Dive sites

[eckybay]

I wondered the same thing.
A contact the ODNR about what state parks allow diving in the inland lakes but never got any responses from people who've actually tried any of them.
http://scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=152472&highlight=ohio+parks

Want to go exploring some day?

 

[diverbrian]

Actually, I will be diving another puddle this next weekend. Saturday I will be assisting a class up to Bear Lake near Grayling.

I used to dive Higgins Lake all of the time. I haven't had the vacation time and/or money since my diving shifted to trimix to do as many charters as I did a couple of years ago. Also, if you look at the pricing, the charters for technical dives tend to run quite a bit higher than for a "recreational" charter out of Port Sanilac (example... Mary Alice B. and Regina are about $70 with Rec and Tec. The same operator needs $100 to dive the Dunderberg due to the extra equipment on the boat. If I have the weekend time, I prefer to use it on a boat charter to a wreck over diving those inland lakes. Wrecks are just more interesting to me and they tend to be better preserved at deeper depths. In the fall/winter/spring, I dive the quarries to tune up as places like Higgins Lake just don't provide the same facilities for fills and staying warm as the quarries do.

I don't dive Lake Michigan much as Lake Huron is closer for me and offers much of the same type of wreck diving. I don't really see where the wrecks out of Port Sanilac or Alpena require much more training than the inland lakes so long as someone doesn't penetrate and stays on the shallower wrecks.

There are two Tobermory trip threads, BTW . I went up there this year with a group out of Western NY (which is reportably buried in snow right about now).

 

[wb416]

I thought I posted this in my original message but after re-reading, I see I didn't.

I certainly understand that there is diving in the Great Lakes around here, mostly wreck diving. I'm not nearly qualified to do that type of diving yet so I was more interested in inland lake diving since I assume that would be more my speed, but I never hear anything about someone taking a trip to a place that isn't typically considered a "dive site".

I do understand the appeal of the quarries. I personally think Gilboa is great, even my husband thought so and he hates quarries. I understand the draw of the social aspect and I certainly understand the appeal of it being "safe" to a degree. We know the depth, we know where the attractions are, we have air fills on site and a place to shower! I guess I'm just addicted enough to diving right now that I wonder where else there is to go that doesn't include a 4 hour drive or a plane trip! There are so many little lakes around Ohio... I'm guessing visibility sucks.

Yeh... visibility is normally an issue. It's the soft silt/muck bottoms. What makes the quarries generally attractive is that Ohio has a lot of Limestone/Dolomite Karst regions, so the resultant quarries generally have better viz than an inland lake or pond would.

Hope to see you around soon! Are you going to the Shipwreck and Scuba Show in Sandusky?

bob

 

[cork2win]

Yeh... visibility is normally an issue. It's the soft silt/muck bottoms. What makes the quarries generally attractive is that Ohio has a lot of Limestone/Dolomite Karst regions, so the resultant quarries generally have better viz than an inland lake or pond would.

Hope to see you around soon! Are you going to the Shipwreck and Scuba Show in Sandusky?

bob

Hey WB, thanks for confirming my suspicions about the viz. I imagine there will come a time when I'll still try out a few of the local lakes just to see for myself.

I hope to be seen around soon! I would have loved to dive last Sunday... it was so gorgeous out. It just is becoming increasingly difficult to go it seems... I feel the momentum slowly slipping away and with winter coming... At least we have our vacation coming up at Thanksgiving so I'll get some diving in then. I don't know anything about the Shipwreck and Scuba show. I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the heads up! Hope you and Penny are doing great!

 

[JEScholz]

If anyone is interest, there will be a group of us diving the St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor MI. on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is a shore dive to 22-25' max. 2-3 knot current and vis anywhere from zero to 10'. If it is too murky due to rain and run off, we will hit one of the local lakes or if the conditions are right go about 1 mile downstreeam and dive the breakwater where the river empties into Lake Michigan. Any interested can obtain rental gear, and air fills at Wolf's Divers Supply in Benton Harbor. If the weekend is really great, we will probably go out and pull the marker off of the Havana for the season (if it is still there by then). PM me if you are interested in more info

 

[Tiny Bubbles]

I found a book that might help:

Diving in Ohio
by Robert Neel; Ohio Council of Skin and Scuba Divers.
Type: English : Book
Publisher: [Frazeysburg, Ohio] : Ohio Council of Skin and Scuba Divers, 1979.
OCLC: 8269883

http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/8269883&referer=brief_results

It's full of dive sites in Ohio. Unfortunately, just about all of them are on private property.