Diving from Duluth, MN or Superior, WI

[headhunter]

I know friends, inlaws and outlaws in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Most of them are located closer to the Twin Cities, but a couple of them are in Duluth, MN.

It would be great to dive the wrecks in the Great Lakes sometime and it dawned on me that I may be able to do this one of these days, if I'm visiting in the summer.

So, I've got a couple of questions about it even though I'm not sure when I'll actually be able to do this. I figure it's best to figure these things out well in advance.

By your standards, I don't know if I could refer to myself as a cold water diver, but all of my diving is in Southern California in a 7mm wetsuit. It keeps me comfortable down to the low 50º range and I'll start to get chilly after about an hour if its that cold. I've been OK down to 47º for about 45min, but it doesn't get that cold here very often. Eventually, I plan to get a drysuit, but don't have one yet. Do many people dive in the Great Lakes in a wetsuit or is that just "crazy talk"?

Are their many good places to go from the Duluth/Superior area or would I be better off driving to some other place while in the Twin Cities area to capitalize on a better dive experience?

On top of that, anything that you think would be important to consider as a SoCal guy thinking about Great Lakes diving would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you can share.

Christian

 

[SwimJim]

Great Lakes diving in a 7MM is done all the time. If you get to that area in August or Early September you should be just fine. The Dive club I belong to does Munising Michigan(also on Superior) Labor day weekend and surface temps in the 70's are not uncommon. Drysuits are great. I own one and dive it all the time. I dove on Sunday in 32 degree water. If your planning on spending anytime on the Great Lakes or even doing extended diving say in Monterey California, a dry suit would be a good investment. Near the Twin cities by the way is Lake Wazee. That might be worth checking out. I haven't been there personally, perhaps someone else can chime in there.

Jim

 

[headhunter]

Great Lakes diving in a 7MM is done all the time. If you get to that area in August or Early September you should be just fine. The Dive club I belong to does Munising Michigan(also on Superior) Labor day weekend and surface temps in the 70's are not uncommon. Drysuits are great. I own one and dive it all the time. I dove on Sunday in 32 degree water. If your planning on spending anytime on the Great Lakes or even doing extended diving say in Monterey California, a dry suit would be a good investment. Near the Twin cities by the way is Lake Wazee. That might be worth checking out. I haven't been there personally, perhaps someone else can chime in there.

Jim

Hi Jim,

If the surface temps in summer are at around 70º then how high do the temps at depth get? I understand that this will depend on how deep you go, but for instance, what would be a typical temp at 100' if the surface is at 70º?

I guess another question would be, are there many wrecks worth looking at in the 100' range? If the best wrecks are too deep to dive recreationally, I may wait until I have more technical training to dive these wrecks.

The drysuit is probably going to happen for me late this year. I want to start moving toward deco diving (with proper training, of course), so I'll need the exposure protection for the longer dives.

Thanks for your help.

Christian

 

[Paco]

Any body of water here, Superior, Michigan, Wazee can easily have water in the upper 30s, low 40s any month of the year at depth. I dove in Superior (Munising) in July and froze in a 7mm suit at anything below 30 ft. A lot depends on wind direction, even more than the time of year. Dry is the way to dive here. My 2 cents.

 

[bladephotog]

You'll be looking at low 40's in Lake Superior below the thermocline. And you could be looking at low 60s on the surface depending on the time of year. But I dove Munising a couple years back in a 6.5mm semi-dry at 90 feet, 42 degrees for 25 min. I was cold! I dive dry now.

But for a 25-40 minute dive you should be ok depending on your tolerance.

 

[CheddarChick]

Love Wazee!!!! Clear and cold, if below the thermocline last year in Aug it was 48* I wore 7mm and a hooded vest and cold water gloves. In Michihan off Racine on the wreck of the Lumberman it was 80* on the surface and 47* on the wreck Frozen my butt off.....

 

[Dive1Dennis]

Christian, you can definitely dive the great lakes in a 7mm wetsuit if you have a good tolerance for cold! Be prepared for to get chilled and have to warm up on your surface interval. You will might have to limit dive times by getting chilled, but you can do it. Fortunatly as you go deeper, into the colder stuff you bottom times are shorter so it works out. When I dove wet I found that my tolerance was decent in the summer and early fall when the temp at the safety stop is decent, 50s. It is early in the year whenthe temp is in the 40s from top to bottom that the wetsuit does not cut it.
Most of the bottom temps I dive, even in late summer at in the low to mid 40s. It can be warmer on shallower wrecks, and the weather does have a lot to do with it.

Most of the G.L. divers I know started wet, including myself.
If you want to dive wet, some things help. A good hooded vest worn under the wetsuit helps, as does a good fit and gloves and boots that you can zip or cinch in tightly to the sleeves and legs of the suit. I would even wear a 1.5mm shorty under all that stuff. Lots of layers help. Dry is the way to go, but you really should give the Great Lakes a try with your wetsuit.

I've not dove in the Duluth area, but in lake Michigan, the straights of Mackinac, Munising, etc. there are a lot of good wrecks in rec. limits.

 

[headhunter]

I appreciate the answers that you've all given. From what I'm hearing, it sounds doable in a wetsuit in the summer for a short exposure below the thermocline.

The funny thing is that this weekend I was diving in San Diego during an unseasonably cold weather front. The air was below freezing in the early morning when getting to the boat and was in the 40º range give or take a couple of degrees between dives. The water was a toasty 57º and all of the discomfort came from getting out of the water. Those air and water temperatures are usually reversed around here.

I may not get enough time in the area to dive the Great Lakes this year and hope to get a drysuit next fall. At that point, it won't matter and all that's left is where to go and what to look at.

Thanks for your help!

Christian

 

[Dirkadiver]

My wife is from Duluth Mn and I can assure you that you'll want to go Drysuit all the way!!! If you don't plan to dive below the thermocline, a 7mm is ok. Odds are, you'll break the thermocline on most of your dives. If you plan to do multiple dive trips, you'll never warm up. If you want to enjoy the dives, drysuits are the way to go.

 

[headhunter]

My wife is from Duluth Mn and I can assure you that you'll want to go Drysuit all the way!!! If you don't plan to dive below the thermocline, a 7mm is ok. Odds are, you'll break the thermocline on most of your dives. If you plan to do multiple dive trips, you'll never warm up. If you want to enjoy the dives, drysuits are the way to go.

Thanks Dirkadiver! I think that I'll wait for the drysuit (which I'm planning to get anyway) in order to give me the most flexibility and comfort when I finally do this. It's time for me to move in that direction anyway.

Christian