October is IN THE BAG for 24% and me!! Today, we dove dry at Mermet Springs in southern Illinois.
This was probably one of my MOST favorite fresh water dives to date. Perfectly clear visibility, like so good that even Douglas said he hasn't seen that kind of visibility with zero particulate in a 120' lake/quarry in a LOONNNG time. We swam through a Boeing 727, rode a motorcycle, threw around some bowling balls, saw an ambulance, school bus, a cabin cruiser, a semi-truck, a Cessna, a helicopter, a snowmobile, plus a dozen spoonbill fish circling us in a feeding frenzy, and two 60lbs.+ catfish. AND they piped in music underwater, so it's like we dove with our car radio on!!! BONUS that we were the only divers there! AMAZING 74 minutes underwater. 64 degrees with a thermocline at about 52' - down to 49°.
Mermet Springs really is so cool! Such a phenomenal set up for divers. 1st class in every regards. They have individual pavilions with picnic tables, white boards for dive plans, gear tables with tank bungees to secure gear, racks to hang your drysuits afterwards....at each site! Plus heated changing rooms, hot showers, and camping on site for RV's and campers. Full dive shop and classes and gear rental. Docks with large metal entry stairs lined with rubber tires for grip. Lines to all the underwater sites, with plaques on each line labeling where it heads to and the depth the next site is in. Super easy diving made way fun. Not much they can improve upon. They did it up right.
And did I mention the awesome jams they played underwater?! It's like you are diving with Bose headphones on. Two thumbs way up!


