Marine biologist leaving pacific northwest for Toledo, OH. Diving?

[Benthos]

Greetings.

I've been diving the pacific north west my entire life and am now being transferred to Toledo OH for the next 3 years and have no idea what to expect. I know nothing of the great lakes. I would likely only have one day off at a time and wanted to ask if its worth hauling dive gear out to Toledo. Worth bringing cameras? Tech gear? Just leave it all at home and dive Northern CA on your vacations???

Any info on what its like around Toledo would be welcomed.

Thank you so much,

Rich

 

[PvtStash]

jus' certed last year...

there are 3 quarries within an hours drive of here, and then of course various chartered possibilities for our Great Lakes... where there are many wrecks of 'tech depth'...

See ya' out at Whitestar!

 

[alpenadiver]

Get a weekend off, drive up to Alpena Michigan about 4 hours North of Detroit. We have sinkholes that have intrigued some of your colleagues, that contain microorganisms that are only found in Anarctica. Plus we have some spectacular shipwrecks.
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Research

 

[dab]

Wow. should you bring your dive gear? That like asking if you should take your sunglasses to southern california, or an umbrella to Seattle. The Great Lakes have the best wreck diving in the world. You will find steel, wood, old new, deep, shallow, broken up or completely intact. When it comes to wrecks, you name it and we have it. Just remember to bring your dry suit. If you likes wrecks, your in for quite a treat. Have fun.

 

[ComputerJoe]

I'll be down in Columbus this weekend and have pictures and maybe a DVD of a sink hole dive last year. Stop by the Thunder Bay booth and talk if your going to ScubaFest.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

One of my favorite areas for wreck diving ... Lake Huron from Port Sanilac, MI and on north ... will be just north of you. Don't miss it! Also Tobermory, Ontario is close by as is the wreck diving in eastern Lake Erie (Barcelona NY). The Great Lakes hold the best preserved wrecks in the world. They don't hold the incredible marine life you're used to, but the underwater archeology is amazing. Toledo is an excellent base of operations. Don't miss it while you're there!

 

[ComputerJoe]

Oh contrair...follow this link to some new discoveries in the off shore sink holes up here.
Great lake's sinkholes host exotic ecosystems
If you have ever dove the Middle Island Sink it is like visiting another planet. First you drop down a 50' wall and start penetrating the halocline near the bottom, then you look around the clear, yellow tinted waters and see the purple mat of algae and purple spikes, white 3' long algae strings flowing in the current around you. For a biologist it might be heaven. The algae they have found is classified an extremeofobe, it grows with out sunlight or oxygen and uses an unknown chemosynthsis process to survive.

And did I mention we have a few shipwrecks up here in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuarye as well? And we don't have passport requirements.

 

[gNats]

Greetings.

I've been diving the pacific north west my entire life and am now being transferred to Toledo OH for the next 3 years and have no idea what to expect. I know nothing of the great lakes. I would likely only have one day off at a time and wanted to ask if its worth hauling dive gear out to Toledo. Worth bringing cameras? Tech gear? Just leave it all at home and dive Northern CA on your vacations???

Any info on what its like around Toledo would be welcomed.

Thank you so much,

Rich

For quick "get wet" days, you have 3 excellent quarries in your backyard, each with a little different makeup and facilities. And, Toeldo borders a Great Lake (Erie) filled with wrecks and a short drive up the coast will provide you with several charter opportunities. Longer day trips and possible overnighters into Michigan will provide a plethora of wreck diving charters along Huron and Michigan lakes.

You can also experience some exciting drift diving in Michigan on several rivers.

Wreck photography can inspire some of the most haunting images of tragedy and history known.

I recommend you find Cris Kohl's book on Wreck Diving in the Great Lakes. This is a pretty inclusive book of the wrecks in all the Great Lakes and provides a brief description of the wreck, the condition of the dive, and other particulars.

Also check out WhiteStar, Gilboa, and Portage Quarry. Each has a website. I don't know the specific links, but if you Google each (White Star Quarry Ohio) you will be able to find each of the sites easily.

You will also find a great group of people from open water certified to technical diving certified to dive with.

If you are here in April, I strongly recommend you join us at Gilboa for the Meet and Greet weekend. It is April 24 -26. Camping, diving, and eating. You will meet a large group of divers from the IL, OH, MI, IN regions. If you are not here in April, there is another event in the Fall.

You will also find a lot of divers that do year round diving. Check out WhiteStar's ice diving photos. Some great images of diving under a sheet of ice.

Welcome to the region!