13 Responses to “Haigh”

1. snagel says:

   July 26, 2010 at 4:32 am

   July 23, 24 2010

   Spent the weekend at Haigh and had a great time. This was wifes first post-cert dive trip and she did great.

   Viz was 20-25′. Temps: Surface 80′s and under 30 feet it dropped down into the 50′s.

   First day of diving was on a Friday and viz was better due to not so many classes going on.

   Friday night a storm came through and blew over trees in the grassy area in front of the first dock. I’m surpised nobody got hurt because it smashed several canopy’s and we watched a tree fly out into the quarry. They say it wasn’t a tornado, but it sure was scary for a moment.

   Snagel
2. snagel says:

   July 21, 2010 at 2:18 am

   Original Posty by Jbres1 on ScubaToys

   Was at the Haigh last Saturday (7/17/10).
   Vis was about 10 to 15 ft max. on the northwest side of the quarry. (this is the area where most classes go)
   Vis out on the east side was about 20′ max.
   Vis on the south side was about 15 to 20 ft, depending where you were.
   Didn’t go into the hole, so can’t report. was in the hole about a week ago, and vis was the best I have seen in many years.
   Water temps range from 76 degs on the surface to 60 degs at 40 ft and 55 degs at 50 ft. The deep hole was 47 degs last time I was in it.
3. snagel says:

   October 7, 2009 at 4:01 am

   Haigh report for Oct 5
   Original Post by Glub000 on ScubaToys

   ——————————————————————————–

   Went to Haigh Quarry yesterday (10/5) and had a couple dives. Vis was decent 15ft.+or- and the temps were confortable at 62 to 58 degrees. We had the whole quarry to ourselves from 8 to noon. On our first dive I worked on some reel skills and navigation. Only got turned around 3 times this trip. On our second dive we just decided to kick around and watch the fish. Went to the rock crusher and on the way back noticed a couple schools of minnows, then a few more and more … Turns out that they released a couple thousand minnows while we were under and there was an all out feeding frenzy. We had a great dive and when we surfaced you could see them jumping like mad trying to escape the danger below. Hope to get back at least one more time this year. Now I’m off on my fall golf trip Thursday. I need at least one more hobbie.
4. SteveC says:

   August 16, 2009 at 9:30 pm

   Dove Haigh on Saturday (Aug 15, 2009)

   Vis was about 20′ in most areas but less where it was being kicked up. There were alot of divers there on Saturday, and I think the vis would have been and easy 30′ if we could have went on a weekday.
5. snagel says:

   July 15, 2009 at 4:24 am

   Original Post by Glub000 on Scubatoys (7/13/09)

   Went to Haigh Quarry today for the first time. Temps were 70 at surface & 63 below the 30′ thermocline, not too bad. Vis was only 10-15 ft. but they have had alot of rain lately. Had a great time and got my EANx cert. Tina and her crew were very pleasant and made the day enjoyable. I finally got to dive all my new gear and it worked like a charm. Can’t wait to go back.
6. snagel says:

   June 12, 2009 at 3:43 am

   Original Post by DarinMartell on ScubaToys.

   6/4/09

   Vis was 10 – 20 so not great but not bad. Water temps were a little better than last time.
7. admin says:

   May 30, 2009 at 5:56 am

   Original Post by LuckyDays on ScubaBoard (5/26/09)

   this past Saturday, water temps at 50 feet were 47/48 degrees and temps at 28 feet were 57/58.
8. snagel says:

   May 10, 2009 at 4:46 am

   Original Post by Luckydays on ScubaBoars

   May 9, 3009

   Thanks guys for the fabulous day at Haigh. It could not have gotten much better than today, well unless the water were warmer, the vis better, and the sun shining a little bit more often but who am I to complain. I was diving and diving with great people. I was going to write this earlier but I had to take a nap as I was exhausted.

