Does anyone have tips for Gilboa Quarry?

[idnar196]

I am headed to Gilboa quarry with my wife and brother this upcoming weekend (7/23). This will be all of our first time at the quarry, and will be my first cold water dive. We are renting from our local dive shop (West Michigan) and staying in Ohio the night before to get an early start at the quarry. Reading through some of these forms it looks like there used to be a lot of helpful information on the company website. There is now almost no dive related information on the website. We are all open water divers, so we will not be going to the 'deep end'. I would love to know what the must see things are while there as well as any tips for where to park, what to pack, best place to enter the water, and any other advice on how to best navigate the quarry itself. Are all the things still connected by lines underwater? How many dives do you usually do in a day while there?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Marie13]

If you don’t have a hotel yet, the Drury Inn in Findlay is a great place to stay.

Where you enter the water depends on how you are with navigating steps with full gear on. If there are any knee issues, etc., don’t go to the back. There is a long set of stairs aka the Stairs of Death, that lead down to a big long dock and then a short set of steps to the dock where you jump in. The Stairs of Death are brutal on bad knees. I know this from personal experience.

Just past the big building with the tower (not sure if that’s where you check in now, there is an incline down to a dock with just a few steps.

If you’ve never been in a Midwestern quarry, the bottom is silty. Kick it up and you destroy the viz for everyone else. So stay away from the bottom. It will be cold. Down at the tubes, it will probably be around 50ish, given my previous experience.

The plane and helicopter are cool. There are dead trees along the wall that are neat to swim around. There is a rope trail going from attraction to attraction. The helicopter is very wide open. The plane is rather enclosed. Use your comfort level to decide whether you want to go inside or not.

The top of the school bus is where the fish get fed. It’s a frenzy and fun.

 

[rhwestfall]

Been a number of years since I was there, but that sums it up pretty good.

 

[FF / EMT]

Gilboa is cold
So you’ll want good and gloves
And a drysuit

 

[Marie13]

The bathhouse is nice. Hot showers and flushing toilets. I was only at Gilboa once after the new owners bought it and they had already made a few improvements.

Next time, go to White Star about 30 minutes east of Toledo. No stairs at all. Walk in entry.

 

[MrVegas]

I am headed to Gilboa quarry with my wife and brother this upcoming weekend (7/23). This will be all of our first time at the quarry, and will be my first cold water dive. We are renting from our local dive shop (West Michigan) and staying in Ohio the night before to get an early start at the quarry. Reading through some of these forms it looks like there used to be a lot of helpful information on the company website. There is now almost no dive related information on the website. We are all open water divers, so we will not be going to the 'deep end'. I would love to know what the must see things are while there as well as any tips for where to park, what to pack, best place to enter the water, and any other advice on how to best navigate the quarry itself. Are all the things still connected by lines underwater? How many dives do you usually do in a day while there?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Gilboa is really a great spot to dive. As others have said, it can get very cold. However, this time of year, if you're above about 25-30 feet and have a 7mm and good hood and gloves you'll probably be fine. (Everyone's different on cold.) Before I got my drysuit, I dove it in a 7mm and a hooded vest. You'll definitely notice the change in temperature when you hit it. The shallow side is pretty well defined. There are some maps in the office where you check in.

 

[Annie Shaw]

I was at gilboa at the end of June getting my advance certification with my dive shop. This was the second year we went. There is a main parking area but it gets super crowded on weekends. There is overflow parking but can still be trek to get a bunch of gear from car. They have carts but pretty sure at least half are broken We always go to the camping area entry docks cause that is where we meet our group but there are entries closer to the main building. You have to pay to drive your car to the camping area but may be worth it if you want to hang out for a few dives and have a pop up tent and chairs. The quarry is not huge. The thermocline seemed to be about between 25-30ft. If you stay above it you'll be quite comfy. Below you definitely will want gloves and hood. Being from Michigan I'm sure you are well prepared for cold. I don't like cold. The vast majority of experienced divers there are wearing dry suits. I'm new and don't have dry suit. I wear a lava core top and bottom plus a 7mm suit. It was 43 at the tubes at 60 ft. All the sunken stuff though is below the thermacline.

Don't forget to sign your waiver electronically ahead of time. That will speed up everything. The closest town is Findlay and there are a ton hotels. We stay at the hampton. Supposedly the drury used to have diver rates but the guy at my shop said they raised the price substantially this year. Good restaurants in findlay. We tried the Mexican place for a snack and will definitely go back. Gilboa is about 20-25 min from findlay. There is NO food. So bring some snacks with you to the quarry. They don't have concessions there. There is wine place down the street that people like. That's pretty much all there is in the tiny town of gilboa.