If you could choose just one dive site in Minnesota

[Qix]

I haven't done OreBGone or Lake Mine or St.James so this is based on my limited experience. Each site on my list is several hours from the TC's  so I factored that out and asked myself which ones I would dive the most and came up with this list (reverse order).

#3. Madeira: I really liked diving here. I just think I would get bored of diving here repeatedly. Now if the wreck was more in tact and bit more interesting it might sway my decision. Other points against (for me) are humping the gear and weather/water conditions that can rule it out for lots of fellow divers who can't do that much cold or can't afford to dive dry. Cold surface swims out or back (for wetsuit divers) take the fun out of it too quickly and often they sit out second or 3rd dives.

#2. Louise: I know, I know everyone has been there and done that (100's of times). This even surprised me. However, I always seem to have a good dive there, viz is always great, a excellent place to experiment with the camera and all types of gear, easiest access possible and you can literally camp feet away from your dive site. Plus, lots of other divers to visit and hang out with. There's always a concern about riffraff but in all the years there we've never had a problem with them.

#1. Bad Medicine: I like diving the lakes in the Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids area. But I really like diving this lake. And it's a natural lake vs something man-made. As a kid I loved snorkeling there. The viz can be very good for a minnesota lake, I like the lack of vegetation, seeing crayfish, plenty of other interesting fish and it's a big enough lake that there is still lots of area to explore. However, a boat would be a must to keep this in 1st place. It's on the reservation so I worry a bit more about the vehicle being broken into here versus the encourageables messing with it up at Crosby. But not enough to knock it out of 1st place. This lake used to be even clearer so maybe it will just keep getting worse given modern development, but that would be my biggest concern with this long term pick.