Greetings from Minnesota!!!

[Marie13]

Ha.... Oh my... looks like Marie13 and I are going to be good friends.

So I understand the Great Lakes are very cold to dive. Are there any wrecks on the Minnesota side of the lake or would I have to go to Wisconsin or Michigan? Where would the Madeira be located? I guess I could look that up myself. LOL...

Check this website out for WI wrecks.

www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org

 

[Kcollins]

Check this website out for WI wrecks.

www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org

Ha... that ought to keep me busy for a while.

 

[Tracerbullet]

Welcome aboard

 

[Kcollins]

Was it the Oriskany? If so, yes, you can. IIRC, it's about 20 miles out of Pensacola, Florida.

Richard.

Found this on YouTube drrich2. Thanks again for the intell on this ship.

Sinking of an Aircraft Carrier

Enjoy if anyone is interested.

 

[Diggie]

Greetings group. My name is Kevin. I'm fascinated by wreck diving and all that comes with it. I have not yet pulled the trigger and gotten my open water certification but plan to next spring. Surgery has rendered me unable to enter water until I heal and the window for diving in Minnesota is rapidly dwindling down unless I can get comfortable diving under ice. LOL...

I have a friend that has gotten his Nitrox cert. over the years of going to the resorts that offer diving. Not sure if he's gotten his tech. diver cert. or not. His deepest dive he has done is 200' in a mine. The pictures and stories he has told are amazing. He lives in Iowa near a quarry that I hope to dive in the years to come to practice and just get wet. He says it's 60' deep and crystal clear.

I assume there are lakes here in Minnesota to dive as well but I wouldn't have a dive buddy up here unless my buddy came up. Which is a good possibility. Plus they don't seem to be the clearest for visibility.

So the goal is we (my wife and I) are planning a trip to Hawaii in 2024. Looking like Oahu and Maui. First time going. So between now and then I need to get my open water cert. and maybe my rescue diver cert. and practice practice practice till I'm comfortable enough to dive a wreck. Then research the wrecks around each island and figure out which one I'm going to dive. Very excited about that prospect. I am contemplating maybe a wreck dive in 2023 in Lake Superior maybe? If it's affordable enough. I'm new to this so I don't know what this stuff costs. I don't see me diving every weekend but maybe 3 or 4 times a year.

So there is where I'm at so far and where I plan to go. I look forward to gleaning as much knowledge and wisdom from the members here to make my new hobby a successful one.

Hello - where about in MN are you from? I’m in Sioux Falls area now just across the border but grew up in MN and went to college in WI. I’m a newbie as well and just recently dove with a group from Dive Depot in Bemidji and MN School of Diving in Brainerd. They dive around Crosby in the mines. I only have done 1 so far but was awesome. These have a pretty noticeable thermocline so to go deeper you will want a dry suit but wet suit shallow diving there too can be great I’m told and my 1 shallow dive there sure was. Already planning to get back to Crosby once more this year and a trip with the group from Sioux Falls next year. Lake Ore Be Gone has some purposely sunken trucks and a helicopter that looks fun. Okiboji in Iowa is a common dive site too. Local group there is called Boji Divers. Isle Royale in Lake Superior seems to be pretty popular for wrecks too and have that on my bucket dive list.

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

Kevin, when you are ready, Sol Mates liveaboard out of Silver Bay, MN will take you to the Madeira. It’s 60’ maximum depth and a balmy 39 degrees. It is a much, much easier dive from the boat than from shore. I dove with Sol Mates for a weekend this summer and it was a great time. A drysuit with dry gloves is highly recommended, but (younger, dumber) people were diving with us in wetsuits. Their dives were just much shorter.

Around the Twin Cities, you have Square Lake to get your practice in and you can drive 2 hours to do fun dives with Minnesota School of Diving in the Cuyuna mine pits. Fun dives are great because you’ll have a dive master and they will buddy you up.

 

[Kcollins]

Hello - where about in MN are you from?

In the Lakeville area just south of the Twin Cities Diggie. Looks like I have 2 options for dive school A Divers World in Lakeville and Scuba Center in Eagan. I have reached out to A Divers World but they are not too responsive. I do like Scuba Center because they at least have some pricing and FAQ's on with website. And they have an onsite practice pool.

 

[Kcollins]

Kevin, when you are ready, Sol Mates liveaboard out of Silver Bay, MN will take you to the Madeira. It’s 60’ maximum depth and a balmy 39 degrees. It is a much, much easier dive from the boat than from shore. I dove with Sol Mates for a weekend this summer and it was a great time. A drysuit with dry gloves is highly recommended, but (younger, dumber) people were diving with us in wetsuits. Their dives were just much shorter.

Around the Twin Cities, you have Square Lake to get your practice in and you can drive 2 hours to do fun dives with Minnesota School of Diving in the Cuyuna mine pits. Fun dives are great because you’ll have a dive master and they will buddy you up.

Sweet Barefoot thanks for the local intel. I've been researching the Madeira a little and it does look like she's a pretty good swim from the shore. My current plan is to get my OW cert. in the spring of next year. Mayish. Gives me time to get in better shape and heal from my back surgery. I'm 54 yo and very inactive. At the moment I don't think I could swim the 200 yards and float for 15 minutes like it's required in the PADI course.

 

[Marie13]

Sweet Barefoot thanks for the local intel. I've been researching the Madeira a little and it does look like she's a pretty good swim from the shore. My current plan is to get my OW cert. in the spring of next year. Mayish. Gives me time to get in better shape and heal from my back surgery. I'm 54 yo and very inactive. At the moment I don't think I could swim the 200 yards and float for 15 minutes like it's required in the PADI course.

Floating takes no effort at all. I nearly fell asleep when doing the float for my OW class. The guys, on the other hand, couldn’t float and had to work their butts off treading water.

Remember: fat people are floaty people!

 

[FinnDiverMN]

You can go to 60ft without AOW, 100ft with AOW, which includes one deep dive. By taking the full Deep Diver Specialty course, you're extending your range to 130ft, the recreational dive limit. Now, there's no "depth police" in the water, but you don't want to dive beyond your training. Pressure, cold and darkness can impact you in unanticipated ways if you're not experienced/knowledgeable to handle them.