Raystown DAM Divers

01/22/2026

Just our luck we committed to to explore a wet dam, then find out there’s such thing as a dry dam. That would have been sooo much easier.

08/11/2025

Yesterday was a DAM good dive day! Christine and Aaron kicked things off with a drop to the bull gears, followed by Gary, Paul, and Christine heading into the Generator Room. The bottom was as chilly as ever, but that warm layer at 20’ made decompression feel almost tropical 🌴

06/18/2025

DAM, it feels good to be back! Christine, Jon, and Paul (not pictured) were finally able to get back out on the lake this past weekend to complete 5 dives on the Old Raystown Dam. We took several measurements, investigated some new-to-us areas of the powerhouse, and even recruited a new captain! Shoutout to Jenna (Park Ranger, Army Corps of Engineers) for braving the conditions and trusting the R/V Hydroderelict to get us all out and back safely 🚤

We’ll be back on the DAM in August and with any luck, September too. If you see us out there, stop by and say hello 👋

05/31/2025

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed, releasing more than 20 million tons of water that devastated Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and claimed the lives of over 2,200 people. Today, on National Dam Safety Awareness Day, we honor the lives lost by continuing our work to improve dam safety across the country.

Johnstown Flood National Memorial, located about 10 miles northeast of Johnstown, preserves the remains of the dam and tells the story of one of the deadliest disasters in American history. The site invites visitors to reflect on the tragedy and the remarkable relief efforts that followed.

09/18/2024

On our newsfeeds this weekend we were reminded of a simpler (?) time. Five years ago we rented a toon from Seven Points and went fishing for the DAM for the first time.

Since that fateful trip:
COVID, we bought a “boat”, got our hands on original 1907 documents, ran over a dozen team
dives (really, that’s IT?), developed a CAD drawing of the powerhouse, and gave almost a dozen presentations on what we learned.

Cheers gang!

08/24/2024

Today is National Hydroelectric Power Day. We celebrated by diving our favorite submerged hydroelectric power plant! Stay tuned for more pics and videos of our adventure.

05/30/2024

Join us on Friday, June 7th at 6:00pm at the Raystown Lake Visitors Center for a very special 50th DAM Anniversary presentation! This is a FREE event - we hope to see you there!

Drop a comment below if you plan to attend ⬇️

Take a deep dive into history and learn about the origins of Raystown Lake! A group of local SCUBA divers will discuss their efforts to research the construction and operation of the Old Raystown Dam, as well as recount their experiences diving the submerged structure.

02/25/2024

Signs that we’ve spent too much time studying Raystown topo maps:
Walking into the room, seeing one second of TV, and immediately shouting out “Raystown!” as they explain where the criminal’s underwater pipeline is.
Spoiler: it’s just outside off Susquehannock Camp.

We’re looking forward to more DAM dives this year as we help mark the 50th anniversary of our beloved dive site.

08/25/2023

Hope everyone had a great time celebrating National Hydropower Day!

Even though I’m not a native Raystonian, apparently this stuff is in my blood. My mum was born in Australia in the late 40’s. Her family home was bought and flooded for the Blowering Hydroelectric Dam. My uncle posted this map was posted days ago. My dream dream (OK one of my dreams) is to find/build a map like this for a Raystown… in my “free time”.

Cheers,
Scuba Jon and the Raystown DAM Divers

08/06/2023

Lake lore has it that there are GINORMOUS fish that live around the DAM. We often get asked if we've seen any such creatures. Typically, the fish are too scared of us because of the noise that our SCUBA gear makes underwater and stay away, so our answer has always been, "No." After our last dive though, we'll have to change our tune. This fish was along our path on the way down. It had no idea that we were there until we were close enough to snap a picture. Once it saw us it freaked out and swam off.

PSA: If you try to fish around the DAM, please keep your hooks above 105 feet. This way, they won't get caught on the DAM and become an entanglement hazard for us divers.