Minnesota School of Diving Inc.

Since 1959

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Local Dive Conditions

5/22/13 Fun Dive at Gilligan's Plunge - Huntington Mine

Jeff Adams, Tim Gack, Josh Marcum and Todd Matthies were treated to "Duda Burgers" as MSD Dive Master Extraordinare Josh Duda hosted a Fun Dive to Gilligan's Plunge on May 22. Visibility and water temps are improving greatly. Vis was in the 20 to 30 foot range above 20 feet and below 40 feet. Water temps above the 10 foot deep thermocline are in the high 40's. At depth it's still a little nippy at 39 degrees. 

5/9/13 Fun Dive at Tree Hugger - Hopkins Mine

Bill Lacroix and Todd Matthies enjoyed an "invigorating" season opening fun dive on May 9th as the ice was still tinkling in the distance. The ice had just partially broken up and moved over. Visibility was poor as it takes a while for the particulate matter that was on the ice to settle out. 

Water Conditions as of April 5th 2013... cold and hard

A year ago we had to cancel the Ice Dive Class because there wasn't any ice left. This year we started the Ice Class but had to postpone it 4 weeks because of the heavy snow cover. Whether spring likes it or not we have our first Fun Dive scheduled for Wednesday May 1st and we will be diving - even if we have to do it in a puddle.

 

 

HELLO SUMMER, CAN YOU HEAR US!

Visibility is back to where it should be!

We haven't updated the conditions lately, but I am happy to report that good visibility has returned. Over the last few weeks worth of Fun Dives visibility in Hopkins, Mangan and Huntington has greatly improved. In the shallow depths (surface to 25 ft) the vis has been ranging between 30 to 50 feet. Between 25 and 40 ft.  vis drops to 10 to 15 ft., below 40ft it improves back into the 30 to 40 foot range.

 

Water temps:    Surface to 25 ft. - Mid 70's

                           25 to 60 - Low 50"

                           60 + Upper 30's

 

Take advantage of the improved vis and come along on one of our fun dives. Remember that in September the week night fun dives leave MSD - Brainerd at 5:00 PM sharp because of the shortened day-light hours. Saturday fun dives leave at 11:30 AM as always, and will run through October finishing up with our U/W Pumpkin Carving Fun Dive on Oct. 27th. September and October diving is a great time to dive the Cuyuna Mine Pits. The visibility is at it's annual best and the water temps remain quite comfortable well into October.

07/03/12 Fun Dive at WOMBAD Point - Alstead 2 Mine

The heavy rains are still making vis a bit less than desired. But with a relatively rain-free forcast for 7/7-14/12 we are hopeful that conditions will improve. Visibility over the Forth of July week was 15-20 from the surface down to the thermocline at 20 ft., then the vis dropped to 10-15 feet from 20 to 40 feet of depth. Visibility below 40 feet is good at 40 to 50 feet but it is obviously quite cold (Todd had a reading of 42 degrees at 65 ft on 7/5/12's dive at Huntington Access).

06/20/12 Fun Dive at Diamond Cove - Hopkins Mine

The recent rain has caused some issues with visibility in the shallow waters. At depths below the thermocline (20 ft.) the visibility improves somewhat. Water temps down to 20 feet are in the upper 60's to low 70's. Diamond cove had only about 5-10 feet of vis shallow but improved to 20-30 feet below 40 feet of depth.

05/17/12 Fun Dive at Arco

Divers reported 5 to 10 feet of visibility below 25 feet, while above that depth it was 25 to 30. They said that the water was warming up but didn't say what temp.

05/09/12 Fun Dive at South Alstead

We had a good group out for a beautiful evening dive on S. Alstead. Todd and Darlene followed the submerged roadway to the east and were rewarded with 30+ feet of visibility and good fish life (big bass and a couple northerns). Mark Cross and Jeff Adams checked out the bay to the west, and said it was pretty much void of fish life and vis was 10 - 15 feet. Water temp at surface was 56 and at 50 ft. it was 42.

05/05/12 Fun Dive at Shangri-La on Alstead MIne

Visibility was 15 feet. Water temp 50 at the surface and 46 at 30 feet. 8 fish were seen, or one was seen 8 times.

5/01/12 Fun Dive at Gilligan's Plunge on Huntington Mine 

Visibilty ranged from 20 to 30 feet. Water temps were 47 at the surface and 41 at 75 feet. Road conditions are excellent with the recent improvements. The last 50 yards into the site has been improved also, but there still are some bumps and a pretty steep incline.