   The day started out for me at 7 am with nasty black rain clouds overhead and a (semi) long drive to the quarry. There were a few rain drops on my windshield as I headed down the highway but I was not going to let a little bit of rain prevent me from getting wet. Especially since wet was the point for the day! Upon my arrival, I meet my new friend kyphur and his two daughters. My pink fins really were a statement. Reallydg and dwightfrie came out next and it was great to see some friends I had met before. (Thanks for the use of your weights dwightfrie) Jepuskar was the last to arrive and it was nice to see him again in a location where our actions could not be interpreted for anything closely resembling a drug-like exchange (Don’t get the wrong idea, we meet when I purchased his steel HP100 tank at gas station). I could tell right away the day was going to good, even if the weather may not have held all that well. Santefejoe was supposed to come around but I got a pm from him telling me that he was not going to make it so we knew not to wait around.

   After gearing up, reallydg and dwightfrie take charge and set the course. dwightfrie is to get us to the flamingo and then I was to navigate us to the LARC. Of course I think I can handle it but forget to mention that I can’t find my way out of a cardboard box sometimes which is why I have a GPS for all those silly things like directions and maps. To bad that does not work underwater. I hope someone gets on that one of these days. So after a leisurely swim to the flamingo and after taking a call or two, I took over and led the charge. It started out ok as I was diving my course but well for those of you who dove with me at Gilboa, you know of shiny things get me (oh look at that, look at that). I turned right for no reason and kept going. dwightfrie stopped me before we got to the deephole (probably would have turned full circle long before then though) and took over the navigation. he lead us right to the LARC via the quarry drain plug. Of course none of us knew where the drain plug was as we have never seen it before so therefore I must take credit for that since we would not have found it had it not been for my navigationally challenged dive plan. Since dwightfire could not remove the plug, we decided to continue on to the LARC which we (he) found with relative ease. After puttering around a bit it was time to find the road to do a nice safety stop and surface. Total Dive was 32 minutes at 46 degrees and Max depth of 51 feet. I would have to say that viz was 30 feet or so but that is not my strong suit (accurately judging distances – on land or underwater, see previous description of my nav skills).

   At the surface, I was the first to point out my inability to direct the path. Oh no need to worry the group was going to tell me exactly how bad I was at it. After plenty of good natured ribbing about my navigation it was also pointed out that I am speed racer when leading as well. My twin jets have little motors in them and I was off to the races. Note to self- turn off the engines when diving with a jepuskar and his totally awesome rebreather – (looked like the robot in Lost in Space “Danger Will Robinson! Danger). That is one helleva piece of dive gear.

   After a surface interval of about one hour, we kitted up again for another round. We picked up two more divers but I did not get their names. The plan was to go to the flamingo for another round and then head to the dump truck. Joe was to lead this time since he got us to the LARC that last time after being taken off course (by me). After petering around the flamingo for a bit, we headed toward the truck. We traveled for a bit and found the riding lawnmower. dwightfrie was able to get a ride and his picture taken and then we continued on our way. After seeing the same rock formation three times (“Look kids … Big Ben … Parliament”) For what seemed like forever, dwightfrie realized that we are hopelessly lost and jepuskar took over. Miraculously, we came up on the LARC (again) and knew which path we were on. After another cruise for a bit we traveled to the platform, completed a safety stop and called the dive at 42 minutes, 45 degrees, and a max depth of 50 feet. The vis was made a lot worse by our group on this dive, sorry jep for having to wade through that mess.

   On the surface, don’t be surprised that dwightfrie had to take what he was dishing out earlier by getting us temporarily misplaced. Oh, and he has small outboards on his fins too. He and I were speeding along at a nice pace, but by the faces of the exhausted divers at the end of the dive, we clearly cant be the ones driving again. I cant tell you why we were on a racecourse, since we took the long road to nowhere, but fast was our game and lost was our name. Jepuskar claimed that he accidentally came upon the LARC but with his setup, there had to be a magnet on that rebreather that was pulling him straight to the LARC since we came upon it so easily. So after lunch and about an hour and half surface interval, Jepuskar, kyphur and I decide we are going to make a shallow spin around the quarry.

