Just a quick post on a weekend dive trip our dive group did at Fortune Pond on the outskirts of Iron River MI.
All I can say is WOW!
on arrival this past Friday I pulled into the park entrance-No entrance fee!
there is a fishing pier that extends into the waters of this old mine and as I walked out I could see down into the crystal clear waters 35'+ feet,
I was the only person on site and was awaiting the other's in the group to arrive as I was early and decided to do a quick dive recon mission as this was my first time at this site.
The paved parking lot is several feet away from the water as I geared up and walked down to the water I rate easy of entry 5 stars easy!slid my fins and slid down the crystal clear waters to about 35' and encountered a thermocline that dropped temps to the mid 40's and then went over the wall with great structure and dropped down as I did go deeper to 135' the visibility did drop but the structure made up for this. temps at 135' were 41 f on my computer.
It seems there are some remnants of the early mining equipment and some traing platforms used by instructors and toys,skeleton,signs and other items placed by divers.
We had a great weekend with 3-4 dives daily and had fun feeding the local fingerling trout crushed zebra muscles they loved it!
This site I think offers any time diving experience unlike some quarry's that tout great depths and visibility and as summer comes you find zerro vis silt out muck dives! Ease of entrance/ exit,ease of parking,price entrance none! great depths reached in several fin kicks,plat forms already in at 85' and ledges in closer for intermediate dives,visibility year round the same GREAT !local hotels at good rates I paid $48 per night at Lake shore Motel in Iron River just several miles down road.
One thing the water is cool several divers did some dives wet some dry.
Enjoy,
Brad
All I can say is WOW!
on arrival this past Friday I pulled into the park entrance-No entrance fee!
there is a fishing pier that extends into the waters of this old mine and as I walked out I could see down into the crystal clear waters 35'+ feet,
I was the only person on site and was awaiting the other's in the group to arrive as I was early and decided to do a quick dive recon mission as this was my first time at this site.
The paved parking lot is several feet away from the water as I geared up and walked down to the water I rate easy of entry 5 stars easy!slid my fins and slid down the crystal clear waters to about 35' and encountered a thermocline that dropped temps to the mid 40's and then went over the wall with great structure and dropped down as I did go deeper to 135' the visibility did drop but the structure made up for this. temps at 135' were 41 f on my computer.
It seems there are some remnants of the early mining equipment and some traing platforms used by instructors and toys,skeleton,signs and other items placed by divers.
We had a great weekend with 3-4 dives daily and had fun feeding the local fingerling trout crushed zebra muscles they loved it!
This site I think offers any time diving experience unlike some quarry's that tout great depths and visibility and as summer comes you find zerro vis silt out muck dives! Ease of entrance/ exit,ease of parking,price entrance none! great depths reached in several fin kicks,plat forms already in at 85' and ledges in closer for intermediate dives,visibility year round the same GREAT !local hotels at good rates I paid $48 per night at Lake shore Motel in Iron River just several miles down road.
One thing the water is cool several divers did some dives wet some dry.
Enjoy,
Brad
