I’ve never had the opportunity to river dive because it takes a bit more logistical heavy lifting to make it happen. Since I am typically by myself on my diving travels, it hasn’t made sense to try it. But today is the day for a clean-up dive at Snoqualmie River (snuh kwaal mee). When you do a river float or dive, you need to arrange cars at the drop-off and pick-up points and make sure you have everything you need for your entire trip down the river.

The river water is fresh water, which is less dense than salt water, meaning we would need less weight on our kit compared to ocean diving setups. However, because our goal was to do a clean-up dive while dealing with a very strong current, we planned to carry extra weight to be a little negatively buoyant.

As for gear, I automatically started setting up my sidemount kit and adjusting the intermediate pressure on one of my regulators, but as I got more information about the logistics for the day, I decided to take my backplate and wing and old regulator set. This choice made the most sense because we would be donning and doffing our gear often and everything needed to be secured well and/or be able to float if knocked off the board. Having a sidemount tank with no BCD attached and either wearing my harness all day or taking it off and putting it on several times for short dives just didn’t sound smart.

We arrived at the river and connected with the brains behind the operation, Joe from @saltyscubasquad

Salty Scuba Squad is a nonprofit based out of Arizona but is making its way to the PNW thanks to Joe’s efforts. They remove trash from rivers and collect treasures to return lost items to their owners.

Scuba diving is not a common activity enjoyed on this river, so we got stares as we pumped up our boards and moved our gear to the water. The majority of people come out to this river for a leisurely float, which inherently lends itself to some kind of beverage consumption, and that was the kind of trash we saw most during our dives. I have a huge pet peeve about this because people go through all of the effort to get these full drinks out into nature, but then are too lazy or drunk to take the trash with them when they’re done.

In these kinds of outings, there should always be a designated driver, so at least one person can be more on top of trash gathering for the group.

That’s it. I’ll step off my soap box…

The Snoqualmie River is an important water source here in Washington. The name “Snoqualmie” comes from the Snoqualmie Tribe and means “moon” or “people of the moon,” referencing their deep cultural connection to the land and river. One of Washington’s most famous waterfalls, Snoqualmie Falls is a 268-foot waterfall on the river, nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls. It’s a major tourist attraction and sacred to the Snoqualmie Tribe. The falls are also home to one of the earliest hydroelectric plants in the United States, built in 1898. This plant still produces power today, generating clean energy for the surrounding area.

I went down for my first dive and feeling the cool water on my face instantly calmed me. It’s funny how quickly the hassle of getting ready for a dive melts away when gravity disappears and you drop into only paying attention to the breath.

One thing I didn’t think about when planning this adventure is the fact that Abby gets severe separation anxiety when she can see me disappear below the surface of the water. I found out later that after we descended, she immediately jumped in the water and tried swimming across the river in her little shark life vest. But all was well and she started to calm down throughout the day.

The dives were funny. We would jump in right after rapids because we assumed that’s where a lot of the trash and treasures would naturally end up. The current was strong and in some places, it was necessary to use my hands to hold a position. Visibility was decent and the water really wasn’t so cold to warrant my thick wetsuit, but it did make for a very comfortable day in and out of the wind at the surface.

Safety-wise, river diving is pretty straightforward. Be prepared for strong current diving, and watch out for boaters, floaters, and rocks that could hurt you during the dive. We only had one hairy moment when Joe and Ana decided to go through a rapid while diving, but both of them had a blast doing it. I will say that going through rapids probably isn’t the safest choice as a diver because you run the risk of smashing into rocks or getting a limb caught somewhere.

In general, what’s my takeaway about the day and the activity? For this particular river and the portion we chose to dive, I would freedive next time. It was a lot of work to get the gear on and off and keep it on the paddle board whereas I think just bringing some powerful fins and a lungful of air would allow me to do the same cleanup effort.

That being said, I would love to try out some other river diving in the area, so I’ll be looking for more opportunities in the future!

See what trips are coming up. I always give my community first dibs on spots, so you can sign up for Patreon (and get trip discounts) or my email list to be the first to know about new expeditions in the future.