Chicago scuba scene

[Mr. Dooley]

Long story short, I got a job offer in Chicago. Currently in Boston. Single biggest concern is the diving scene. What's good about Boston is there is a ton of accessible shore diving (a few nice sites and a ton of pretty pedestrian ones), and and several charters in the area to get to various wrecks and walls (to me the more exciting dives in New England). Diving here is year-round for me, and I try to get 100+ dives in per year.

Which brings us to Chicago. There are of course the Great Lakes, which could be exciting. But are there are fun sites in the region people enjoy? What about seasonality? I know winters skew a bit colder in Chicago so do folks generally wrap it up for the winter months or fly out to tropical locations? New England surprised me with how active the dive scene is - a ton of folks dive out here and many do so year round. How about Chicago? Big group for divers? Small?

I'll wrap it up there before rambling on too long. Just trying to get a sense of the diver's quality of life in Chi-town.

 

[Marie13]

Haigh Quarry near Kankakee is the local diving hole. Open sometime in April to end of October. Solo diving allowed with solo cert. I’m a regular. Owners are great. $25 entry fee. Low viz. But a decent place close to home to get wet and work on stuff.

Wazee Lake near Black River Falls, WI. Four hours from me in the NW burbs. Former open pit iron ore mine that goes goes to 350ft. There are stepped walls and slopes so depth steps down. Love this place to dive. I’m up there a lot with WI buddies. Solo diving allowed. County park. $5 parking fee. $5 diving fee. Open year round but freezes after New Year’s.

Lots of folks will head down to Mermet Springs in far southern IL or Gilboa in OH for an occasional winter diving weekend.

The Great Lakes wrecks are awesome. Be aware - you can’t take anything off them like you can do with NE salt water wrecks.

 

[Marie13]

Chicago Scuba Meet-up is the big dive club for the area. Their FB page is a good source for finding buddies for local stuff. They run tropical trips. Meetings always in the city.

Do you know the general area you will be living? City or suburban?

 

[Marie13]

The wrecks are better and deeper in WI waters. There are charter ops out of Waukegan harbor (I think) and a couple out of Milwaukee. There is lots of Great Lakes diving within a day’s drive, especially the Straits of Mackinac, and northern Lake Huron, Alpena/Presque Isle.

 

[Mr. Dooley]

Do you know the general area you will be living? City or suburban?

I'd likely live in the city. Living in Boston proper, I can currently get to no-frills diving in about 45 minutes. Not a spectacular site but decent enough. If I NEED to get wet I have a fresh water pond probably 35 minutes or so away. Some very pleasant shore dives within an hour or so.

Chicago's situated differently of course so it's helpful to get a sense of what's around. As it stands now, I hit the water pretty much every weekend barring inclement weather. Curious if the same is possible from Chicago, even if the nearby dive sites are more about getting wet than world class diving.

 

[lowwall]

Had anyone tried shore diving Lake Michigan in the winter? I assume they'll stop you from diving in the summer since they don't even allow you to go into deep water except for a dedicated section between the Ohio and North street beaches.

But once the lifeguards are gone (Fall through Spring) maybe you can do it. When I lived near one of the Rogers Park beaches, I was able to swim out of season in deep water with no problems.

 

[Marie13]

I'd likely live in the city. Living in Boston proper, I can currently get to no-frills diving in about 45 minutes. Not a spectacular site but decent enough. If I NEED to get wet I have a fresh water pond probably 35 minutes or so away. Some very pleasant shore dives within an hour or so.

Chicago's situated differently of course so it's helpful to get a sense of what's around. As it stands now, I hit the water pretty much every weekend barring inclement weather. Curious if the same is possible from Chicago, even if the nearby dive sites are more about getting wet than world class diving.

It’s not even legal to dive into the lake from the beach in Chicago. There is a little wreck in Evanston and one off the Hammond, IN marina beach.

 

[lowwall]

It’s not even legal to dive into the lake from the beach in Chicago. There is a little wreck in Evanston and one off the Hammond, IN marina beach.

I was afraid of that. Such a pity.

The way around that is to get a boat . Used boats are relatively cheap here and last forever in the fresh water. Mooring fees are reasonable. The problem will be winter when the city harbors close. Maybe a spot in Marina City.

 

[Marie13]

There’s also the possible issue of ice at the shoreline when in the winter.

 

[lowwall]

There’s also the possible issue of ice at the shoreline when in the winter.

Only sometimes

That's the jetty at the north end of 31st Beach.