Ship wrecks, history, tech diving…it is the gem of cold water diving and Lake Superior is on the top of every divers list of places-I-must-dive. The largest of the five Great Lakes in the attic of the United States, Lake Superior often lives up to its name.
Divers looking for adventure will discover that Lake Superior has 31,700 square miles to explore. It is 350 miles long and at its widest 160 miles wide. Its average depth is 483 ft. in most places but drops down to a max depth of 1,332 ft. Lake Superior offers historical shipwrecks 2,900 cubic miles of water to hide in.
One of the things that make Lake Superior one of the world’s best areas to dive shipwrecks is locked in the waters unusually low temperature estimated at fewer than 36 °F on average. The historical saying that, “Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead” comes from the incredible preservation of the shipwrecks in her waters.
Paul Turpin of Discovery Charters located in Rossport, Ontario says that the fact that the shipwrecks are so well preserved is a huge draw for divers. “Diving on the northern edge of Lake Superior is incredible,” says Turpin. “The wrecks are very well preserved due to the really cold water. The wrecks are literally left almost as they were when they sank. The cold water keeps them from deteriorating. I have divers come in September to get the warmer waters, but warmer is still cold for those used to warmer diving. A drysuit and you have an amazing experience.”
Turpin’s charter service takes divers out to wrecks such as the Gunilda at McGarvey Shoal near Rossport. “It’s a short season; about 10 weeks of good boating but it is well worth the experience,” Turpin says.
Wally Peterson of Thunder Country Diving in Thunder Bay understands the draw to the big lake…he’s been a diver himself since 1976 and has run his own dive shop since 1983. “It is the hidden gem for wreck diving,” Peterson says. “Our favorite area to dive, Isle Royale, is approximately 35 miles from Thunder Bay, Ontario, a popular wreck diving area that tech divers know well. In the Thunder Bay area we have the wrecks Green River, Robert Fryer, the Puckasaw, just to name a few and we are always looking for others. Divers are discovering new wrecks all the time.” Peterson says that the wrecks range in depth starting from 115 ft. to sticking out of water. “There are all types of wrecks,” says Peterson. “The character of the diving is well rounded. Whether you are a novice or a tech diver there is literally a ship wreck
for every level of diver.”
So why head north to some of the coldest diving you will ever experience? Well there is the history, then there are the wrecks and by far there is the experience of seeing history through the wrecks held motionless in time. Lake Superior may be the “graveyard” of ships but it is also a place where divers can experience the past suspended in cold water and held in time only to be discovered by today, and tomorrows, divers. ■
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