diving in great lakes area?

[solodiver in nj]

Hello.

I am in New Jersey, just an average diver, enjoying the various wrecks along the coast.

A group of us are interested in diving up in the great lakes region sometime next summer, probably taking a long weekend for the trip. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on diving in the area, such as interesting wrecks to see, good dive operators, etc.

Thanks

 

[ClevelandDiver]

Hello.

I am in New Jersey, just an average diver, enjoying the various wrecks along the coast.

A group of us are interested in diving up in the great lakes region sometime next summer, probably taking a long weekend for the trip. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on diving in the area, such as interesting wrecks to see, good dive operators, etc.

Thanks

http://www.osprey-dive.com/ospreyframe.html

Hands down best charter operation I have found on Lake Erie. Great wrecks, 2 good dive boats, friendly crew, mixed gas available, plenty of wrecks, good viz (for the lake anyway), tech and rec depth wrecks available. Captain Jim is the man! Give him a call.

 

[Dive_Girl PNW]

Welcome to SB!

 

[av8er23]

What is the best great lake to dive in? As far as conditions, structures, and fish?

 

[mixdiver]

What is the best great lake to dive in? As far as conditions, structures, and fish?

not western lake erie. you get about 5-10 foot vis on a good day. Cant say for the rest of them.

 

[SubMariner]

Moved from Introductions & Greets forum.

 

[SwimJim]

Check out the Port Washington dive report thread in this area. There are many nice wrecks in Lake Michigan of south eastern Wisconsin.

Jim

 

[markfm]

Eastern Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence offer some really nice diving, wrecks. In the US you can get charters out of Clayton NY. In Canada Brockport is, I believe, popular to get charters. There are also some shore dive locations, not a huge number but enough to do a couple days' of diving. In the Prescott/Cardinal area of Canada, just over the border from Ogdensburg NY there's the Conestoga, Rothesay, and a scuba park. Alexandria Bay has The Islander immediately offshore. I had a pleasant day in Kingston, diving a couple of shore sites.

 

[bladephotog]

I was able to dive all five Great Lakes this year. Each has a lot to offer but I did come away with some favorites.

The Straits of Mackinac were incredible. Awesome viz, incredible wrecks and a beautiful area to visit. The Eber Ward is a great wreck, and in my top three of the 20 plus wrecks I dove this year, all of which were under 140 feet. I'd highly recommend a trip to the Straits. Check out www.straitscuba.com

I also spend three days diving in Kingston, Ontario and loved it as well. Many more zebra mussels, and average viz. But incredible wrecks and Kingston offers a ton of things to do on surface intervals. Check out www.notherntechdiver.com My favorite wrecks there were the Munson, City of Sheboygan, George A. Marsh and the George T. Davie. But we really didn't have a bad wreck.

And Whitefish Point on Lake Superior was great. I really want to go back. We only got two dives in because of the weather but we were lucky to get those. We did the Vienna and the Sadie Thompson. It was weird as we had 60 degrees at 140 feet on the Vienna. Not even the boat captain could believe it. I think it was some freak of nature. But we weren't complaining. The Sadie Thompson is pretty cool as well for a barge. We stayed in Paradise and it was one of the more enjoyable trips. We sat around the campfire at night, did a little hiking and I even saw my first wild wolf. But there is nowhere to get nitrox fills so you have to bring your own gas unless you're diving air. We dove with Capt. Mike Cook and he's a great guy.

Hope this helps.

 

[alpenadiver]

We have alot of wrecks here in the Alpena / Presque Isle area, the vis is usually real good in Lake Huron, I've seen 50 foot vis below the 100 foot mark. But in Thunder Bay it depends on the alge, and wind direction, 15 to 20 foot vis is about average.