull up. My husband got cert through them and because of a fear of water, I took swim lessons. Not quite up to full scuba but I am snorkeling. A miracle in itself! Well stocked store, good pricing (flea market on occasion), friendly and very knowledgeable staff, dive trip booking, etc. I could go on and on. Rawling's and Lynnhaven......a match made in heaven.

Let me start by saying I read all the reviews before we went so went in with my eyes wide open! We visited twice this month, once on a Saturday and once on a Friday. Both times were excellent because we knew the guys are grouchy and you have to pay for showers. :) didn't ruinous trip! My husband and son had an absolute blast diving here and if it wasn't three hours away, they would visit more often! Wish they had places to sit and put on gear if you are not part of a group.

We had a great day of diving at this lake which has great clarity and many underwater sites to explore. We had scheduled three guided dives, because we prefer to dive with a divemaster. Guiding, instruction and divemaster services are provided by Brunswick Scuba and they are terrific. We got top notch service from both Helen, the instructor and Dalelynn who runs the show. Our equipment was transported on a golf cart, so we even didn't have to bother with the logistics of getting from the dive shack to the pavillion. Keven at the dive shack is over-all not a pleasant person. All our interactions with him before going there and while we were there were unpleasant. This is a real petty, because the place is wonderful and we had a really good diving experience. The place was not busy, we were there on a Wednesday in early August, and we certainly didn't find the place crowded. There were no concessions open and we drove out for lunch at a nearby gas station.

Lake Rawlings has the clearest visibility of any site. It is an awesome place for training since it has a multitude of training platforms and more attractions than you can visit with just 4-5 dives.

I just came back from getting my open water cert there at Lake Rawlings this weekend. I didn't have a chance to check TA before I went, and it's funny now to see how much of the previous reviews I agree with. The staff are ridiculously rude for no apparent reason. There seem to always be problems with both gates getting in and out. We paid $45 a night to camp in our RV, with no water hookups, unkept camp sites, and nonexistent wifi (which was advertised at the dive shack). Having to pay for the showers in the filthy bath house when the camp sites do not provide water hookups is a strange scam. The path down to the a access point on the lack is treacherous with jagged rocks and gravel. Bring provisions with you, as the nearest Walmart is 20+ miles away.