semi local Isle Royal

[Colin]

Hey, Dean....

When we (Matt T. and a couple of others) were there a couple of years ago, we dove with RLT Divers. Ralph did a great job of getting us out to the better sites, like the Emperor, Congdon, among others. The boat was fine, the food was good, the weather even cooperated. We were there over the Labor Day weekend. IMHO, the things that made this trip fun, were:

• The guys I dove with
  
• The dive sites
  
• The views
  

You were right when you said that Isle Royale diving is not for the newly certified diver, and frankly not even for someone with Advanced. The depths and surface conditions can sometimes scare off those with less experience which may be good thing. Sometimes folks think drysuits are required (we had two guys who dove wet, and did fine, just not as long of run times as those us diving dry). I also think some folks get nervous when they think they will be on a small boat for the entire trip, not knowing that the charter operators up there try to put their divers in as calm water as possible, and always hide in a protected bay during the night, or even dock at one of the campgrounds to allow everyone some peace when trying to sleep. Heck, we even did a cookout and had steaks one night at one of the campgrounds!
What would make this trip better?  Not much, other than maybe a bigger boat for more room when gearing up.

Colin.