Khomuty

Khomuty

Though Khomuty is a large area, there are few dive sites there as most of the area is gentle slopes and plain sandy inclines. You can dive here only during a diving safari.

The dive spots: Rogovik, Sredniye Khomuty, Soty, Chernobely, Verkhnyie Khomuty, Baklany Kamen, Bolshoi Kolokolny, Lokhmataya, Peschanaya Voronka, Shokalsky, and Krasny Yar. Some of the sites are described below.

Soty (Honeycombs)
SOTY (COMBS)

Recommended depths: 6-20 meters for photographing, filming, and recreational dives; 65-80 meters for trimix dives.

Here you can see an unusual white-and-yellow shelf and a drop-off that look like honeycombs. The “honeycombs” are formed by the marble-limestone rocks dissolved in the water. Looks like once boiling lava that got cold and has a lot of small caverns in its body. You can see such “honeycombs” in limestone and gypsum caves as well as at some Baikal dive sites with walls or slopes composed of limestone and marble.Соты

These unusual rock formations finish with a canyon in the southern part of the dive site. The opposite part of the canyon is of sand and stone. 

The shallow waters of the offshore area are very picturesque - white sand intermingled with calc-silicate marble rocks with caverns, covered in sponges.

Chernobely (Black-and-white)
Чернобелый

Recommended depths: 8-25 meters for photographing and filming, 8-40 meters for recreational divers, and 45-120 meters for deep and trimix dives.

The site got its name because of the alternating black and white layers of the drop-off.

Shelf and wall. Dive site "Black and white". Photo by Gennady Misan

The point of interest is the wall edge that is a sharp border between the white sandy shelf and the dark rock drop-off.

The center of the site is a black horseshoe-shaped stone crest protruding into the lake. As you go deeper, the crest becomes increasingly vertical and changes the color from black to white. At the depth, the white debris forms picturesque conglomerations.

The shelf is white sand with sponge-grown stones. It is especially picturesque when the sun is bright.

Verkhnyie Khomuty
VERKHNIE KHOMUTY

Recommended depths: four to 20 meters for photographing and filming, four to 40 meters for recreational dives, and up to 65 meters for deep dives.

The dive site is located to the south from Cape Verkhniye Khomuty. 

The site features a black drop-off, glittering at some points, and a large sandy shelf grown with sponges. White sand bottom of shallow waters of the offshore area are covered in stones with sponges on them, which looks especially nice in sunny weather.

Край свала. Фото Геннадий Мисан

In the northern part of the site, on the border of the drop-off and the slope, there is a wide canyon with an admiralty anchor.

The northern side of the offshore area finishes with a benchy drop off of dark rocks. The transition area from the offshore zone to the drop off is inclined taking one from the depth of 6 to 40 meters.

Peschanaya Voronka (Sandy Crater)

Песочная воронка

Recommended depths: 8-20 meters for photographing and filming, and 8-40 meters for recreational dives.

Sand Funnel. Photo by Olga Kamenskaya

The site features a sandy drop-off with rock outcrops.

The central part of the site is a steep sandy slope. Because of the slope round shape, the site is called Sandy Crater. Above the sand surface, there are flat rocks grown with sponges.