Quarry temps in mid October?

[FunkyDiver]

Hi all! I'm new to diving this year and have enjoyed it tremendously so far. I've only been diving in some of the midwest (Whitestar and Portage quarries in Ohio mostly) so far. I'm thinking about taking an advanced class in the middle of October but am wondering what the temperatures will be like then. Thanks for any info you can provide, and have fun diving!

 

[CheddarChick]

Depends on which quarry. Can you give location?

 

[tc_rain]

Sorry, don’t mean to hijack the thread but I am also interested. Anyone know about Haigh or Pearl Lake?

 

[BKP]

According to Dive Training mag... White Star gets all the way up to 70 farenheit in the summer (brrrrrrr)... If you're doing Advanced, you've got at least one deep dive. Even being conservative, and saying the surface remains at 70, you'll be going through at least two thermoclines going down... Figure average 10 degree drop per thermo... leaves you at 50... not terrible... (but I wouldn't wear my Caribbean shorty...)

Portage sounds a bit warmer... high 70's in summer, to low 60's at depth. I'd deduct 5 to 10 degrees for a mid October visit...

Good luck on your AOW

 

[k4man]

BKP is accurate. I've been in many of the Ohio quarries in both early dive season, and later--as you mentioned October. Gilboa and Portage, even in the summer, have their COLD areas...even on the shallower side of Gilboa, I had readings in the 40's by the tubes!! (60 feet).

I would suggest 7mm wet or even considering doing a dry suit specialty along with your AOW. That would take care of two issues at once.

 

[Meister481]

I was at Gilboa last weekend. It was 66 degrees at 70' and 41 at the bottom. The tubes were 66 as well. First t-cline was at 27', 75 above that. Hope the info helps.

 

[jepuskar]

Haigh is in the lower 70's right now at 20 feet. lower 60's below 30 feet, and 50 at 80 feet. Obvioulsy expect it to keep creeping lower...

 

[SteveC]

We dove Haigh last week and had a great time. The vis was over 30 feet, thanks to the Zebra muscles. We dove a 5 mill one piece with no hood for over 3 hours and were fine above 30 feet. A hood would have been needed below that.

 

[Amadeus023]

Hi tc rain - I have been both to Haigh Quarry & Pearl Lake this month and the temps range in the 70's. I am told that they will drop in October. Below the therocline it is very cool. Cheddar Chick will probably be more experienced at least with Pearl Lake temps in Oct.

I dove in Lake Michigan today with a 5 mm wetsuit (71 degrees) for 2 whole minutes as part of a Project AWARE beach cleanup project. It was only two minutes because the visibilty was absolutely zero! I could not locate my dive buddy when we started to descend. It was very scary. I was clenching the buoy line when my dive buddy knocked on my mask to let me know he was there. We decided to discontinue the dive and swam back to shore, but as least I logged 2 more minutes of bottom time - yeah! I was very comfortable with the current water temps.

 

[FunkyDiver]

Sorry for the late reply. I believe we are doing the dives at Portage and Gilboa. I've been asking around some other folks and they agree with the replies I've seen so far: 5-10 degrees cooler than summer, but a lot cooler when you get out. You would need something to keep warm during the surface intervals. We'll be wearing at least 7mil suits or possibly a 2 piece farmer john if I can get one.

Thanks all for the replies!