Quarry open in St. Cloud

[ScubaDiveandTravel]

You guys check out this story in the St. Cloud Times.  The Web address is: .  It was posted on June 7.  Take a look at it.



WAITE PARK — Several of Quarry Park and Nature Preserve’s cool, deep watering holes soon will be open to recreational scuba divers.

The Stearns County board Tuesday agreed to allow “sport” diving at some of the park’s quarries, which have attracted divers statewide for decades.

Until now, only instructional dive groups were allowed to use the park, and they were limited to two quarries.

The new policy will allow certified divers to use four of the park’s quarries on their own.

Divers must get a permit and sign a liability waiver first, said Chuck Wocken, county parks director.

The waiver warns of potential hazards, including unstable rock piles, cables, machinery and tree snags.

Divers will be required to use a flag to alert park officials of their presence, Wocken said.

Ed Hunstiger, owner of Underwater Sports Adventure of St. Cloud, said divers who trained at the park want to dive where they’re comfortable and away from boat traffic.

“It keeps newer divers in a safer environment,” he said.

Hunstiger acknowledged that while there’s a potential for injury, diving has the same accident ratio as bowling.

The quarries attract divers because they contain interesting items such as fish, sunken cars and even a sailboat.

Diving will not be allowed in Melrose Deep Seven, the park’s swimming quarry.

The new policy won’t take effect until signs are posted, probably by fall,
Wocken said.

Happy Diving!

Bonni and Ozzey
Scuba Dive and Travel

[LKunze]

Sounds good.  There are never enough places to dive and St. Cloud is a pretty close drive.

[jasondbaker]

This is awesome news.  Anyone know anything about the mines they may open? Depth, visibility, etc? Cost of permit? It's funny that on the same day we hear about Crosby potentially being closed off and St. Cloud being opened.

[tcjtn0]

Cool beaners!!!
Yes , that is alot closer than Crosby...

Oh sure , NOW open them after I leave ...  :'(

Jean
Ft. White , Florida

[Mr.Pitbull]

You miss us, don't you Jean?

[mrweekend]

Excellent news,  Hats off goes to all the divers and store personal that made it happen.  Now I can go back and clean up all my beer cans, and other paraphenalia that I "lost" as an irresponsible teenager.  It's been 25 years since I swam in them.  I did my part to close them, Now I'd like to do my part to clean them up.

[Maka]

Stearns County has information and depth maps of the quarries in the park.
You can follow the link:

It will be fun to check out the pits this fall.

[DiveCaptDean]

Anybody have anything like this for the iron ore pits up in Mt. Iron, Virginia, Eveleth, GIlbert area?
Thanks
Deano

[mcdiver]

Regarding diving in the quarries in Waite Park, the "pits" are in Quarry Park. As of today, the "pits" are not open to public diving. I take my students there for their "check out" dives and was there last weekend.

The plan is to only open 3 of the pits. The one we use for training is small and max depth is around 65', but you really have to hunt for it, a lot of underbrush is on the bottom. This pit is referred to as #18.

They will also open pit #13, which is just south of #18, we did a "cleanup" on it back in May. I have never made a dive in #13, so I can not relay any info on it. These pits are about a 1/4 mile hike from the parking lot.

Pit #2 is a hike though, I am not sure of the distance, it is the next pit past the "swimming" pit. One would be best to use some type of 4 wheel trailer to haul the gear on. Once again, this pit has never been dived, as far as I know. I hiked to the "swimming" pit last summer in July, was eaten by misquitos along the way since you go through a swampy area along the way, very heavily wooded. I would guess that it is well over a mile hike.

[DiverQueen]

Do you know if they will do any "Park like" modifications to make it somewhat more accessible to the divers who will be paying user fees when it is opened?  Things like closer parking, paved trails, "Portable Comfort Stations" and other necessities of life?