Moving to Madison from California.

[FreediveWI]

Crabby Hermit moved to:

6771 University Avenue

I think that he is also now a NAUI facility.

A wetsuit will work for the rest of this summer. August is the prime month out on Lake Michigan for warm water- we had 70 degrees down to 95' for a couple of weeks last summer. If you stick to the inland lakes they will get up to the low 80's above the thermocline through mid-September.

Still, A dry suit is a must for scuba diving year round. The LenDer charter boat goes out in the middle of winter to the wrecsk off of Milwaukee. I have measured out winter vis to be 85', or more. A drysuit is required for those dives.

Jon

[WIdiver_Paul2]

Justin,
You're probably already settled in, but I thought I'd add some destinations for your diving dollars and time:

Tamara Thompsen, sidemount cave diver, runs Diversions Scuba on Old University Avenue, near University Hospital--

this is the only place in town for O2, HE and Argon fills. She sells Zeagle, Poseidon, OMS and Scubapro stuff. And she is the VR3 dealer for the USA (and don't forget to stop in and say hi to Charlie, the scuba chihuahua!)

The "other" scuba club in Madison is Hoofers Club. Hoofers is an organization founded by members of the Student Union of the UW, but is open to anyone.
Socials are 7:30 at the Memorial Union on every Thursday, everyone is welcome to stop in (look for the dive flag at a table), hang out, drink beer and swap dive plans or stories. Hoofers scuba does PADI instruction from OW through A.I. (at very competitive rates) and has full rental equipment available at an incredible discount. Gaye Lynn Clyde does instruction for Hoofers out of her quarry in Watertown (about 15 acres to depths of 90', with 2 "shipwrecks" and training platforms) and hubby Russ helps out as well. Hoofers does a salt water trip anually (this year is blackbeard cruise in Bahamas) and several excursions to local sites (Isle Royale and Straits of Mackinac in 2003). Find more info here:

[FreediveWI]

Don't forget about Fontana and Three Little Devil's.

The Four lakes scuba club plays hockey every monday night in Mc Farland. We had 14 people show up last night.

Lake Mendota is pretty clear right now, but Monona is still fairly green for some reason.

Jon

[DiveCaptDean]

Justin,
i have no choice but to assume that you are well settled in at this time, but wanted to add a few thoughts. Underwater Connection is Delafield..roughly 40miles from Madison is a good shop to hit. See Colin there, he is a hell of a nice guy and is also a PADI Course Director. Underwater also offers TDI courses through instructor Michael Haynes. Milkwaukee has fantastic wreck diving, several of which are in recreational depths. Yes, we get a little cold here, and a dry suit would be a worth while investment, but you will be fine with your 6.5 suit for most of the season. There are several charters along the lake from Chicago to Sheboygan. in Milwuakee, i know of three regular charters. Len-der charters, aboard a steel hulled ex gill net fishing boat (Lender) Master Capt. Jerry Guyer runs all year long and generally has ten or better divers on each trip throughout the summer. Nordic Diver, aboard a 31ft? bayliner is most commonly a Technical charter and Captain Bill usually runs to the wrecks beyond recreational depth, with 6 divers or less. WreckXpress dive charters runs a 28ft Trojan Flybridge. They will take 6 divers out to local wrecks, and will customize trips for a small group. They are also able to provide an instructor if arrangements are made in advance. I am partial to WreckXpress as i own it, feel free to drop me an email at DiveCaptDean@aol.com.
In general, you will find alot of great people to dive with in the area. There are a lot of very good divers in the area, most of which are happy to play tour guide, or just welcome new divers. Enjoy the local diving, as you will find the best preserved shipwrecks in the world here, and Milwaukee is a great place to start.
Welcome
Dean

[John H. Moore]

Having just moved to near Madison from California, I had to check out this thread!

Justin, if you're still out there: have you gotten wet yet? I'm also in a wetsuit, but thinking about giving it a try soon ... even if the dive might be quick! It sounds as if the better vis is now...

By the way, while reading this thread I turned on my GPS (and walked outside for better reception) and it's about 1275 ft in elevation in Dodgeville...

Capt Dean: what are good sites and/or wrecks for experienced divers who don't go below 130 ft and who don't penetrate wrecks?

Justin, what part of California were you from?

