Diving in Minnesota

[weux]

I started diving the beginning of last summer on a high school trip and loved it, we went to Grand Cayman and were certified and logged about 10 dives in 5 days.

But now I haven't dived since then and really would like to next summer. I live in Minnesota and am really not sure if there is any good places to dive here, or if there are any dives for my experience level.

If anyone knows of places in Minnesota to dive I would love to hear about it, I'm also not really sure where to rent equipment. Anyway, thanks in advance.

 

[DET]

You can start by logging in to www.mnscuba.com. A website focusing on diving in and around Minnesota. Get active in fun dives sponsered by diveshops. Many have half price rentals during fun dives. You can find a list of dive shops on the website and many will post upcoming activities.

 

[suddha]

I am in MN as well. Got certified this past spring. We're lucky to be situated among the Great Lakes. 5 hours east is Lake Michigan and 2 hours north of me are Lakes Michigan and Superior, respectively, and a myriad of accessible wrecks. Don't be afraid of the cold water. Get a good exposure suit and get out there! I am diving on the Madeira wreck with a Twin Cities dive shop this Sunday.

Also I'm told the Soudan Mine site is spectacular and I learned of this place recently too:

http://www.mndiving.com/local_diving.htm​

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/cuyuna_country/index.html

Cheers.
​

 

[segundo3000gt]

I agree with the comments above. www.mnscuba.com is your best bet for finding all the information about minnesota diving you need to know. If you're looking for decent metro diving, Square lake is well known for being set up for divers. Visibility is usually over ten feet. It has 4 underwater platforms as well as the tail of a cessna, a canoe and an old motor boat. The link below shows the map. You dive off of Golden Acres Campground in Stillwater.

http://northlanddivers.com/page/1fj4t/News_Information/Squar_Lake_Platforms_GA.html

You can dive the north or south beach of Lake Calhoun. I can only speak for the north beach. I've found that visibility is just shy of ten feet and depending on what direction you head you can get as deep as 80 feet. For the most part you'll be in around 20-40 feet of water. Many dive shops do fun dives to these lakes. I've dove with Smith Diving and Air Down There.

The Madeira and the Hesper are good shore accessible dives out of the Two Harbors area. There 's a bunch of info about them on the mnscuba website. If you venture a bit into Wisconsin Lake Wazee is a good dive site.

 

[weux]

Thanks for all the great info, square lake is pretty close to me, so I might try diving there sometime. I have actually been to the Soudan mine, but had no idea people dive in it (I remember them saying its so dry they don't have to pump anything?) I also would love to dive in superior, you can rent suits, right?

 

[segundo3000gt]

you should be able to rent everything you need at most shops in the twin cities. i know that smith diving and seaya diving have everything. i think air down there doesn't rent gloves out. looks like smith diving has a fun dive at square on the 18th. rentals would be half price.

 

[rico68]

If you're close to Square Lake, you shouldn't be that far from Air Down There Scuba. They have a VERY active dive schedule every season. Check their website for details.http://www.airdownthere.com

The Madeira and Hesper, as mentioned before, are great wrecks, close in to shore with reasonable access without a boat. If you can take a day and don't mind the $65 fee for a boat on Superior you can also hit the Ely, which is a shallow interesting wreck good for a newer diver.

In addition to Square, Perch Lake just over the border in WI gets a fair bit of diver activity. I find the visibility to be a bit better than Square.

I've never heard of divers in the Soudan. But there are a series of mine pits in Crosby that get a lot of diver traffic. Crosby is a 2 hour drive from the north suburbs. Visibility in the pits is pretty good, in the 25'-35' range. Joan, Hopkins, Portsmouth all come to mind.

I'll also echo the recommendation to go to mnscuba.com. Check things out there. Hook up with a few of the dive shops on their fun dive outings. You'll meet some great folks, get a chance to dive some local spots and can pick their brains about the local diving available.