Chicago-Bound

[Natasha]

Hi Divers:
It's about time some Yankees stepped up to the plate on this board! So many of them Texas folks taking up all the space!
Seriously, Hi nice to meet you all. Lincoln Park is a great area of the city to live in. I think you'll love it here.
I use a scuba shop in Skokie IL.
It's about 30 minutes north of the city.
It's called Scuba Systems. Nancy the owner and instructor is a member of this board. She offers several trips to dive the wrecks of Lake Michigan.
There are about 250 wrecks in the Great Lakes.
I will be getting wreck certified this summer at a trip we are having in Florida. After that, I plan on tackeling the Great Lake Wrecks.
The "Willie" is the best one to do and it's in Milwaukee. Great visability and in good shape. If anyone is interested in that one, I plan on doing it in August when I get back from Wreckmania.
My son starts college this August in Milwaukee, so I'll do both on one trip.
Something like Aug 26th. Sound good?

 

[SDAnderson]

Welcome to Chicago! Diving here is probably colder than you're used to and better than you expect. Almost all of the diving in Lake Michigan is done from boats - there's no reef structure to dive on close to shore. Actually, as a soon-to-be Lincoln Park resident, you will have access to diving at the only "legal" spot in Chicago, at the Chess Pavillion between North Avenue and Oak Street. It pretty much sucks, as far as dives go, but it's a great way to garner the attention of the roller-blading/bike-riding hordes that cruise the lakefront every weekend.

As others have mentioned, wrecks are pretty much the thing in Chicago. Fortunately, there are a mess of good ones. The cold, fresh water is an excellent preservative.

Nancy at Scuba Systems (Skokie) is a good source for information about local diving, as well as booking some trips. Likewise Captain Dale in Waukegan - and he runs his own boat. Adventures in Scuba is a great shop for newbies, but they don't book local trips (they will give you some contact information for charters, but that's about it) and if you've got an interest in anything technical they probably aren't the answer.

Email me if you'd like more information - there's always something going on!

Good group of active Chicago-area divers with no real store affiliation:
The Triton's Dive Club

 

[DivePartner1]

Tell me more about diving the Willing in Milwaukee. Any dive boats to recommend? I do mid-Atlantic wrecks but have a new dry suit I'd LOVE to try out in June (having done the Manitous last year).

 

[SDAnderson]

Prins Willem V (the "Willie") was a Dutch freighter that sank in the mid-1950's about 3 miles off the coast of Milwaukee. Depth to the sand is less than 100 feet, although just barely. Water is cold - low 40s on the bottom even in late summer when the surface temps can be in the low 70's. Vis is rarely more than 30 feet and often substantially less. It's eaten a couple of divers over the years and requires cold water skills and gear, in addition to full-wreck training if you plan on penetrating. Most of the boats out of Milwaukee or Winthrop Harbor (Illinois) go there fairly regularly. A websearch will turn up a wealth of information. Not a bad dive, but the zebra mussels are gaining on it so do it soon.

 

[Natasha]

The "Willie" as it's affectionetly called, is really the Pris Willem V.
It's a steel freighter that is 250 feet long.
There was a collision with a tug, the Sinclair in 1954, 3 miles east of Milwaukee harbor. The Willie rests at 90 feet deep. Parts of her can be done starting at 48 feet or so.
I have seen underwater shots of this wreck. Looks like a great dive!

 

[DivePartner1]

Can anyone suggest a dive boat in the Chicago area? Milwaukee's been dropped from my agenda. I'm surprised that the comparatively few dive boats in the area aren't very good at returning calls or emals--not my experience in other places.

 

[SDAnderson]

Originally posted by DivePartner1
Can anyone suggest a dive boat in the Chicago area? Milwaukee's been dropped from my agenda. I'm surprised that the comparatively few dive boats in the area aren't very good at returning calls or emals--not my experience in other places.

It's a short list - and this time of year they can be pretty busy and often are booked up.

Chicago Dive Charters (Burnham Harbor) 312-842-1480
Discovery Dive Charters (Burnham Harbor) 815-786-1337
Enterprise Marine (Waukegan Harbor) 847-520-4689
Shipwreck Adventures (Winthrop Harbor) 815-222-3069
The Lender (Milwaukee) 414-482-1430

It might also work to call the local dive shops - they often have seats on trips that they charter still available or you can talk to the boats about standby seats.

Steven

 

[DivePartner1]

Thanks! I might be able to do a mid-week night dive with Chicago Dive Charters. Do you know of any good dive shops in the Arlington area? I'm looking to pick up a Nitrox tank and dry suit.

 

[Kat]

The only dive shop I know of in the Arl. Hts. area is Prospect Dive Shop. It's in Mt. Prospect(just east of Arl.Hts.) on Arthur St. You can take Central Rd. East past Arl. Hts. Rd. & turn North on Arthur. If you get to Busse Rd. you've passed Arthur. The dive shop is on the West side of Arthur. I have never dived locally-so I can't give them thumbs up or down. Only directions

 

[SDAnderson]

Originally posted by DivePartner1
Thanks! I might be able to do a mid-week night dive with Chicago Dive Charters. Do you know of any good dive shops in the Arlington area? I'm looking to pick up a Nitrox tank and dry suit.

Arlington Heights is a little outside my turf and I can't make any recommendations for dive shops up that way. Finding a rental drysuit maybe difficult, I'd run a yellow pages search for the metro area and start calling. My guess is if you find a place that has drysuits you'll also be able to get EAN from them.

Steven