New member from upper MN

[garethg]

Hello community. Just really getting into taking diving a bit more seriously and was looking to connect with others. Most of my dives have been scattered across the globe and I'd like to do more stateside. If there are any other upper Midwesterners I'd love to hear any recommendations.

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

Welcome! We have a decent diving community in MN, with quarry diving in Gilbert (Ore-Be-Gone) and Crosby (Cuyuna) and a lot of people that just go to a local lake for a dive (but the vis can be 5 feet!). Both Ore-Be-Gone and Cuyuna have decent (20-30 foot on a good day) visibility and diver-placed attractions like Jason Voorhees or a Helicopter if you know where to look. The shops up by you (Dive Depot in Bemidji, Minnesota School of Diving in Brainerd) should have fun dives where you can meet local divers and get introduced to the underwater attractions at the sites. They offer discounts on rental gear during these dives if you don't have your own.

You can also book charters on Lake Superior with Sol Mates or Unsalted Adventures.

Under 20' it gets COLD in the quarries and Lake Superior, so think about if a drysuit is in your future if you want to spend more than 10 minutes at depth.

I'm in the Twin Cities, but I drive up to Crosby to dive pretty frequently and would be happy to show you some of the attractions. I promise not to proselytize too much about my GUE training.

You should also join the Minnesota Scuba Diving Facebook group - that's a good place to find other divers more local to you.

EDIT - aside from the charters, you can also shore dive the Madeira and the Hesper shipwrecks near Silver Bay.

 

[garethg]

Awesome, thanks for the intel! I live all the way up in Ely. I've done a couple fun dives with a group out of Duluth up by Gooseberry and really enjoyed it. Cold water is certainly a different beast, but I'm stoked to do more of it.