For those who need an education on local Chicago area diving:
Haigh Quarry, 1.5-2 hours away. Open beginning of April to end of October. $20/day, our home quarry.
There are several other quarries in WI or IN, 2-4 hours away, open pretty much the same as Haigh. Cost $20-30/day. At least one night away might be needed.
Lake Michigan, dive boats run from sometime in May to mid-October. DRIS boats cost $110-180 per 2 tank dive depending on trip.
Mermet Springs quarry in southern IL, 5.5 hours away. Open year round. $20/day. This trip requires at least one night in a hotel.
Gilboa Quarry, NW Ohio, 5.5 hours away. Open year round. $26/day, but has the Stairs of Death, the owner is a Nazi, running water shut off in bath house in winter plus no air fills in winter. Maintenance needed on water access. At least one night hotel stay required.
I have friends who will not dive Haigh until mid-late May due to dislike of cold water, don't dive dry, etc.
I just checked my log book. I have 13 dives now, more than I thought. I misremembered. ;-) I was certified in early October.
I will be on Lake Michigan often in the spring and summer. I will be at Haigh opening day. I've signed up for my Advanced course. I will be doing deep and wreck on Lake Michigan, in advance of my much anticipated wreck diving trip on Thunder Bay in Lake Huron in late July.
People bellyache about divers who don't know what they're doing, and then caterwaul even more when novice divers practice?