An unusual dive. There are several missile silos throughout the United States which have been retired. Most of these silos have been decommissioned, the missiles removed, and the silos sold. The old silos have been salvaged for scrap metal. Some of them have had the control room converted into underground homes.
The silos, which are constructed of 4 foot thick reinforced concrete walls, are about 200 feet deep. Most of the silos near Abilene, TX have flooded with groundwater. The depth of the water makes it about 130 feet deep (conveniently the recreational dive limit). The diameter of the silo is 60 feet.
This silo was converted several years ago by the owner of Family Scuba Center, a dive shop located in Midland, TX. He has done quite a bit of work to it to make it a safe dive.
The silo has some scrap metal that was dropped during salvage efforts, so you can only get to about 110 feet. And being that this is an altitude dive, this conveniently brings you to a theoretical depth of 130 feet.
Water temperature is a constant 60 degrees year round. There are lights in the silo, but not underwater, so it also effectively makes it a “night” dive. So there are quite a few considerations when diving this place–deep, altitude, night, cold water, difficult entry.
As just mentioned, this is a difficult entry, even though it’s been made easier. This is supposedly the only divable silo in existence. The owner has set up a changing/kitting up area. Then you must walk about 100 yards to the stairs, which are fairly steep as you can see in the photos. The platform floats on the surface, so stepping on it with full cold water gear on does make it move quite a bit. Once in the water, you can descend along a line to about 95 feet. Descending along the line is suggested because it’s easy to get disoriented just looking at the concrete walls. Once at the bottom, you can swim off the line and explore the wreckage at the bottom.
Remember, after you surface, you have to get back on the floating platform and walk up the steep stairs back to the kitting area. Then you need to carry all your gear back up to your vehicle. Be prepared to work those legs.
We’ve come across some people concerned about the safety of the water being that this was an active missile silo. We arrived at the silo before the other divers and ended up talking to the owner for quite a while. He said when he bought the place, he was a little concerned about the lack of life in the silo. Because of this, he had water samples sent out to a lab and tested. It came back clean. So you’re not going to glow after this dive! This place is totally dark when it’s shut down. No light means no life. And since it’s a closed system, we’re not going to have any of the cave fish or craws migrate here (although that would be cool).
This is basically a “been there done that” dive. We’ve heard that it’s on the market though, so dive it soon before a non-diver buys it. The owner only schedules dives there through dive shops, and you must have at least 12 divers along for him to open it up. To find out more information about Dive Valhalla, check out their website: Dive Valhalla.
Editor’s note: I conducted a follow-up interview with Rob Neto and asked him five questions about his experience at Valhalla.
Q1. How many dives did you make at Valhalla?
A1. We did 2 dives at Valhalla.
Q2. What dive certifications do you possess?
A2. At the time, I believe we were divemasters already. Currently, we are both Instructors, cave trained and certified, and trimix.
Q3. Other than the unusual dive environment, how interesting was the dive?
A3. The process of getting into the water was challenging due to the stairs and the floating dock. The silo itself was pretty interesting. Lots of debris at the bottom to poke around and the control room to one side was interesting to look at.
Q4. Can you compare the dive to any others you have made?
A4. The only other dive I can compare it to is the one we made at the Blue Hole in Belize. They’re both round and dark, but you can get to the bottom of Valhalla without going into decompression.
Q5. What surprised you most about the dives?
A5. Not much to be surprised about. We did some research before booking the dives and knew what to expect.
Q6. Were there any concerns the water could be unsafe to dive in?
A6. We arrived early in the morning since we stayed in Abilene the night before. We had about an hour with the property owner and got some history on the place. When he purchased the land he had the water tested and it came back clean. He didn’t own a dive shop at the time. In fact, he wasn’t even a diver. He got certified and then did his first dive in the silo with his instructor. Somewhere along the line, he bought a dive shop and opened the silo up to diving. As a business owner, if there was any type of radiation, etc, I don’t think the state would let him operate it as a dive site. Also, there are several more silos in the area that are water filled. Some of them have been fixed up to be people’s homes, which was the intention of Valhalla’s owner when he bought it in the 80s. As for the rats and snakes, they do get in there from time to time. I didn’t see any during our trip, but it is a dark place and not air tight. It stays a constant temperature throughout the year. However, because there’s no light in there, you won’t find anything else living in there, especially in the water. I wouldn’t drink the water in the silo, but it is safe to dive in.
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