Photo : Doug Bell

When, many, many years ago, I moved from Florida to Michigan to go to school,  I stopped scuba diving entirely.  I had learned to dive in the warm and clear waters of the Florida keys. Why would I want to dive in the cold dark waters of the Great Lakes?   When it comes to ship wrecks, however, cold and dark may not be such a bad thing.  Unlike in salt water, ship wrecks can often be unusually well preserved in the dark, deep, fresh water of the Great Lakes.   Apparently, Michigan is a great place for wreck diving.  Perhaps I should have invested in a dry suit, all those years ago.

Michigan’s Great Lakes offer ‘the best shipwreck diving in the world’

Experienced divers know a little secret about Michigan: it has a corner on the world’s scuba diving market. Instead of heading to the Caribbean or the wreck-rich waters off the Carolinas, thousands of divers choose to jump with both flippers into Michigan’s Great Lakes waters.

Doug Bell, owner of Traverse City’s Scuba North, said Michigan ranks among the top 10 states in the number of certified divers and is considered world class for wrecks.

“In my opinion, and I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to quite a bit to a lot of locations to dive, the Great Lakes offer the best shipwreck diving in the world,” Bell said.

Four of the five lakes touch state boundaries and had ship traffic for nearly 400 years. That’s 400 years of wrecks available. Many are perfectly preserved having sunk in fresh and relatively cold water.