Wazee Vs. Crosby (a very biased comparison)

[AandA]

Aly and I dove Wazee the previous weekend. Now before I start, don't get me wrong, it was not a BAD dive. Viz was about 15-20 above the thermocline dropping to 5-10 in the thermocline and then opening up below. Once we left the water we began comparing Wazee with the pits at Crosby/Ironton.
On the plus side for Wazee:
The road is great! A real paved road vs. some of the very challenging (hate to use the word road here :) poorly or non-maintained roads around the Crosby pits.
The place is CLEAN! No garbage and broken glass is a wonderful thing. Broken glass is a concern at many of the gear up sites around Crosby. :-[ The garbage is unsightly and detracts from my enjoyment (We bring garbage bags along and have brought out quite a bit - but it never makes a dent.)
There are road signs to direct you to the various access points. It's nice to know where yer going, and even though we've learned most of the back roads up at Crosby....it does still resemble a labyrinth and has no signs for those who don't know which way to turn ???(even the excellent maps from MSD don't reflect a lot of the roads.)
Nice gear up areas are available. There are picnic tables. The spots for diver access are smooth surfaced and not at all steep. Up at Crosby,) when diving from shore in some areas, rappelling skills can come in handy. Getting into the water can involve some real planning and logistics. (We have actually used a rope while walking backwards down some of the steep slopes.)

The plus side of Crosby:
VARIETY! ;D ;D Wazee is one pit. ONLY one pit. I must admit I have not yet dove all the pits up at Crosby (How many are there again??) There are so many different pit lakes, each with its very own advantages and disadvantages. With so very many lakes to choose from it is not even fair to compare the one pit at Wazee with ALL of the pits at Crosby.
What is available to see at Crosby far outstrips what is available at Wazee. :o Ya wanna see trees underwater... Sherwood Forest is mere underwater brush compared with the HUGE stands of HUGE trees up at Crosby.
You want to see fish? Although there are most certainly lots of cool fish at Wazee, there simply is not the same amount of beaver cuttings and similar structure to hold them in concentrations like up at Crosby. In fact at some of the areas up in Crosby you have a real tough time taking a picture of the little fishies. This is because there are so many that are crowding around you so tightly, that just when you get one in your frame, another one swims in between your camera and the subject a foot or closer away from you (thank God they aren’t piranha! :o).
Now granted if you want to look for mining relics/artifacts these can certainly be found in both locations. Once again, I find it hard to compare one pit lake with all of the lakes up at Crosby. The amount of equipment, drifts, shafts, railroad tracks, trestle pilings, power poles, signs and other stuff is too numerous to count in Crosby.
Like a good wall dive? ;D There are too many great wall dives to begin listing if you're talking Crosby. My personal favorites are at Mangan and Huntington.
If you’re the kind of diver that enjoys getting away from the waiting and the crowd Crosby offers some advantages. Divers on a busy day at either Crosby or Wazee tend to pile up at certain locations. At Wazee you’re pretty limited as to access points and on a weekend those access points are busy, busy busy! At Crosby the sheer number of different pit lakes increases the number of access points. Do you prefer to dive from a boat (we SURE do!)? You can use a canoe or non-motorized boat at Wazee. You have these same options at all of the pit lakes up at Crosby. Actual accesses for motorized boats are available on several of the lakes up in Crosby, and you can put your boat on any other pit lake that you’re able to get it into.

I guess the summation question after looking at all this: [glow=red,2,300]Why go to Wazee? [/glow] Why drive all that distance to have only one pit lake? ???