Devil's Lake Or Geneva Lake??

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ciret

Contributor
Messages
126
Reaction score
1
Location
Racine, WI
# of dives
50 - 99
Hi all,

Planning to dive Devil's Lake Monday (11 JULY). But, might consider Geneva Lake or other site. . . What do you guys think?

Cold water and a heavy wetsuit are new to me. All of my previous diving has been in Puerto Rico. My buddy has some cold water experiance and has dove Devil's Lake in the past. We thought an inland lake would be a good way to introduce me to the cold :icon10:

So, what do you think?
 
Hi Eric,

I've heard from some people that the vis at Devil's Lake isn't so great this year. I was up at Devils Lake hiking last week, and the vis did look a bit suspect. I think they're doing some kind of phosphate removal project on the water there. Having dove there in past years, I'd recommend that you stay above the thermocline (about 20 feet) until you get comfortable with the thick wetsuit. Though boat traffic should be less of a problem at Devils Lake. Let us know where you go, and how it turns out.
 
Thanks Greg,

I talked to 3 Little Devils and they said viz was 8-12, surface temp 74F and 5-10 cooler as you descended.

I also talked to Fontana Outdoor Sports, viz was a little better in Geneva Lake 15-20, similar temps. But you can only do boat diving and they don't run charters daily. So, it looks like we'll try Devil's Lake on monday.

I'll let you know how it goes :)
 
ciret:
Hi all,

Planning to dive Devil's Lake Monday (11 JULY). But, might consider Geneva Lake or other site. . . What do you guys think?

Cold water and a heavy wetsuit are new to me. All of my previous diving has been in Puerto Rico. My buddy has some cold water experiance and has dove Devil's Lake in the past. We thought an inland lake would be a good way to introduce me to the cold :icon10:

So, what do you think?
Hi Eric,
Devils lake is poor vis but is a dive,This is not cold water=to you it may be,be sure to take it slow as you swim along the shore,this dive with poor vis could be a overhead dive as some of the rocks tend to stick out and you can swim under them,Make sure you have the rule if you cant find your buddy to head up and STAY UP!! You will see the fish,look out for lures and hooks. Lake Geneva can be unsafe with all the boats,but some dives can be ok,Make sure to get the permit from the local DNR-and use all dive flag laws,they like to ticket.

One shore dive near milwaukee is the Appomattox of Atwater park,its on north side of Milwaukee,A walk down to the beach,few hundred yard swim to the bouy,but the wreck is 15'-20' water at this depth is in the low 60's-and tons of fish and wreck to see,with great vis-if no major storms have been up!
 
So, moneysvr, which is harder to deal with, the cold and associated wetsuit/bouancy issues or low viz? I've made one low viz dive (8'-12') in warm water. Wetsuit will be a whole new thing. . . Another thing, is I've never made a shore dive. We're in Racine, so Milwaukee is closer, but surface air temps will be lower than Devil's lake.
I really love diving and want to see what it's like diving near home. Seems like as my instructor always says there are no bad dives, only better ones :) as long as everyone comes back safe.
I'm also looking at buying gear and it seems that warm water only vs anything will make a difference in gear purchases.
Thanks for the input.
 
5,436 dives ago I did my very first dive in Devil's Lake....1982, I think. Drove up from Dubuque, IA for my OW course dives. Quite an expedition to do any diving back in the midwest....here it's about a 5-minute drive to a pretty good site...and I COULD actually put on my gear at my house, walk about 150 yards down to the beach, and then swim (tide permitting) out over the top of the reef. I thought maybe of diving Lake Okoboji in NW Iowa sometime when I get in that part of the world to visit family....be a change of pace from the 82-ish Guam water temps!
 
ciret:
So, moneysvr, which is harder to deal with, the cold and associated wetsuit/bouancy issues or low viz? I've made one low viz dive (8'-12') in warm water. Wetsuit will be a whole new thing. . . Another thing, is I've never made a shore dive. We're in Racine, so Milwaukee is closer, but surface air temps will be lower than Devil's lake.
I really love diving and want to see what it's like diving near home. Seems like as my instructor always says there are no bad dives, only better ones :) as long as everyone comes back safe.
I'm also looking at buying gear and it seems that warm water only vs anything will make a difference in gear purchases.
Thanks for the input.

Its harder to deal with low viz. Once you get a bunch of dives in wearing a wet suit or drysuit for that matter becomes second nature. If you want to experience some really good lake Michigan shore diving, stop at Green Bay Scuba and pick up a Door County shore diving map. Door county offers some really cool shore dives with wrecks and deep dives. Yes, I know its a hike to get up there. About four hours from Milwaukee tp Gills Rock, but its well worth the drive. Hint, go up Hwy 57 to Sister Bay and avoid most of the Yuppie traffic. The best and most consistance viz is north of Sister Bay anyway. Porqupine Bay makes a good deep dive. I have personnally attained depths of 75 fow from shore there. There are bigger and just as plentyfull Bass then at devils lake. Average viz is over fifty feet. The wreck of the Fleetwing starts in about two feet of water and is a 200 foot swim from the boat landing. Its kind of in a bay with a rock bottom. Again consistantly good viz. There are others. Be ready to go over slippery rocks to get in and out. Thats the only draw back besides the long drive. Because of the good viz this also makes a good area to work on underwater photography. I have attached a couple of photo's I took near the Fleetwing last year to give you an idea of the viz. Enjoy

Jim
 
Wow, you guys are now making me really think about this. I guess I better print this out and go take to my buddy. We've been talking about Devil's Lake for a few weeks now and I'm not sure how receptive he will be to making a change. But the Lake Michigan viz does seem to be better.

Thanks again for all of your feed back.
 
ciret:
Wow, you guys are now making me really think about this. I guess I better print this out and go take to my buddy. We've been talking about Devil's Lake for a few weeks now and I'm not sure how receptive he will be to making a change. But the Lake Michigan viz does seem to be better.

Thanks again for all of your feed back.
Hey Eric,
Low vis is no fun to me,If you like to dive and like to do dives year round,get some cold water stuff,a 7mm wet suit will get you in some dives as the lake warms up,a dry suit will get you in year round!and some stuff like a 3mm for trips south are cheap to buy,Get a lakeMichigan shore dive or a wreck thats near shore,see the great vis,fish and fun things the quarry divers miss!
Man I spent last weekend in LakeMichigan and had a blast!its not like the Atlantic off of PalmBeach Florida with warm temps & Tropical fish ,but we have the wrecks they dont! oh ya we dont have drift dives also!
Hey Im not knocking Devils lake it is a dive,but some dives are more fun!
Brad
Dive safe!
 
I just climbed out of Devil's Lake a couple hours ago. There is a thick algae layer for the first ten feet. After that the viz opens up to close to 15'. Probably warm enough now for a 3 mil suit down to 25 feet or so. I wore a 7 mil but no hood or gloves. Next time I'll probably wear the 3 mm.

No one mentioned Lake Wazee. I was there two weeks ago and had 30-40 ft. viz.

Also, I thought that diving was not permitted in Geneva between Memorial Dan and Labor Day.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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