Great Lakes winter diving?

[SeaHound]

Do people dive the Great Lakes during winter or does diving around the lakes comes to a total halt? I will soon be getting a dry suit and I was thinking where should my brand new drysuit loose its virginity.

Any ideas?

 

[Busdiver]

Where do you live? We have an active year round dive community around Detroit

 

[SeaHound]

I am in Washington DC but I can drive to pretty much anywhere. Detroit sounds great! What kind of dives and water conditions / viz etc can we expect?

 

[Busdiver]

Ha, that's great. I probably would not drive up here to dive in the winter. If you were local we dive almost every weekend. It's great. We have fun. We do a 20-30 minute dive and head home. It is freaking cold and one dive is enough. We usually dive inland lakes, quarries or the rivers. The Great Lakes shut down until April--still freaking cold though. Most of the wrecks we swim on sank after the month of November, so it is wise to stay off the water. Again if you were local then have at it. We have a blast. One dive--20 minutes--34 degree water--back home by the fire.

Bus

 

[horsediver1]

Just a couple of things that us Northerners take for granted sometimes.

First Ice diving is a hoot
Second- Night Ice diving is even better
Third- Please get real comfortable with a drysuit in open water (beyond the training) Having a overhead enviroment can be unnerving to some people even more so if they are not totally tuned into a drysuit with its' inherent issues.

Finally the absolute best thing about a drysuit in these parts is it totally extends comfortable diving an extra 3-4 months a year.

 

[b1gcountry]

Winter charters have a very high rate of cancellation due to weather. There are some sites you can dive from shore, but they tend not to be worth the hassle unless you are a local.

Tom

 

[SeaHound]

Just a couple of things that us Northerners take for granted sometimes.

First Ice diving is a hoot
Second- Night Ice diving is even better
.

Where do you go for ice diving? I would love to try that.

 

[b1gcountry]

Inland lakes and quarrys mostly. You need to get up into Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, or the like to get thick enough ice most years.

Tom

 

[j yaeger]

we dive the river a lot longer up here because moving water takes longer to freeze up!!!!!
it's the great lakes...with a down hill slope!!!!!and you don't have to cut a hole!!!!
it is,however,as close to 32* as you can get
freeze ups are common and it is advanced plus
lots of divers up this way
great vis but not a lot of life!!
have fun
yaeg

 

[horsediver1]

North Central MN over to the Great Lakes into Wisc. & Mich.. March is usually a good time to look at as the ice is about 30-40 inches thick ambient air runs in the 30's vis is best this time of year. If you google "Minnesota Dive Shops" most have web sites that have schedules posted including fun dives.


Enjoy