Scuba Diving In Minnesota? You heard me right: the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota. There are bound to be a couple of good dive sites. Well, you’ll be surprised by how many decent dive sites there are. Even though inaccessible through winter, most sites come alive from May to September when the weather finally warms up. I researched a few on my last trip to Minneapolis as I was itching to dive, not expecting to find much. But I was pretty impressed with what the Midwest offered Scuba Divers. From scores of wreck dive sites far up in Duluth right down to Lake Calhoun in the Twin Cities area, Minnesota has a great variety of freshwater diving. I decided to share a few of the top dive sites in Minnesota.
Cuyuna State Recreational area
The Cuyuna State Recreational area is located near Crosby, Ironton, and Deerwood, approximately 2 1/2 hours Northwest of Minneapolis. This region is home to some of the best freshwater mine diving in the Midwest, housing several mine lakes and upwards of 40 feet of underwater visibility. Created by the flooding of abandoned iron ore mines over the years. There are over 50-55 unique dive sites in the Cuyuna Recreational Area. A distinctive feature of diving here is the opportunity to dive in underwater forests where trees grew in and around the mines before they flooded. Many mine lakes are 200 or more feet deep and offer something for every kind of diver.
There is a diverse variety of aquatic life ranging from Rainbow trout, northern pike, walleye, bass, trout sunfish, and turtles, many of which were introduced into the area by the Department of Natural Resources once the mines flooded up.
Apart from the old mineshafts and mining artifacts scattered around the lake, people have added attractions. For example, abandoned vehicles and playground sets make the dives even more pleasurable.
One of the more popular sites in Cuyuna is the Crosby Mines, which offers excellent visibility, a water temperature of around 70 degrees, underwater forests, and abundant fish.
The Minnesota School of Diving (www.mndiving.com) offers the best and most diverse range of sites and trips in Cuyuna State Park and is worth looking up.
Square Lake
The Square Lake near Stillwater, Minnesota, about 45 minutes east of the Twin Cities, is one of the most popular dive destinations in the Twin Cities area.
Abundant marine life inhabits the lake, with a few training platforms, a couple of sunken boats, canoes, and a tail section of a Cessna plane as popular attractions.
The lake’s depth is not very deep at around 30-40 feet but offers decent visibility of around 10-25 feet.
One of the biggest attractions for divers is the Annual Treasure Dive at Square Lake County Park, organized by Smith Diving around May each year. It has become a longstanding tradition to mark the arrival of summer. Divers search the lake bottom for “treasures” (small objects), each piece of which earns an entry into the grand prize drawings.
Two local dive operators that provide popular fun dive trips to Square Lake are www.smithdiving.com and www.scubacenter.com. They offer regular dive trips and scuba diving equipment rental.
Here are a few sites near the Twin Cities area that are popular with Divers:
Lake Calhoun
Max Depth: 82ft Visibility: 15-20ft -Multiple shore accesses.
Lake Harriet
Max Depth: 87ft Visibility: 10-15ft -Multiple shore accesses
Christmas Lake
Max Depth: 87ft Visibility: 10-20ft, long surface swim.
Lake Minnetonka
Max Depth: 113ft Visibility: 10-15ft
Little Long Lake
Max Depth: 76ft. Visibility: 10-15ft
Lake Phalen
Max Depth: 91ft Visibility: 5-25ft
