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Lake Allatoona: Victoria Beach
 955 Victoria Landing Drive, Woodstock, GA 30189
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Max Depth: 51-60ft/16-18m
Average Viz: 5-10ft/2-3m
Entry Type: Shore
Aquatic Life: Might See Something
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Minimum Training - Advanced Open Water Diver (Suggested)
A five-dollar entry fee is required to access the beach. Once on the beach the water is easily accessible for diving. The beach is man-made and kept clean. Benches, grills, and bathrooms are found on site. There is an island not far from the beach that one can access. If diving during the summer, it is suggested to arrive at the beach before 9 a.m. as the beach gets very busy on the weekends. Weekdays it is typically empty.
Diving suggestion:
Set up gear on a bench located near the water. Enjoy a relaxing surface dive to the island through swimmers only water (no dive flag needed). The water is five (5) to six (6) feet in depth throughout this surface swim. Throughout the area the shoreline comfortably descends and ascends making access comfortable. Divers will travers the island on foot with dive gear on. This is a short walk that is littered with geese, the island is a breeding ground for them. On the opposite side of the island the water will immediately be an approximate four (4) feet in depth upon entering. Divers will want to set up a dive flag at this point. Divers are now looking at the main channel of Allatoona. Boat traffic is heavy on weekends but light during the week. This is adjacent to Victoria Marina and is part of the reason for the heavy boat traffic. A dive flag is required by law. Diving near the immediate vicinity of the marina is not legal without permission due to liability concerns. Divers should not venture toward the marina, which is in eye-site. Directionally, a 270-degree heading to 180-degree heading is perfectly fine (or somewhere relative to that). One can go straight out and back from the island utilizing compass navigation, or head to the left with a bearing of about 180 – degrees (or relative to that based on the strength of the river’s current) for any given approximate distance that the divers deem agreeable and or necessary. After which, divers will want to turn 90-degrees to 60-degrees depending upon how far past the beach they are, for a return heading to the beach. This will allow the divers to comfortably circle around the island in returning back to their starting point, on the beach, for a relaxing dive that will only take about thirty to forty minutes at a slow and comfortable diving pace. Water depths will average around eight (8) to twelve (12) feet in depth. If bearings are required, the flag line is connected to the reel. Drop reel. Follow line up. Establish bearings. Follow line down. Continue. If divers lose the lead diver, they only need to remember to surface safely and find the dive flag. Then, descend the line, being careful not to land on top of the lead diver. Beware of boaters and do not ascend if boaters can be heard. Keep in mind that jet skiers do not know what a dive flag is. Jet skiers will run over dive flags.
However, if choosing a heading that is straight out and back from the island, depths can reach up to fifty (50) feet once in the middle of the main channel.
What to observe:
This dive provides a hard substrate, not muck. Lots of rocks and crustaceans can be observed (mostly freshwater snails and claims). It is a moon walk. Besides rocks, fish can occasionally be seen. There are VERY large bass in the waters, these have been observed by divers. Bass may greet divers if diving slowly. Additionally, if a desire to provoke the fish into greeting divers is sought after, bring fish food. Divers, with a little bit of patience and control, will more than likely be swarmed by a few fish and shocked at the verity and number of fish that they encounter. Visibility is approximately seven (7) feet on any given day. Jet Skiers will disrupt and silt everything. If all divers have good buoyancy control visibility during the dive will be just fine and very enjoyable. If divers do not, visibility will drop to about one (1) to (2) feet. Due to danger of boaters and required navigational skills, AOW divers or higher are highly suggested.
Map PDF:
allatoonalake.org/resources/allatoona-lake-map-1.pdf