Scuba Center is Minnesota's Largest Scuba Diving School -- Two Locations offering PADI certification courses in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Eagan, Minnesota -- Shop with us online at scubacenter.com -- Find a huge selection of quality scuba diving and snorkeling equipment, underwater digital cameras, wetsuits, drysuits, dry gloves, and technical diving gear. Our Minneapolis location has the largest selection of kiteboarding and snowkiting equipment in the Minnesota. Scuba Center also features ice rescue and water rescue equipment from the best manufacturers in the business at our Eagan location. -- Now offering PADI eLearning Courses!

5015 Penn Ave South   Minneapolis, Minnesota 55419    (612) 925-4818

1571 Century Point   Eagan, Minnesota 55121   (651) 681-8434

www.scubacenter.com

 

Great Lakes Wreck Diving

Click on a logo to visit the related site


Project AWARE Respect Our Wrecks

Lake Superior Trip Information

Isle Royale Wreck Diving Trip

Madeira Wreck Diving


Lake Superior Reference

Order Great Lakes Wreck Diving Books Online


Apostle Islands:


Isle Royale:


Apostle Islands National Lakeshore -- Clean, clear water, underwater rock formations, and fascinating shipwrecks combine to provide outstanding diving opportunities at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
Apostle Islands Divers Guide


Isle Royale National Park -- This wilderness archipelago is 45 miles long and nine miles wide at its widest point. Isle Royale National Park encompasses a total area of 850 square miles including submerged lands which extends four and a half miles out into Lake Superior. The archipelago is composed of many parallel ridges resulting from ancient lava flows which were tilted and glaciated. Isle Royale has 165 miles of scenic hiking trails and 36 campgrounds for backpackers and recreational boaters. There is excellent fishing, historic lighthouses and shipwrecks, ancient copper mining sites, and plenty of spots to observe wildlife.
Isle Royale National Park

Lake Superior - North Shore:
Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks:


Minnesota Historical Society -- In the interest of preserving Minnesota's Lake Superior shipwrecks and other underwater archaeological sites in Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, the State Historic Preservation Office of the Minnesota Historical Society has initiated a program of submerged cultural resource management. The Society hopes you will join its effort to preserve our maritime heritage.
Great information on
wrecks of the North Shore

Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks -- An partnership of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. -- Howling storms, raging fires and other calamities have sunk more than 700 ships in Wisconsin's waters of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin's Great Lakes Shipwrecks


To help you get started, here are a few popular Lake Superior Wreck Dives:

Get a map of Minnesota's Lake Superior Shipwrecks

Ely
 The Ely - - Location: Breakwater in Two Harbors, MN -- 200ft wooden schooner with protected location and shallow depth (25ft). - - Lake Superior Wreck Diving - - Photo: Northeast Minnesota Historical Center, Duluth, MN
The Ely, a 200ft wooden schooner, sank during a storm in 1896 and lies just inside the breakwater in Two Harbors.  The protected location and shallow depth (25ft), make it a great dive for Lake Superior novices and wetsuit divers.

This dive should be done from a boat.

Hesper
 Hesper - - Location: Silver Bay -- 250 ft wooden hull vessel that was heavily salvaged and now lies in 40 to 55 feet. - - Lake Superior Wreck Diving - - Photo: C. Patrick Labadie Collection, Duluth, MN
The Hesper was a 250 ft wooden hull vessel that wrecked on a reef at Silver Bay.  It was heavily salvaged and now lies in 40 to 55 feet.

This dive can be done from boat or shore.

Hesper Diver Access Procedures

Madeira
 Madeira - - Location: Gold Rock just north of Split Rock Lighthouse - - 436 ft steel hull ship that ran into Gold Rock during the storm on November 4, 1905. It now lies in 20 to 110 ft. of water. The Madeira is probably the most popular wreck dive in Minnesota. - - Lake Superior Wreck Diving - - Photo: Institute for Great Lakes Research, Bowling Green State Univeristy

The Madeira was a 436 ft steel hull ship that ran into Gold Rock just north of Split Rock Lighthouse during the storm on November 4, 1905. It now lies in 20 to 110 ft. of water. The Madeira is probably the most popular wreck dive in Minnesota.

This dive can be done from boat or shore.

