Want too Dive the Great Lakes

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Pebbles

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Cincinnati, OH
I'm not new to diving but I haven't been in approximately 7 years and I want to get back into it. I would like to dive the Great Lakes...is there anyone from that area that could tell me about diving in the lakes. I'm not sure of the area I have in mind other than I would like to dive in Lake Superior or Erie. I am not certified to Dry Suit dive, I only have my open water certification. I would also like to find a drive club here in Cincinnati to get involved with.
 
Pebbles:

Which part of the Great Lakes did you have in mind. I have done a little bit in Superior, near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Water is quite clear, there are wrecks in the area but it is quiet cold! Definitly DRY SUIT. Also not so much in the Lakes but in the St. Lawrence Seaway. Near a town in Ontario called Brockville. Everything from Beginner to Trimix. In August visability of sometimes near 100' and watertemp @ 100' of 70degrees. Lots of wrecks as well.

Zman
 
Zman is right, the St Lawrence is definitely worth checking out if you are interested in diving in the great lakes area. (wrecks, sunken villages, wall dives, etc, etc)

Post the particular area of the great lakes you wish to dive, and there will definitely be people on this board that can give you some directions.
 
hello pebbles, i live in northeastern michigan not far from the thunder bay marine sanctuary in alpena, mi. as you can imagine i spend a lot of time diving lake huron and lake michigan, thunder bay offers dive opportunities for beginners to tech divers. most of the diving is done on the wrecks though. there are a few underwater formations that are interesting though. there is a dive shop and charter boat in alpena if you want to dive some of the wrecks just call thunder bay divers at 1-517-356-9336. lee barnhill is the proprietor and is pretty much seasonal but he is open around the first of april for the hardy divers. the vis in thunder bay ranges from day to day. it can be from 2 ft to 70 ft. depending on depth. as for temperature a balmy mid to high 60's at surface and down to 38-42 degress around 100 ft. if you get a chance check out this web page rjdives.com he has some pics of the wrecks and divers on the site. the straits area have great diving also from turn of the century schooners to modern ore carriers a little current and vis that changes often too. enjoy your bottomtime sam.
 
Great Lakes diving can be a real thrill. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get aquainted with dry suit diving but depending on your comfort level and tolerance of cold you can still do a great deal of fun diving in the Lakes. If you're gonna run all the way up to Lake Superior stop off at the Straights of Mackinac. You can dive some nice wrecks in sight of the bridge. About as far from home on the Canadian side you can dive at Tobermory, Ontario on the Georgian Bay. More neat wrecks in a wide variety of water depths and some neat geological diving too. A little closer to home Lexington, Michigan has some nice wrecks too. There are many good books on the subject and they are well worth investing in. Good Diving.
 
St. Lawrence river near Clayton NY and Rockport Ontario temps are in the 70's in July/August we dive it in 3mil's unless were doing deco dives.
 
Pebbles -

We went out on Memorial Day (actually I was incharge of gear that day and manning the boat) to the Sanilac Shore Preserve in Lake Huron. Though it was a bit nippy at 42 deg F, one friend in a 7mm one piece and the other two in 7mm Farmer Johns and 7mm Shorties did rather well. We hit two nice dives that day the Eliza H. Strong in ~25 feet and the Sport in ~45 feet.

We used a GPS (highly recommended) and came within a few feet of the lines and buoys.

Check out this website for the Great Lakes preserves:

http://www.deq.state.mi.us/shipwreck/mupc.html

There are a lot of nice dives for all skill levels and the website above, though not exhaustive tells about the various shipwrecks and their approximante depths.

If you need a guide I have connections with the diveshops and can hook you up.

- SCUBA_Barge
 
Hi Pebbles,
I have been scuba diving Lake Superior a long time. I love the Isle Royale area. I dive off my 37 foot boat. I have a compressor and sometimes take people to the island.
You can see my boat at SuperiorExplorers.com

There is a varity of diving in Lake Superior. Some shipwrecks are divable from shore. Divers are not allowed to remove items from the wrecks so there is a very strong conservation ethic.

A group of us are restoring one of the shipwrecks at Isle Royale.
Divers interested in diving from a live aboard boat should contact me.
Good luck.
Hal
 

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