Diving the Bayfield area

[ally507]

Hey does anyone know of any shore dive sites near bayfield or madeline island. My friend and I are going diving there and we don't have a boat to get to the other islands so we are pretty much stuck near bayfield, or madeline. If anyone has any other ideas for us please give me a yell.
Thanks

[Chris H]

My friend Bob, the owner of Divepoint Scuba, found a live grenade diving off Bayfield.  If you call him at 1-877-DIVEPNT, or 715-344-DIVE he may be able to give you some shore diving information. 

[Omicron]

Maritme trails has got some info as well



I see that Keith already posted now before I did...he is definitely an authority

[FreediveWI]

I've dove,and kayaked, that area and would suggest just renting a kayak to reach all of those wrecks and looking at them with a pair of sunglasses. The are pretty shallow, especially the Fedora, which you can actually touch as you paddle over her. There is an awesome kayak outiftter up there that will take you on day trips to paddle over the wrecks if you wish.

Not to push freediving  , but a tank is total overkill for any of those. Actually, getting in the water is overkill for them as well. For kayaking it's awesome. 8)

Some of the paddlers I met will just paddle with a mask and do an eskimo roll when they come up to one. Once your flipped over for a minute you've seen the whole thing and are ready to move on to the next one. It's possible, by kayak, to hit a bunch of them in an afternoon.

Jon

[ethanb]

I'd agree with Keith that it's definitely worth using SCUBA to see the McCool.  It's mostly fairly shallow (5-20 feet), but there's plenty of swim-throughs and even a compartment you can stick your head inside.  There's tons of gears and winches and other hardware.  You can easily spend an hour on it and still be noticing interesting mechanical stuff by the end of the dive.  It's also fun watching the kayakers paddle over you.  Don't be deterred by the difficulty of getting to it - just park in the junkyard (don't block the way and don't get stuck in the mud) and you're 30 feet from the water. 

The outfitter Jon mentions is probably "Trek and Trail" () and they are indeed great.  I did the three-day "Paddle Through Time" trip with them years ago and it was really a wonderful experience.  I think they have a day trip that visits some of the wrecks. Even if you've never been paddling before, it's a great operation to go with.

Another interesting place to dive is the sea caves on the west side.  They're only accessible by boat (we did it via canoe - it's about a 45 minute paddle in a loaded canoe), but it's amazing scenery, above and below water.  Here you can have a fun time surprising the kayakers by swimming out of the caves and purging your regulator under their boat.

There's also a sunken car, just off the ferry pier in downtown Bayfield.  I don't exactly remember how you find it, but I think you can walk along the rocks to the right of the pier (just to the left of a marina) until you see a line tied to one of the rocks, a foot or so underwater.  It runs out to the car - it's about 60 feet deep (cold!) and maybe 100 feet offshore.

Ethan

[ethanb]

It's scary hearing all the boats pass overhead, but you can follow the line down from shore to the wreck and then follow it back up, so you're 10-20 feet down before you're far enough off-shore to worry about getting run over.  You definitely want a flag though.

Ethan