First cold water dives

[Marie13]

Our local quarry will be open for cold water diving next weekend (since there's no ice for ice diving). Looking forward to getting in the water again. Will likely be diving with a couple of folks from my LDS.

Beach entry will make my knees happy. Air temps are forecast to be in the mid-50s Saturday at this time. Unsure about water temp as the quarry's not had people in the water since the end of October.

 

[Marie13]

Well, I had very bad luck with buddies today. No one from my shop nor anyone else I know was available to dive with me today. I took my chances and still drove down to Haigh today (only 90 minutes or so away). I was first in line waiting for the gate to be opened at 8. A pair of guys came in right after me and the quarry owner introduced us. They agreed to let me dive with them (we share instructors, it turns out.)

We descended to a platform at 21'. I ended up being floaty on the platform and signaled I wanted to ascend (I had mentioned I was working on weight and might need to add some). One of the pair got a massive headache from the cold water - 38F. He was feeling the cold, too. We didn't get back in the water. They were done for the day and there was no one else for me to dive with. Tech divers, a number of folks on rebreathers, and solo divers made up the remaining 20-25 divers there.

Viz was crap, maybe 10' at the most. Everyone was surprised. The warm winter and lack of ice must have contributed to it. Algae bloom was bad. You couldn't see the platform until you were nearly on top of it.

On the positive side, the weather here was 70F and sunny topside, so it was very nice topside, and I was outside. The cold water also didn't bother me aside from my cheeks, but I would have been better on a second dive.

My local quarry quarry opens for the season April 1. I will be out to Gilboa in Ohio at least once in March as I will definitely have dive buddies if I make the 5.5 hour drive.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Marie,

A very active lady who is attempting to become a diver...

I would suggest that when you are asked for places you have dived always reply "Little Egypt" ...Recall that Southern Illinois south of ST. Louis is known as "Little Egypt"

Some of the cities and certainly not all of then are Belknap, Karnack, Thebes, and at the very tip is Cairo --same spelling different weather, culture and certainly language...

But you have dove in little Egypt..

SDM

 

[Marie13]

Sam, interesting... I didn't know southern IL was known as Little Egypt, so thanks for the post. I'll definitely remember that!

 

[Aanderson81]

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.

I am in Chicago every October for work and have been trying to find a boat that does wreck dives in the area, unfortunately I haven't had much luck with the weather the past 2 times I've. So if you have any suggestions on good dive site and dive boats I would love to hear. I love exploring wrecks and dont get a chance often locally as most of them are in the 130-150' range. I am not afraid of the cold and am AOW/EAN.

 

[Marie13]

Scuba Diving Chicago | Lake Michigan Wreck Diving

Double Action is the charter arm of DRIS (Dive Right in Scuba). The boat out of North Point (or whatever they call it) is more for the deep, tech stuff. You'll probably want the boat out of Hammond. Note: the new booking software is a bit wonky right now.

 

[Marie13]

Note: the first or second weekend of October seems to be the end of the season.

 

[Aanderson81]

Note: the first or second weekend of October seems to be the end of the season.

That is disappointing. 10/21 - 10/22 is what I am looking at for this year

 

[Marie13]

You're going to be out of luck. The only local diving you'll find will be Haigh Quarry near Kanakee (maybe 1:15 south of Chicago).

Just looked at calendar. October 1 is last day for Hammond boat.

Do you have any idea how changeable the Great Lakes are in the fall?