   Dive three for me was an leisurely stroll in the park. Jepuskar was leading the way and oh my … his buoyancy is amazing. While the rest of us are floundering our way about, he is steady as can be. But then again, that rebreather shows his dedication to the sport. We started out at the platform and headed out to the rock crusher. We followed the line out there and I knew it was coming up but since jepuskar was leading the dive and we were taking to slow road, I was surprised when the rock crusher was instantly in front of my mask. Took me completely by surprise. After a quick peek we took a right turn and followed the rocks to the fuel tank, then over to the golf ball and rock mound. We then came about to the port-o-potty and the buoyancy course. We swam around to the platforms and hung out for a bit and then surfaced. My computer did not call for a safety stop since the dive was shallow but I tried to do one anyway, at least a little one. This dive lasted for 31 minutes at 51 degrees with a max depth of 26 feet. The viz was crap, maybe 15 feet but since we were on the training side, it was expected.

   The guys went on a 4th dive but I had to sit it out and get my gear packed up.

   Until the next time, I will work on my nav skills and make sure I take my motors down a notch so we can take the slow path versus the racecourse. Thanks guys, you were all great buddies and I had a lot of fun. I cant wait to see the pictures that you guys took so get them posted here as soon as you can. Overall, it was a great dive day and look forward to the next event, which has already been posted for May 23rd. Here is the link. Haigh Quarry May 23rd I look forward to seeing you guys again and hopefully many others as well.
9. snagel says:

   May 9, 2009 at 5:16 am

   Original Post by DarinMartell on ScubaToys (5/8/09)

   Went to Haigh yesterday for the first time. This is a really nice facility. Looks to be kept up really well. The water was a balmy 43. Jim, it was great meeting you, thanks for letting to tag along! Darin
10. admin says:

    April 19, 2009 at 5:12 am

    Posted by PPO2 Diver on ScubaBoard…..

    April 6, 2009

    Water temps ranged from 41-45 depending on who computer you asked. Viz by the Flamingo was around 30 feet. Viz on the shallow side ranged from 10-30 feet.
11. SteveC says:

    September 10, 2008 at 11:06 pm

    Posted by “ppo2_diver” on Scuba board

    I was there this past weekend (and will be this Saturday). Viz sucked. At 40-50 feet it was less than 10 feet. Around 2 feet in some places. The deep hole was always less than 5 feet.
12. T. Collins says:

    July 15, 2008 at 1:54 am

    Did 3 dives at Haigh on Saturday, July 12, 2008. All 3 dives were for 45 minutes for 2:15 total bottom time. Only wore a 1mm wetsuit so stayed on the north side with no problems. Had heavy thunderstorms earlier that morning so vis was limited at about 15 feet. It got a little better at the northeast side where there were fewer divers. Surface temp was 78 and temp at 25 feet was 73.

    This is a terrific quarry with a lot of scuba activity but does not seem crowded at all underwater.

    Was there a week earlier and vis was about 35 ft.
13. snagel says:

    June 4, 2008 at 2:49 am

    4/27/08 Just got back from a trip to Haigh (Northern Illinois). Oh my god!!!! The viz was fabulous 30+ feet. Water on the chilly side about 42 degrees, but great diving.

    1st dive visited a couple swim throughs and a sunken cabin cruiser. 2nd dive swam along wall, great wall dive just under the docks. 3rd Dive went to the rock crusher. A spoonbill came by to see what we were doing and entertained us for about 10 minutes. My dive buddy was trying out his new video camera and got some great shots. I’m sure this will be posted on the video board soon.

    Haven’t updated any pictures yet, but will in the next couple days.

    If you haven’t been to Haigh this is a great quarry with typically great viz; especially if you can get there on a week day. Many students on weekends that “muck” things up. A little on the coolers side; so drysuits or heavy neoprene is a must. The owner (I think her name is Tina) is a great host who does everything she can to make your stay enjoyable. She also will give you a great deal on equipment if you need anything.

    During the busy season they have a hamburger shack or you can grill your own. They provide many grills for you to use. There is also a covered meeting room with a fire place on the cooler days. Admission is $20. They currently are only open on weekends, but start weekdays (except Tuesday) on May 1st.

    This is located in Kankakee, Il about 50 miles south of Chicago. A little on the long drive side for me in Central Missouri, but well worth the trip. The quarry is basically in Kankakee; so, many hotels to pick from. We stayed at Lee’s Inn. Nice place that gives a divers discount and buffet breakfast in the morning.

    S. Nagel