Rubicon Point Wall (Lake Tahoe)
D.L. Bliss State Park, Lake Tahoe · near South Lake Tahoe / Tahoma · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- technical
- Depth
- 130
- Water temperature
- 40–55°F · drysuit strongly advised
- Best season
- Summer/early fall (surface accessible)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit, but a serious ALTITUDE + COLD + DEEP dive: Rubicon Point drops in one of the steepest underwater walls in Lake Tahoe, plunging past 130 ft within meters of shore. Altitude (6,225 ft) procedures required; water is frigid at depth (drysuit strongly advised). D.L. Bliss State Park day-use; lot fills early. Advanced/technical, deep-wall experience needed.
What is here
- Marine life
- Sheer underwater cliff wall · Astonishing clarity & the Tahoe blue · Crayfish & freshwater life · Deep alpine-lake diving
- Features
- One of Tahoe's steepest underwater walls · Surreal freshwater clarity · Deep alpine-lake diving · The famous 'Tahoe blue' below
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- Yes
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- scuba
- Entry
- shore
- Viz
- 40–80+ ft (extreme freshwater clarity)
- Intl tip
- Altitude (6,225 ft) + cold + deep — a serious technical dive. Altitude procedures required; drysuit strongly advised. The wall drops fast — watch your depth in the clear water. D.L. Bliss parking fills early in summer. Combine with the Emerald Bay heritage trail nearby. For advanced/technical divers only. Surface accessible summer/early fall.
The guide
Rubicon Point at D.L. Bliss State Park drops one of the most dramatic underwater walls in Lake Tahoe — a sheer cliff that plung…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Rubicon Point Wall (Lake Tahoe) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.988, -120.102