Minneapolis area recommendations?

[scubagrrl]

My husband and I and my 16 yr old son are going to be coming up from Milwaukee to Minneapolis on June 14th - 16th.  We have to work Thursday    but Friday and Sat are completely free and we wanted to dive the area. 

The farthest north we've been so far has been Lake Wazee.  We frequently go there, so aren't interested in back tracking to that spot but want to try some places in MN instead!  We don't really want to have to hike with our gear so easy access would be best.  Nearby dive shop would be good as well.  Any place within an hour drive of Minneapolis is fine, and of course any where heading back towards the east works as well.

Thanks!

[LKunze]

Welcome to mnscuba.com Your best bet would probably be Square Lake which is a fairly short drive from the twin cities.  This is the lake that the majority of our local shops do training at.  The viz at the moment is pretty bad due to all the recent rain.  The best diving in MN is unfortunately at least a 2 hour drive away. 

[tullibee]

You might also look into the quarries by St. Cloud (I know there have been threads about them in the forum, but I'm not sure what the subject lines were -- you'll have to do a search for details).  I haven't done them yet, so I can't help with details!

[LKunze]

Yes, the only reason I didn't mention Quarry Park in St. Cloud was because scubagrrl mentioned not wanting to hike the gear very far and there is a bit of hike to get to the dive sites at Quarry Park.

[tullibee]

I was wondering about that - I thought a couple of the sites were not big hikes?

(more proof that I have GOT to get out and do more local diving! ;D)

[Elkman]

The first two quarries at Quarry Park aren't long hikes, but they aren't exactly adjacent to the parking lot either.  Then again, if you go to Square Lake and gear up at the county park, or go to Perch Lake in Wisconsin, there's a walk down the hill (or up the hill, depending on your point of view).

Looking at Google Earth, it looks like the hike from the Quarry Park parking lot to the first quarry is about 500 feet.  The second quarry open to diving isn't too much further than that.  It's manageable with a good cart or wagon or something like that.

I went diving at Quarry Park last fall with some other people from this board, and I liked the site because of its excellent visibility and because it's not just another lake -- there's interesting stuff to see.  On the flip side, the quarries are kind of small, so you don't exactly need double tanks.

[Jolly_mon]

Hi,

DiverQueen has a list of lakes and descriptions that might be helpful:


Have fun!

[scubagrrl]

Well, I'm going to Minneapolis for work pulling out some old equipment, so mostly our vehicle will be full so no real room for a cart/wagon.  I would like to get something collapsible for the purpose of dragging all our gear to spots like those quarries, but it will have to be a different trip when I have room in the car. heh 

Hopefully Square Lake will be a worthy dive, I think we're going to work Thursday, hit the Aquarium at Mall of America on Friday and dive all day Sat then drive home on Sun.    Then two weeks later we're taking dry suit certification classes and exploring going that route.  I really prefer diving wet, but I'm also a temperature wimp and don't like to be out of my wet suit in cold weather while wet.  We even bought 7mil hooded shorties to wear over our 7mil suits so we could dive earlier and later in the year.  I still ended up not diving as soon or late into the year as I would have liked and don't get in as many dives.  I'm also afraid to go wreck diving even though I live right on Lake Michigan because I'm afraid I'll freeze on the boat ride home. LOL 

I was reading about all the mines up near Brainerd today, sounds like a lot of fun diving up that away as well?

[claystaineddiver]

The Crosby pits are great to dive but its a couple hours drive to get there. You've got so many choices of places to dive, there's no need to get bored with the same old site. You will get red clay dust on you is one of the biggest bad points. "Note my nick on here". The roads used to be pretty bad to, but this spring they improved them greatly. Getting off the main dirt roads and into some of the pits can still be bad driving, but you can drive right up to most places people dive. It will be DUI days at the Crosby pits the weekend you'll be here. A good chance to try out a dry suit at a very low rental cost.

[ghosch]

Well, I'm going to Minneapolis for work pulling out some old equipment, so mostly our vehicle will be full so no real room for a cart/wagon.  I would like to get something collapsible for the purpose of dragging all our gear to spots like those quarries, but it will have to be a different trip when I have room in the car. heh   

Hopefully Square Lake will be a worthy dive, I think we're going to work Thursday, hit the Aquarium at Mall of America on Friday and dive all day Sat then drive home on Sun.    Then two weeks later we're taking dry suit certification classes and exploring going that route.  I really prefer diving wet, but I'm also a temperature wimp and don't like to be out of my wet suit in cold weather while wet.   We even bought 7mil hooded shorties to wear over our 7mil suits so we could dive earlier and later in the year.  I still ended up not diving as soon or late into the year as I would have liked and don't get in as many dives.   I'm also afraid to go wreck diving even though I live right on Lake Michigan because I'm afraid I'll freeze on the boat ride home. LOL   

I was reading about all the mines up near Brainerd today, sounds like a lot of fun diving up that away as well?
[/quote]

OK, somebody has got to say it.  If your choices are Square Lake or the bathtub at the hotel, take the bathtub.  If you want to make the bathtub more like Square Lake, dump one of the potted plants from the lobby in the tub and stir it up right before you get in.

If you actually want to enjoy the dives and you can make the timing work shoot up to Crosby or St. Cloud.

And by the way, I thought I liked diving wet as well, until my first dry dive, you'll never go back!