John
formerly from San Diego, CA
now in Dodgeville, WI

[jasondbaker]

John, one of the best regional divesites is Lake Wazee by Black River Falls, It is located west of you on I94. It is a very diver friendly area. The water is open so you should find people out there every weekend. Just watch the forum to see when people are going out. Welcome to the forum!

[FreediveWI]

John,

Where in San Diego did you dive? I did my instructor training out there a long time ago and have dove many of the local areas- still have a sister who lives in San Diego.

We dove in Red Granite last weekend, a shorter drive form Madison than Wazee is. There are also some other local lakes that are looking pretty good right now- just took a bike ride past Monona and she is finally clearing up again. Mendota is starting into her clearest time of year and Rock lake isn't that far away.

As far as wrecks go, ther are plenty. You can choose depths from 5' to 320' and any type of condition that you can imagine. The vis in the lake is much better than it was 10 years ago- I've had up to 85' in the middle of winter out there.

One wreck, the Prinz Willy, was once listed as one of the top 20 wrecks in all of North America. She gets almost 2,000 dives on her a year by just one charter boat, the Lend-Der, and there are many other boats that visit her as well. She starts at about 60', depending upon the lake level, and she maxes out at 93', if you stay on the outside of her. She makes a great freediving spot since there is so much relief. She is also a good place to do some penetration training if your so inclined.

Madison has a great underwater hockey team, that's associated with a local dive club. If your looking for a local recreational shop check out Three Littel Devils or The Underwater Connection. If your interested in Tec- diving then make the drive to Deep Blue in Milwaukee. They are the only one's in the state who offer the DIR-F class and have a full blending facility to offer everything from 02 fills to trimix. They are also offering trimix and rebreather classes this summer.

I live in Madison, but, now, only freedive- as there's not much point to throwing on a tank in these lakes. If your interested in Freediving or spearfishing email me.

Jon

[DiveCaptDean]

Capt Dean: what are good sites and/or wrecks for experienced divers who don't go below 130 ft and who don't penetrate wrecks?

Hey John,
I think you will like most of the diving here. Wazee lake in Black River Falls is a must. Visibility is usually quite good, and you are able to enjoy wall diving at any depth you desire.

As far a wreck diving in Lake Michigan goes...There are a ton of wrecks to visit, most all are very interesting without penetration, and all are quite close to shore, so trips out are short on a quick boat. Some of the most common are:
Prins Willem V 258ft steel freighter on its side in 85ft. its sitting in a hole, so you can hit 100 if you did a little. Probably the most penetrated wreck out of milwaukee. but just as interesting on the outside.

Gillen tug...sitting in 65 ft even keel very complete.. with penetration possible.

Dredge #6 (906) 75 ft..upside down..still has the boom this suspends it, so the entire dive is kind of overhead.

Lumberman.. 1862 lake schooner65ft. a nice dive and is in pretty good shape.

Milwaukee 338ft railroad care ferry in 120ft of water. it went down with 27 railroad cars on it. A huge, very interesting dive. you cannot just dive it once....

Norlond wooden steamer broken and scattered in 65ft.

Jerrys Wreck named after Jerry Guyer captain of Lender..who found it. wooden steam powered..in 40 ft.

There are quite a few other shallow wrecks that are broken up. there is a small airplane, and a couple of shore dives where you will find scattered remains of wooden ships and schooners. There are several technical dives as well that are very interesting. You will need deep technical training to see them.

Welcome to big lake wreck diving...i think you will find that many if not most of the people on this site...have dove the big lakes....

let me know if i can get you out...
divecaptdean@aol.com


Dean

[John H. Moore]

Hi Capt Dean,

The Milwaukee sounds really interesting -- having ridden on the SS Badger (and sister ship that used to sail... name?) many times as a child and also more recently. Is it like the Badger? (the Manitowoc - Ludington ferry)

I'll have to give you a ring sometime ... are you running out into Lake Michigan already this season? What kind of temps at depth?

John

[John H. Moore]

Jon,

I've dived pretty much everywhere in San Diego. Most dives were in the La Jolla area, but my favorite sites were down on the edge of the Point Loma kelp (problem is that you need a boat to get to those sites). I actually founded and ran for 4-5 years (until moving here) the San Diego diving info website, Divebums ( -- check it out), so I'm pretty familiar with diving in that area.

What's your sister's name? I know a lot of San Diego area divers... (send it to me via private message if you don't want it on the internet)

John