Bonneville Seabase describes its water facilities as a "geothermally heated, salt water, high-altitude mini ‘ocean,’ the only one of its kind for SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and training. Although it is close to the Great Salt Lake, its waters are not the same; theirs are from underground springs. Whether you are feeding the beautiful French angel fish or observing the docile nurse sharks, you’ll never believe you are the middle of Utah."

This certainly sounded like an interesting dive opportunity, so we drove over 500 miles in one day from Denver and stayed overnight south of Salt Lake City. Early the next morning, we headed west on I-80 about 30 miles from the city, passing the Great Salt Lake. Bonneville Seabase is located in a rural area near the town of Grantsville. From a distance, the facility was not what I was expecting, and we almost missed the turnoff. It looks like a decrepit farm operation, with greenhouse buildings and old construction equipment surrounding small ponds. We parked and checked in inside the main building. Their facilities were not as developed as I had thought: port-a-potties, showers in a separate area from the changing rooms, and no lockers. The staff is very friendly, though. We watched a video on what to expect underwater and the rules of the facility.

The diving area is not large or deep in most places (60 feet maximum in one area, but mostly 15 to 25 feet). The water is fairly murky and visibility often just 2 to 3 feet, but the temperature is warm, about 70°F. I was planning to snorkel, but decided it wasn’t worth dealing with the primitive shower and changing areas, especially if I couldn’t see much. My husband did two short, shallow dives, far less than he would have liked. He was glad to have gone diving, but certainly wouldn’t go out of his way to come back here to dive again. For local students learning to dive, this would be a good area, but experienced divers would find it lacking.