Nizhny Tagil is a city in the Sverdlovsk region with a long history. After Ermak Timofeevich overcame the European-Asian watershed in the 16th century, at the foot of the Bear-Stone mountain, he founded the station of his army. Now the city is an industrial and cultural center of the Urals and in terms of its own production is even ahead of Yekaterinburg. However, the administrative unit is not only interesting in itself, but also has interesting places in its district.
A brief description of the career
In the distance from enterprises and factories there are many quarries that are not used today, but are interesting for local diving enthusiasts. One of them is the Azure quarry . This is not a place where you can swim, but scuba diving come here.
The pond is located near Gurshovy mountains, near the villages of Novoasbest and Shilovka. The quarry is located under Nizhny Tagil, 130 kilometers from Yekaterinburg. There is no running water in it, and the water surface has a bluish-greenish tint, it is for this reason that it got its name. Earlier in the quarry, asbestos mining was carried out, which today is completely discontinued.
Azure quarry is very deep, according to divers, reaches 69 meters. The shores here are inaccessible and almost completely overgrown with coastal vegetation. They don’t swim in the pond, this is quite dangerous, since the banks are sheer. There are no equipped or "wild" beaches here. It is not possible to go fishing here either: fish are not found in the pond. For this reason, the water is crystal clear, there are no algae in it.
Diving
It is on this reservoir that professional divers and amateurs train to dive. But here you can carry out not only ordinary immersion - the exposition is arranged at the bottom.
Enthusiasts submerged a lot of old and unnecessary items, from a minibus to a computer. By the way, the same bus stands under an inconceivably sharp degree. There is even a chessboard. And for the most daring, there is an opportunity to see a silt undergrowth very similar to a spruce forest at the very bottom .
On the shores of the Lazurny quarry in Nizhny Tagil, the Lazurny dive camp was equipped. Here you can prepare for immersion, eat and relax. You can even spend the night if you wish. Diving in a pond is possible not only for professionals, but also for amateurs. In the summer, there are instructors in the camp.
Diving in the quarry is done not only in the summer, but also in the winter, most importantly - the appropriate equipment.
Naturally, there is no asphalt access to the quarry, but the movement of heavy vehicles for a long time has formed a fairly wide and convenient road.
Freediving School "Two Oceans"
The school provides training in swimming and diving in Yekaterinburg on an ongoing basis and year-round. However, in July 2017 (from 19 to 26), the Azure School held field events at the quarry.
Everyone who loves freediving was invited to participate. For completely unprepared persons, a program was compiled, including a short course of theory and training. Those people who successfully passed the exam and the standard for 1-4 waves were allowed to dive deep.
The highlight of the event was the competition, which was held from July 27 to 30, under the name "Open champion in freediving" Azure Depth - 2017 "." Even those who successfully passed the exams were admitted to the competition.
Naturally, there were several requirements for participants in diving competitions in the Lazurny career:
- age not less than 18 years;
- the absence of any contraindications for swimming and diving;
- swimming skills;
- basic course certificate or confirmation of freediving instructor.
On the territory for all who received training in diving, infrastructure was deployed. You could live in your own tent or a rented house. It is clear that all the amenities on the street. There was an indoor tent in the camp, where they placed a kitchen with a stove, tables with chairs, a refrigerator. Also equipped with a shower, toilets and even a bath. For diving, they prepared a pontoon for entering the water.
The benefits of freediving
First of all, freediving allows you to look into the depths of the waters and expand your horizons. This is an opportunity to see the azure water and calm down.
However, prolonged immersion in water is good for your health. Divers increase chest capacity. At the cellular level, the ability to utilize oxygen increases and microcirculation in tissues and organs improves. This happens due to the opening of reserve capillaries. Simply put, the whole organism is activated. But the duration of the dive should be at least 15 minutes.
Why Azure?
Many people will ask why this particular pond attracts diving enthusiasts so much. And everything is very simple - first of all, here you can take a diving training course. Naturally, after training in the pool. There is no current and excellent visibility. The depth of the quarry is not the same, beginners can go down by 6 m, and more experienced divers go down to the very bottom - by 65-69 m.
There is infrastructure on the banks of the Lazurny quarry, you can rent equipment, fill cylinders and spend the night. People come here even with their families, staying in small houses and their own tents.
Despite the lack of reefs, at the bottom of the reservoir is an interesting gallery of completely unexpected things - from the plane to the art gallery. Here you can meet new and interesting people who come to the quarry from different points of the country - from Moscow to Novosibirsk.
How to get there
The coordinates for the navigator are the suburb of Nizhny Tagil, Novoasbest. GPS coordinates: N 57 ° 42'54 "E 60 ° 12'01".
From the city of Yekaterinburg 130 kilometers, from Chelyabinsk 330 km.
If you go from the direction of Yekaterinburg, then in the area of the settlement of Anatolskaya you need to turn right and then continue along the grader road. You can also call in from Nikolo-Pavlovsky.