Minneapolis area dive sites

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

2airishuman

Contributor
Messages
2,659
Reaction score
1,958
Location
Greater Minnesota
# of dives
100 - 199
It is now the best time of year to dive in Minnesota with many lakes relatively free of weeds and relatively clear due to the cold. I've been scouting new dive sites and visiting old favorites. I'll post up a few traditional favorite sites around the cities for now, for discussion. Add more if you like.

Lac Lavon, Apple Valley

Former gravel pit. Main open-water instruction site for at least one nearby LDSs. Training platform present in about 20' of water. Annual permit required to dive from the park office, no fee unless instruction is being conducted. Lac Lavon is divable any time it isn't covered with ice although visibility varies based on weather (recent storms=poor viz) and season (late summer=poor viz). Attractions include a sunken wooden fishing boat from about the 1960s, a birdbath placed by divers, the fish, and occasional turtles. Lake is closed to boats with gasoline engines and has no drive-in public access, however lakeshore owners typically have large boats with large electric motors leading to moderate boat traffic on nice weekends.

Depths to about 25' in the immediate area of the access point. It is possible to swim through the shallows separating this bay from the slightly deeper main part of the lake but there isn't much more to see there.

Bullheads, catfish, and northerns become active at night making this a good site for a night dive; park closes at 9 pm however.

Ample off-street parking, picnic tables, and places to set up however there are few attractions here for non-divers. No bathroom facilities except a porta-potti. The access point is posted "no swimming" but scuba diving is allowed by permit. The shore access is also used as a canoe launch and fishing pier. When people are fishing I try to avoid the area around the pier.

The beachy area on the Burnsville side of the lake has a lengthy shallow weedy stretch that must be traversed before the lake reaches a suitable depth for diving.

2airishuman's last dive here: May 2017

Lake Marion, Lakeville

A shallow lake with a good deal of power boat traffic. There is a sandy beach with off-street parking at Antlers park with an easy, flat carry on paved sidewalks. There are plenty of things for non-divers to do, beach volleyball, trails, swimming. Concessions on site. Restrooms with changing area. Free. No permit required.

Diving only fair with depths to about 15' with clarity and vegetation becoming a problem later in the season.

2airishuman's last dive here: May 2017

Crystal Lake, Burnsville

Fair diving with tenuous access, no swimming permitted at boat launch itself, signs posted prohibiting scuba diving in the actual beach area at Crystal Beach. The boat launch is served by a narrow channel between it and the main part of the lake with shallow areas to either side. Traffic is often high but it is possible dive the area during off times e.g. mid-morning on weekdays. It is not clear whether the posted restrictions have the force of law, but I have dived this lake from a canoe which is workable and in compliance with the signs. Free; parking fills up rarely.

There are restrooms and changing areas at Crystal beach, and a concession with food and paddlecraft rentals.

Shallow lake with quite a few fish. Also fun to canoe to the little island and then dive from there.

2airishuman's last dive here: August 2016

Square Lake, Stillwater

Former gravel pit. Many LDSs use this as their open-water instruction site, and there are various platforms and submerged diamonds and so on to facilitate this. Changes in how the DNR stocks fish in this lake, and removal of the restriction on power boats, have resulted in reduced clarity compared to years past. Depths to just over 60'.

Access is either from the County Park (under $10 per vehicle) or from Golden Acres Campground (they reportedly have day rates but I don't know how much they are) which are adjacent to each other. The county park becomes crowded on nice weekend days. There is a swimming beach with lifeguards and a designated diving access just past the beach. Either steps or a long carry depending on how you choose to reach the access.

2airishuman's last dive here: August 2016

Perch Lake, Hudson (WI)

Near Stillwater but on the Wisconsin side of the river.

Small, deep natural lake, gasoline motors prohibited. Accessible from Homestead Parklands county park, fee to park (under $10), parking fills up and is closed to new arrivals on nice weekend days in the summer. There is also a separate boat ramp with its own parking that can be used as an access point.

Homestead Parklands parking lots are near a canoe access. It is permissible to dive from here or there is an artificial sand beach that is about a 200 yard walk. Paddlecraft rentals available on site.

There are quite a number of artifacts placed by divers in the area between the canoe access and the sand beach.

Good clarity throughout the year.

2airishuman's last dive here: August 2016
 
Little Long Lake (Swimmers Heaven) North West of Lake Minnetonka on Game Farm Rd. There is a small platform just out from the boat launch. Vis is 5' to 20' depending on the time of year. The weed line starts at about 20-25'. There are Trout stocked in the lake and there is a 60-70' deep hole South of the boat launch.

Golden Acres Camp ground on Square Lake is an excellent facility to dive from. There is a $6.00 fee, one person 1 car. It has excellent access to the lake, picnic tables in a area shades by large trees for set up and picnicking, snack bar, grills for grilling, large swimming area (no life guard), restrooms and changing rooms. There are multiple platforms and other attractions placed for the divers. It can get very busy on weekends with fun divers and dive shops holding classes and people comming for a day at the lake. Visibility can range between 15' and 5'. it is generally worse on the weekends when there ar a lot of students in the water. If you go South and West, away from the county park, of the of the swimming area there are a lot of fish in the weeds and the Vis tends to be better. It is not the greatest diving in the area but it is a good place to go get a dive in or practice some skills with a lot of amenities and easy access to the lake.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom