Western MN

[Eddie H]

I just moved to westen MN from WI. I am not familiar with any of the lakes, diving wise. I am near Montivideo. Can anyone give me some good lakes to dive. Or for that matter, Good lakes around the state not too far away. Thanks. Ed

[freedivernd]

Hi Ed,
welcome to the board. I'm afraid most of your diving is going to be pushing the 150 mile driving distance. Crosby or the Perham area I think will be your best bets. Maybe someone else has a bit more info for you.. check under the lake info link on this site too.
Fred

[LKunze]

Eddie, I grew up in Southwestern MN down near Marshall around 50 miles south of Dawson. The lakes are all pretty much shallow and dirty over there. There is so much farm land around there and I think run off is a big factor. I haven't heard of any lakes decent for diving in the southwestern part of the state to tell you the truth. Not what you want to hear I'm sure but I wouldn't rule out that there might be something worth diving there. I've just never heard of anything or maybe it's just that we don't have any members on the board here who are divers that live in your area that have had the chance to scout out the lakes. By the way welcome to the board!

[flyboy65]

I also grew up around Marshall, and the only lake in that area may be Browner down by Russell. It's in Camden state park, and generally was fairly clear...for that area. They've drained it a couple of times, and there really is no structure except for some trees that have fallen in on the south side of the lake. I'd say youd get 10 to 15 feet of vis earlier in the year.

[LKunze]

Only problem I see with that lake is that it's max depth according to the DNR Lake survey is 18 feet with most of it being in the 10 foot range or even less. Probably not worth scuba diving in.

[doxiepb]

I love diving those little shallow water holes.....it's amazing what a person can find in places that nobody dives ;D

[LKunze]

I love diving those little shallow water holes.....it's amazing what a person can find in places that nobody dives ;D
[/quote]
Yeah, I suppose you would find a lot of stuff in the shallow lakes that nobody dives. I guess I'd probably just snorkel em' though if they are that shallow unless viz wasn't good.

[MN.Manatee]

Good to see there is someone else out in these dang cornfields that likes to scuba. My husband and I moved from the Twin Cities to Olivia about 3 years ago and we can attest to the fact there is no place decent around here to dive. We tried Green Lake at Spicer (just north of Willmar) but late in the year and the vis was awful - 3-4ft. Checking DNR reports that is about all you get here. Has to do with how shallow they are - bottom end of the glacier movement and all. There is diving up around St Cloud. Husband and I are going to try Lake Okoboji in northern Iowa this summer.

[hgs_notes]

I'm in Sleepy Eye and there isn't anything worth diving less than an hour from here. Okiboji is good and there are several places to do shore dives. Try Watab SW of St Cloud. I dove it twice. First time the vis was awesome, like 25 feet or more, next time it wasn't more than than 5 feet. It depends on how busy it gets with boats and the rainfall.

Otherwise its a long drive north to Crosby or the Detroit Lakes area. I want to know where the St Cloud divers go. There are two dive shops there, they got to get wet somewhere.

HG

[nomads]

I live in St. Cloud and usually go to Crosby. I haven't tried Watab because of the boating but do know that St. Cloud Scuba occasionally goest to Watab.