Lake Calhoun

[sagacity]

I'm new to the area, and now live near Lake Calhoun. Of the Chain Lakes, I hear Calhoun is the best. Does anyone dive this lake? Is there too much recreational activity to safely dive it? If its diveable, what locations are best? Is there anything interesting there? etc etc ;D I have information from the MN DNR, but I'm looking for some personal experiences, I guess. I live walking distance to the lake, and I'm hoping its a decent place for diving, as it would be very convenient.

Thanks in advance!

[LKunze]

I haven't dove there but I know several people who have dove there.    Use the search tab and type in Calhoun and you'll get a bunch of posts with discussion on it.  Personally I'm not real big on diving the city lakes.  They get pretty nasty once the weather warms up.  It's best to dive them in the early spring.

[sagacity]

That's a shame.  :-\ How are the other, non-city, lakes? Do they have decent viz during the summer? I was hoping to get A LOT of diving done this summer...

[LKunze]

The non-city lakes tend to be a bit better for viz in the summer I'm guessing because there isn't as much traffic on and around them, and generally they have less trash and are cleaner.  The only city lakes I've personally dove are Phalen,  Christmas and Minnetonka.  The best viz I saw at Christmas and Minnetonka was 8 feet and last year at Phalen viz ran around 10 feet in early April.  The viz starts to get murky by the end of May.  That's my experience anyway.  I know there are exceptions and the conditions vary a bit each year.  Maybe scubadog76 will chime in here.  He dives the city lakes a lot each year.

[DiverQueen]

Calhoun was my first Real Open Water dive after certification.  Very cloudy in late August...Bring a Light!  I believe we were at Thomas Beach (bring quarters for the parking meters) on a "Tuesday Night Fun Dive"  through Smith Diving.  They alternate between Square Lake and Calhoun.  I was paired up with another diver since I didn't register with a buddy.  He was navagationally challenged!!!  We tried to go out past the weedline and drop down to 20 feet and swim to a sunken island that I saw in my "Twin Cities area Fishing Maps" book.  I thought we were coming up on the island but we were just returning to the shore weedline...Surfaced, got compass heading...came around in a circle again!  Still had fun,  saw a huge steel wheel and the pockmarked clay slope.  I kept looking up to make sure no one was above me, I think it was shadows of planes overhead.

[scubadog76]

Aahh, Lake Calhoun.  The spot I dive the most is at the south end and the west side in front of the apartments.  In the spring in front of Thomas beach up until about the 1st week of may, you will find dozens of turles resting through the winter, burried up to their necks in sand.  They are always there and its pretty cool to see.  On the south end somewhere :, you will find a very old wooden sail boat mast.  We are gonna keep it on the down low for a while.  On the west in front of the aptartments, you will find a very cool sewer/water type aparatus in about 20'.  Not sure what it is but its cool.  The north side is tough to access and I really have not dove it that much.  The east is shallow and not too much to see.  I was swimming out on my back and actually got stuck in the sand about 100 yards from shore.  You may find stuff that the rowing teams drop there.  I found a blow horn.  Stay away from the sailboat areas or you'll probably get hassled by the man.  The best part about the lake is that it can drop off pretty quick.  You can also find alot of old pictures on the web and get old photos to get an idea of where stuff used to be.  There once was a bathhouse of the northwest corner, now its just a couple of hills.  Also, an interesting google for Calhoun, James Moon, Lake Calhoun.  Hope it helps, Jeff.

[sagacity]

Thatks a lot for the info. I'll do a little more checking on Google!
geocaching should have an underwater component to it for these types of things!