Willoughby Lake has some of the best diving in the State of Vermont. The lake is located in the town of Westmore. To get there, use the Google Map link below. View Google Map
There are easy entry beach dives at the north and south beaches, medium difficulty dives on the west side of the lake, and the east side of the lake can be explored by boat.
The dives on the west side of the lake include fallen trees, huge boulders that have fallen down from the mountains around the lake. Some of the boulders are 20-30 feet big.
What is fairly exciting about this lake, is that no two dives are alike. I have dove the boulders at least 5 times now, and each dive is different. The diving on the west side of the lake requires a rope and some skill to navigate down the slopes. Depths of over 100 feet can be found less then 20 feet from the shore.
There are several points that one can dive in Willoughby Lake. There are beaches at the north and south ends of the lake. Each of those offer walk in, easy access diving. I have not dove either of those, but from what I’ve been told, it’s a fairly plain dive. Some fish are to be seen, but none of the geologic creations that are on the east and west sides of the lake.
When diving the west side of the lake, all sites are accessed via route 5A. I’d suggest bringing a rope to each of these dive sites. Secure the rope to the guardrail, then use the rope on the way up and down the slope to steady oneself.
The Waterfalls
There is an area known as The Waterfalls, when driving south on 5A, look for a waterfall on the left side of the road. Once you notice that, there is a little parking area, also on the left side of the road. Park there, gear up, then cross the road, and go down the embankment. The walk down is around 80 feet, and it’s fairly steep. To be honest, having done this dive one time, I’d go to the boulders, or Devil’s Rock on the next time. I didn’t view the entry/exit to the lake to be worth the dive. There didn’t seem to be a lot to view once at the water.
When I dove the waterfalls, I was with Gordon during Waterfront Diving Center’s Willoughby Lake weekend. We entered the water, and went south (left) until we were bored, then turned around. As with the rest of the lake, depths of over 100 feet can be found here, with ease. There was not the geologic creations to look at, so this dive was mostly looking at silt and stuff. There are some downed trees, and around that area, there were some fish hanging out.
The Boulders
This area is around .7 miles south of the waterfalls. When you are on 5A heading south, look for a little pull off on the right side of the road. The pull off will allow around 5 or so vehicles to be parked there. Once here, gear up, then make entry to the lake.
You will see the walkway, which has “stairs” built out. This is a medium difficulty entry/exit dive, but worth the effort to get to the lake.
When you enter the lake, at around 30 feet is a white flamingo. Once you find that, head south, 180 degree bearing, and look at the rocks, trees and such. There is a lot of neat formations down there. There is some very easy spots where one can get to at least 100 feet deep, in fact, my current deepest dive ever was there, at 116 feet deep.
If you dive this spot, look for my dive knife, it fell out on my second dive here, and I haven’t found it yet.
Devils Rock
I haven’t dove this site yet, but I’m listing it, as it’s up there. I’m not sure where it is, but once I locate it and dive it, I’ll add more details.
East Side
If you have access to a boat, go to the east side, near the rock slide, if you are at Willoughby Lake, then you will know what I am saying. Anchor anywhere there, then begin your dive. We dropped anchor, then went down and made sure it was secure, before doing our dive.
There are some great spots over on this side, that offer deep dives, and great rock formations and downed trees. This is the area of this lake where I’ve seen the most fish.
Know of more dive sites at Willoughby Lake?
If you know of more dive sites at Willoughby Lake, please send them to me, I’d like to build a fairly accurate list of each of these.