Site Description:
Rum Jungle Lake is a popular diving site which is located about 65 km south of Darwin and about 3.5 km west-northwest of the township of Batchelor. The distance by road from Darwin is approximately 140 km. The site is a freshwater flooded open-cut uranium mine which was known as Rum Jungle Creek South. Its popularity as a dive site is due to its availability as an alternative site for recreational diving during spring tides in Darwin harbour and its suitability as a site for deep diving using air, nitrox and trimix.
The site consists of an excavation pit and a 'beach'. The pit is approximately 375 metres x 250 metres (at the surface) with a maximum depth in the range of 58 to 61 metres (depending on the water level). With exception to the southern end, the sides of the pit fall at a slope of about 60 degrees (to the horizontal) slope to about depth about 30 metres where the slope flattens to 45 degrees for the remainder of the fall to the bottom. The slope of the southern end of the excavation falls at a slope of about 16 degrees to a depth of 30 due to the collapse of this side of the pit during excavation. The 'beach' which was constructed during the rehabilitation works, slopes gently from the surface to a maximum depth of 9 metres where it meets the western wall of the pit. The 'beach' is the preferred entry point for diving activities.
Water clarity is summarised as follows. At or near the surface, visibility in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 metres is available with a murky green hue. Immediately above the thermocline, the visibility is practically zero. Below the thermocline, while the soft green glow of daylight can be seen above, the range of visibility depends mainly on the power of your primary light. Accordingly, visibility in the range from 3 to 20 metres has been observed in the blackness. Observations indicate that the water clears quickly after diving activities with the observed time range being from 20 to 60 minutes.
The temperature gradient is summarised as follows. Above the thermocline, the water temperature is usually 30ºC or 31ºC. However, it has been reported as being as high as 36ºC during the Wet Season. Below the thermocline, temperatures are usually in the range from 18ºC to 25ºC. A constant temperature of 24ºC has been observed on one occasion during the Dry Season (April to November) when there was a total absence of a thermocline
Access Notes:
Unrestricted access currently exists.
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