There's a quarry in IL that we dive at quite a bit called Hague Quarry. (I think they ahve a website) The walls's are super cool to dive, but vis is usually no where near 30+ feet due to all of the mud puppies that are usually stirring up the bottom getting certified. A 200 ft quarry with 30+ feet of vis would be super dope to dive! There are always massive thermos at about 30 & 60 feet in our quarry. It get's pretty damn chilly below 60 feet. The deepest is about 80 feet & it's usually only about 45 degrees even in summer.
one of the best dives I've ever had was in Key Largo, FL. My old man and I were the first boat out for the morning and visibility was no joke 100+ feet at 100 feet below the surface. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. You could literally see from one end of the ship to the other.
There's GREAT money to be made in recovery dives....especially if the conditions are bad. Our average rate is about $250/hr, but can be higher depending on the conditions. We've got the massive 4,000 pound lift bags that we use to recover boats, vehicles, etc. They're basically big balloons, if you will, that we hook up underneath a vehicle or boat to bring it to the surface. They have hoses attached to them that plug in to air tanks or a compressor on shore....dive down, hook up the bags, turn on the air, and bring it to the surface. Aside from your dive gear, this is basically the main tool that we use for recovery dives.
Any other recovery divers out there? What do you guys charge an hour for your operations?
