first mn dives

[scubafreek864]

recreational depts....newly certified diver....... ;D
[/quote]

I didn't say that they had to go DEEP.  There are still a lot more to see in the shallows at the mines, than at any of the Metro lakes, IMHO..

[DetectorGuy]

On the West end of Arco Mine there is a shallow dive site called "Stumpy". The whole West end of the pit is under 25' and the submerged forest there is really something to see. The submerged birch trees still have the bark on them after 50+ years. The sunfish are thicker than hair on a dog. There is a beaver lodge along the SW shore that holds alot of fish near it. There are bass and northerns all over. A few painted turtles too. If I ever get less selfish, I really want to bring my daughter up there snorkeling. She could snorkel all day and not see the same thing twice. Alstead has a nice beaver lodge and Huntington has a couple beaver lodges.

[arcFlash]

Portsmouth right of the beach, It's very shallow but between shore and 15 feet deep is a lot of old mine things like lights and stuff.

Shangri-La (Alstead) is an easy dive.

[BigC]

This might be something to take my daughter to as well. She is doing her final lake dives next week. Luckily, the instructor lets me suit up and go in with some of his classes so I'll be there to watch her as a proud papa. We are doing a trip to Wazee in Aug, but this sounds like something we would both really enjoy.

[DetectorGuy]

The stumpy site on Arco is a nice easy shore access (actually a dirt boat access) and there is no real surface swim to see submerged trees. the only draw back to this site is there is some poison ivy around the access so be careful where you throw you wet suit down.

The NW corner of Huntington mine is where the one beaver lodge is. This can be accessed from shore (right after turning off the blacktop park there and walk down the big hill full of poison ivy) but this end is best accessed by boat. There is also a shallow top of a vertical mine shaft on the SW corner of Huntington called "Gettin' the Shaft". It is a wood structure that is only 8' below the surface and easy to snorkel too but a boat would get you there best. This shaft structure is cool to see from the outside but it is very fragile DO NOT go inside the shaft. I asked someone how deep that shaft runs once and he said "I can't remember if its very deep or very, very deep" On Huntington there is another beaver lodge in what is called South Bay. The viz in South bay really sucks after a rain as there must be a creek running into this bay. This South Bay is a boat dive. On the North center portion of Huntington closer to the Feigh Mine end, there is a site called "Gilligans Plunge" that is only 25' deep to a fiberglass runabout (Maybe a bit too deep for snorkeling but shore access is not too bad walking down the hill). There are some submerged trees around this boat and some fish around those trees. There is a small dock section near the boat. I have heard that there is a Ford Ranger straight out from Gilligans Plunge. Some websites claim this is in 70' deep water but more reliable sources tell me that its about 115' deep these days.

[dwitt2n]

....thanks again to all who shared dive sites...