Madeira Diver Access Procedures

USCGC Mesquite (WLB 305)
 USCGC Mesquite (WLB 305) - - Location: 110 feet of water in Keystone Bay, Keweenaw Underwater Preserve, MI - - The USCGC Mesquite (WLB 305) ran aground December 4, 1989 off of Keweenaw Point, MI. The Mesquite was later salvaged and sunk in 110 feet of water in Keystone Bay, Keweenaw Underwater Preserve, near Copper Harbor, MI. - - Lake Superior Wreck Diving - - Photo: USCG

The USCGC Mesquite (WLB 305) was a 180' "Balsam" Class Buoy Tender built in 1942 by Marine Iron & Shipbuilding Company of Duluth, Minnesota. She ran aground December 4, 1989 off Keweenaw Point, MI. The Mesquite was later salvaged and sunk in 110 feet of water in Keystone Bay, Keweenaw Underwater Preserve, near Copper Harbor, MI.

This dive should be done from a boat.

U.S. Coast Guard

Keweenaw Underwater Preserve

Annual Wreck Diving Events

Dive Into the Past
 Twin Cities Shipwreck & SCUBA Show 		Gales of November
 Duluth, Minnesota 		Ghost Ships Festival
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Great Lakes Wreck Diving Reference

Great Lakes Floating Maritime Museum - - Coast Guard Cutter Sundew, S.S. William A. Irvin and tug, Lake Superior host tours seven days a week. -- The Great Lakes Floating Maritime Museum is committed to preserving historic Great Lakes vessels in seaworthy condition, honoring the lives and stories of their officers and crew. -- Location: Duluth, Minnesota
 USCGC Sundew, S.S. William A. Irvin, & tug Lake Superior in Duluth, MN

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum -- The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is the only one of its kind dedicated to the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes. It is fittingly located at Whitefish Point, Michigan, site of the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior.
 Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
Whitefish Point Light Station
North of Paradise, Michigan

Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society -- GLSPS -- The Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS) was formed in May 1996 as an instrument to stabilize and restore our deteriorating shipwrecks of the Great Lakes region. The GLSPS is a non-profit tax exempt 501.c.3 organization whose members are divers, historians, and those who share a common love of shipwrecks and a vision of preserving these underwater treasures. The GLSPS was formed to deal with the unique technological and legal aspects of these underwater sites. -- Host of the annual Dive Into The Past Twin Cities Shipwreck Scuba Show
 GLSPS
Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society

Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation (GLSRF) -- a Wisconsin non profit (501 (C)(3)) corporation organized for the purpose of furthering public awareness of our Great Lakes marine heritage through education and research, and promoting conservation, study and responsible enjoyment of historic Great Lakes shipwrecks by divers and non divers alike. -- Host of the annual Ghost Ships Festival

Great Lakes Shipwreck Research -- "The Original Portal for News, Research & Dive Info since 1995"
 Great Lakes Shipwreck Research
Huge source of wreck related information

Lake Superior Marine Museum -- Duluth, Minnesota -- The Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center is a free service of the Detroit District, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Our focus is on the Duluth-Superior Harbor, Lake Superior, and the Corps of Engineers' role in developing and maintaining the nation's waterways. The museum is located on the shore of Lake Superior at the foot of Canal Park Drive near the Aerial Bridge. -- Host of the annual Gales of November shipwreck show in Duluth, Minnesota
 Lake Superior Marine Museum
Duluth, Minnesota

Maritime History of the Great Lakes -- This site is an ongoing experiment in the design of a "digital library", a collection of documents intended to be of value to those researching Great Lakes History.
 Maritime History of the Great Lakes

NOAA Office of Coast Survey - - The Office of Coast Survey is a component of the National Ocean Service which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA). Coast Survey has a long history as the oldest scientific organization in the United States, having its foundation as far back as 1807. Today the Office of Coast Survey is known for the useful and necessary navigational products which are required for the safe and efficient maritime commerce in and out of our Nation's ports. This is also an excellent potential resource for ship wreck hunting and investigation.
 NOAA Office of Coast Survey

Great Lakes Online - - University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Web site, a rich resource of Great Lakes information. Wisconsin Sea Grant is a statewide program of basic and applied research, education, and outreach and technology transfer dedicated to the stewardship and sustainable use of the nation's Great Lakes and ocean resources.
 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant

We highly recommend the DAN Oxygen Provider and DAN DEMP courses.

 

While these are excellent reference materials, in no way should this information be considered a replacement for proper training for the specific type of diving in which you plan to participate.  

 

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