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I am planning on diving Gilboa Quarry this summer and I am wondering how much wetsuit do I need? Is there a time when water clarity is best? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
I dove there June and Sept. of 2011, I think water temps were upper 60s surface down to 30 ft or so, then like about 58 or 60. i liked it a lot, large diving areas, some decent fish and stuff to nose around, good shop for refills. it is highly used on weekends, so a lot of silt gets stirred up. people come from all over Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario for cert dives. I hope to get up there midweek this summer, viz should be better.
I was OK with a 3-mil wet suit, but I tend to run fairly warm bodywise, a lot of people from my group wore 7-mil suits or even drysuits for deeper ventures.
Raven's temps stats are pretty accurate. I don't have my logs in front of me so I am not 100% sure. I am diving Gilboa now in an 8 mil wetsuit with lavacore. Short shallow dives generally.
July and August have the warmest temps. The surface can be pretty darn comfortable then. My guess is that "most" people are pretty comfortable in a single piece 7 Mil or 5 Mil. By that time you don't need a hood. I wear an old (compressed) 7 mil single then.
Down by the "tubes" ..around 60 feet, it is always cold. Low 40s. I don't "hang" there long.
Gilboa can be a busy place. Best to start early.
The fish population is crazy good then. Especially by the bus.
For premium viz, I would go on a weekday. But for a quarry, Gilboa's viz is almost always better than average.
You will see all types of divers there. From new divers in classes, to people checking their full cave gear, to divers with rebreathers.
The best viz is really early in the morning, before the classes stir up the silt. There tend to be fewer classes early in the season, say April and May. July-August is peak class season. Sometimes we start from the deep side (you must file a dive plan and get approval at the dive shop) and swim along the wall toward the shallow side. You can usually see the silt pouring over the wall like a waterfall. The best viz ever was in December, but the water's about 37 and the air was colder, so that would be brutal without a drysuit. You can stay on the shallow side and if you don't go deeper than the helicopter and the plane, it doesn't get too cold, 48-50-something, depending on the season. I know people who do that in a 5 mil, but I like to be warm and always use the dry suit. Once you get deeper than about 40 feet, you'll hit another thermocline and it will get pretty cold. It's pretty much always in the 40's at the tower and at the tubes (about 60 ft) it's never warmer than 42, either on my computer or the thermometer hanging on the line there. It was 37 at the tubes early in April. Mike just stocked a lot of fish - trout, perch, minnows, and bass. I haven't seen too many trout lately, but they should be back later in the season.
[QUOTE=Mike-G;6351660]Hoosier_Dive, Raven397, Davemohio and Trogg,
Are any of you interested in diving Gilboa or Whitestar this weekend? Let me know - I need a dive buddy.
Mike, this is one of the few weekends I will NOT be diving locally. Will be on a family trip in Key West. I don't know why they asked me along. I will be spending most of my time underwater(I hope).
Jim Lapenta will be there, although probably in the deep area.
Should be a busy weekend at Gilboa. Hopefully you will find some buds.
Just figure it's going to be cold below 30 feet. Viz varies depending on a lot of things like algae bloom, if student divers have kicked up the shallow end, or if there was a lot of rain the few days prior to your diving it.
Plan on diving the shallow side if your diving a single. Shallow side is ~60' and up.
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Love gilboa it's a nice place
