Almost Certified Beginner

[jasondbaker]

You can always rent the gear you need for local diving. I think the closest decent lake to you is Fish Lake. You can also find good diving down at Lake Okoboji.

The question you need to answer is what level of diving proficiency do you want to attain? Diving is like golfing. You don't necessarily need the best clubs or need to be on the best courses. But you do need to golf consistently to become good at it.