Greetings from Crystal Lake, IL

[Dan_C]

A lot of posters come to SB complaining of not having any buddies. Turns out they’re not on FB. You don’t have to be an active user, but in the Midwest, many dives are arranged via FB. If you refuse to be on FB, you’re going to have an much harder time finding buddies.

Yeah, I'll give it a look. I signed up for an account so I at least broke that glass ceiling. Now I just have to learn how to use it.

 

[Dan_C]

You can contact Haigh and ask to be matched with someone when you get there. Or solo dive. But if you don’t want to make the drive down there…

Haigh is most certainly on my radar. I will go somewhere over Labor Day weekend and it may be Haigh, Lake Wazee, or Bonne Terre. I want to be sure it's something in which I can include my family. It's ideal if the kids can have an adventure while I am in the water and they love to snorkel.

 

[Marie13]

Haigh is most certainly on my radar. I will go somewhere over Labor Day weekend and it may be Haigh, Lake Wazee, or Bonne Terre. I want to be sure it's something in which I can include my family. It's ideal if the kids can have an adventure while I am in the water and they love to snorkel.

Check the age limit at HQ. Also, watch where your kids get in the water at Wazee. I’ve seen parents let kids with no swimming ability go into the water at the Sherwood Forest dive entrance where there is a sudden 20ft drop off to the right. A guy who couldn’t swim drowned there last year.

 

[kaylee_ann]

I am actually a transplanted southerner but I love Crystal Lake. Since we moved here my kids have gotten into local culture by learning hockey now they are both crazy about it. And that's where most of my time goes . . .

By all means, anytime you head this way, give me a shout and we can find a place to blow bubbles. But needing clearance to dive again sounds scary. I hope all is well.

Got sick from a benign dive and I don’t know the cause. I’ll be fine. and I’ll definitely hit you up!

 

[Ski_Lounge]

New member of the SCUBA community from Crystal Lake, IL. I’m actually fairly new to Illinois as well. I am bummed to learn that they don’t allow solo diving a Three Oaks Rec. Area, my local quarry, so I need to find local dive buddies as well as people who like to dive other locations. I want to log several dives and gain experience but I have a family so getting time to dive is tough. Coordinating dive time and a buddy is even harder. I am interested in diving all the regional quarries but my ultimate goal is to wreck dive Lake Michigan. That is very intriguing to me. Anyone in the area looking for a dive buddy, please keep me in mind.

Welcome, Dan. I'm occasionally at Three Oaks for platform practice skills. The LDS nearby, Sea Level Diving, used to organize weekly evening dives for certified divers, and would get a nice turnout (5-10 people). I don't see that listed on their website anymore, strangely. (I dug up this old link that no longer works.) Perhaps try giving them a call and see if they are still running those? It used to be a nice way to meet other local divers.

 

[KitHuff]

Sign up for Midwest Dive Buddies and put your post out there like you did here. You will definitely get responses.

 

[Mbeaudoin]

I’m in Elgin Illinois. Mainly warm water dives. I had ran into the same problem with finding a dive buddy to do cold water dives in the area. Didn’t do much looking into finding a dive buddy to do them. Only experience around here was certification in south Beloit il, took a few tanks up to northern Wisconsin to dive a lake or 2 and tried to dive Lake Michigan from Michigan side once. Would be open to checking out three oaks with you one weekend. Have family in crystal lake.

 

[Marie13]

I’m in Elgin Illinois. Mainly warm water dives. I had ran into the same problem with finding a dive buddy to do cold water dives in the area. Didn’t do much looking into finding a dive buddy to do them. Only experience around here was certification in south Beloit il, took a few tanks up to northern Wisconsin to dive a lake or 2 and tried to dive Lake Michigan from Michigan side once. Would be open to checking out three oaks with you one weekend. Have family in crystal lake.

Dive buddies usually don’t just drop into your lap. You have to put some effort into it.

 

[Mbeaudoin]

Yes didn’t look into it other than finding out that you can’t dive anywhere (solo or just in any lake) and coming across extra set of gear with the hopes that one of my friends who have gone on tropical vacation where they experienced a dsd with me would get certified. 0 for 3 takers. It was a bit more of a pain to get suited up in this area and not nearly as much to see as ocean. But it might satisfy the itch to dive and hold me over in between trips out of the country. I don’t have a dry suit, just farmer John style 7 mil.

 

[Marie13]

Yes didn’t look into it other than finding out that you can’t dive anywhere (solo or just in any lake) and coming across extra set of gear with the hopes that one of my friends who have gone on tropical vacation where they experienced a dsd with me would get certified. 0 for 3 takers. It was a bit more of a pain to get suited up in this area and not nearly as much to see as ocean. But it might satisfy the itch to dive and hold me over in between trips out of the country. I don’t have a dry suit, just farmer John style 7 mil.

There is a lot to dive here. None of the pretty fishies and coral, but the quality of the Great Lakes shipwrecks more than makes up for it. I took up WI cave (mine) diving in order to dive year round. Devils Lake and Wazee in WI are good dive sites.