Lake Michigan in April

Has anyone dove Lake Michigan in April? How cold is it? Would a 7 mm wetsuit be enough? Thanks for any info.

Duane

Depends a lot on where your diving, how fast the weather warms up, how deep you dive and wind conditions. Wind blowing toward shore will blow warmer surface water toward shore. I've seen April surface water temps as low as 38 F and as high as 55 F based on the stuff mentioned above.

A good two piece 7 mil works fine for me in those conditions. 7 mil jumpsuits can get a little frosty below 50 F IMO. Thats when i usually switch to dry anyway.

I did a shore dive/night dive in lake Michigan last thursday. Air temp was about twenty five, water was a balmy thirty five degrees. I dive all year and use a 7mm wet suit. For me if the water temp is going to be under forty at the surface, I pump warm water into my suit just before I go in. An old ice diving trick. I got a hand operated fuel transfer pump at the local FLEET & FARM. Cost you about ten dollars. I have a five gallon cooler which I fill with warm water. Works good.
April on Lake Michigan is when most "normal" divers start thier season. The water is still chilly, usually on the colder end of forty. Eighty feet down its pretty much that all year. A 7MM suit should be adequate for most people. Most of the guys and gals in my club are going dry. I may do that myself someday, but the wet suit works good enough for now.

Have fun

Jim

Hey Jim- Where did you do your last dive??

Hey Titletown

Thursday we dove right in front of my house. Yes I am lucky enough to live right on lake Michigan. Nothing really exciting out there. But we can suit up and tear down in my shop which is heated. its just a short walk to the waters edge. Who could ask for anything more.
The dive sites you sent me by the way are great. A dive buddy and myself did the Fleetwing just before Christmas. We had fifty foot plus viz. It was great. We went back Just after the first of the year to do porkupine bay. It was an ice out though. We went by the Fleetwing that day. It was a close call. But we chose(my call ) to bag it. The wreck itself was under ice. You could have got in the water by walking 150 feet west and climb over a small iceburg to get into the water through some minor ice. Too many plot complications for me.
I guess we will just have to wait for spring to venture back up to the Door. But like Arnold says " I'll be back".
I live just north of Port Washington. After the ice clears from this cold snap we will dive the breakwater at Port. My dive buddy lives in Milwaukee. There are a few shore dives we may be able to do down there as well. If all else fails our club is doing an ice dive on one of the local lakes on Feb 22.
If anything is going on up there give me a shout. Theres two divers down here always looking for a hole in the ice.

Jim

Has anyone dove Lake Michigan in April?
Yes, every year.

How cold is it?
35 - 50 on the surface, most likely about 40. Surface temps depend upon the amount of sun and the wind direction over the previous day or two, so pray for sun and a gentle NE wind. Below the thermocline it will be reliably about 40 that time of year.

Would a 7 mm wetsuit be enough?
Not for me, that's for sure, but there are those that do it. I'll be out there, but I'll be dry diving. Watch out for freezing regulators and wind - both can be trouble.

Thanks for any info.
You're welcome.

Steven

Glad those directions worked out for you....You guys are definitely hardcore! I can deal with the cold but DAYYYUM! I found my map that has all those DC shore dives on it but I haven't scanned it yet. As soon as I get it done I'll throw it up on my webserver and drop you an email.

Take Care!

I dove Lake Michigan in October....temp was around 60 or so..viz was 5-15 feet....personally, I dont think thats much fun, but gotta stay wet to stay purdy.

You mustve hit a good day because it's rarely even 60 in the summer where we go

Titletowndiver once bubbled...
You mustve hit a good day because it's rarely even 60 in the summer where we go

Click to expand...

At the south end of the lake we get surface temps in the mid 70's in late summer.

The water will still be pretty cool in April but vis is best early in the season.