Gilboa Quarry

Gilboa is a decent spot to do check out dives or to pop in for couple dives to keep your skills fresh.
The wrecks and platforms they have placed provide some interest. It was cool to see the chopper and plane, etc. The Christmas tree was especially surreal.
I get cold easily and so the 7 mm wetsuit and hood didn’t keep me warm for long, even in late August. There was a nasty thermocline a right around 60′ or so that takes your breath away. Deep dives should definitely require a dry suit.
I did my AOW check out dives here, and on a navigation dive, I was making my square and felt something hit my chest. Some trout had apparently decided that my D rings were food. Crazy. You can see a lot of fish and are allowed to feed them.
The weekend we were there, the place was absolutely packed. This brought a couple problems. First, the airfills took quite some time due to some compressor issues. It was ALMOST bad enough where you needed to take two tanks so you could rotate. The other issue was visibility. With all of the students there, tons of silt was churned up, especially near the entry points. During the day, you could see OK, but at night, there was a lot of backscatter.
We camped on site, which worked out really well. The showers and restrooms were in good condition with lots of hot water. I would recommend getting there early on Saturday to get a good site.
This place is not Cozumel. However, it is a good bet for diving in the Midwest.

Won’t ever dive here again… Very disappointed. First of all, we arrived and discovered they would not accept anything other than cash. We had to drive 15 minutes each way into another town to find an ATM. When we returned, we stood in the lobby for 30 minutes before anyone helped us. They were out feeding the fish. We rented about half of our gear, and only half if that worked properly. My rented BCD leaked air and wouldn’t inflate properly, and one of my fins wouldn’t stay on because the back strap wouldn’t click completely shut. Most of the hubby’s weights had too small of holes to go onto the belt (both rented) so he struggled to sink the entire time. My weight belt’s buckle wouldn’t stay tight and so mid-​dive, it would start loosening and slip my weights to one side, making it impossible for me to swim level. Outside of the frustrating gear issues, the water was extremely cloudy and we were right on top of things before we could see them at all, despite the fact that were we told we came at the time of year that it was «as clear as it gets» (very beginning of summer). Tops of mucky crap floating on the surface as well. We felt that the only good part of our dive was the abundance of fish, which swam right up to us as they are accustomed to being fed by divers. Despite that single very enjoyable experience, we won’t be back.

The expense is too high (for what is there), remodeling a bit right now. I like the layout. I do really think France Park in Logansport, IN. I think Portage Quarry is nicer.

I haven’t had a lot of diving experience in the Midwest for obvious reasons… there are not many appealing places here. This is a great place for a weekend (or weekday) dive trip. It’s an old limestone quarry with plenty to view… its been stocked with various fish and sites include a plane, helicopter, bus, cars and much more. I must say its the most exciting place I’ve been with regards to quarries. I’ve heard weekend summers can be bothersome with student divers, but I can’t speak to that.
I believe the owner’s name is Mike. He was there everyday of the weekend I was there and seemed like a great guy. He’s ‘by the book’ for obvious reasons… its a popular dive site and accidents happen. If you don’t want to play by the rules and follow the ‘safety first’ philosophy. then this isn’t the place for you.
There are several accommodations available. Keep in mind this is a quarry, not a Hilton, so you’re paying for the convenience of staying on site. If you don’t like simple accommodations, I recommend you opt to stay at a nearby Hampton Inn. An added plus is that they allow dogs. I thinks its a $ 10 fee, but its worth it for me. I’d rather be able to bring my dog along that have the hassle of trying to find a kennel for a weekend dive trip.
The main reason I didn’t give a five star rating is the simple fact they don’t offer stamps or stickers for the log book. As an active ‘logbooker’ I appreciate the stamps and stickers. I have heard that several students also come here, so its my only recommendation for improvement.
Overall — a great dive site for the ‘inlanders’!

The good: the air fills are cheap and the diving is OK. The bad: it’s a cash only business and the owner is, well, eccentric. There are bunks that can be rented on site. They are $ 10 /​person and at least $ 40. This is great if you have 4 or more people, but if not it’s a bit annoying. There are showers and restrooms on site, but no food. There is also a camping option. There is no diving before the dive shop opens, so really, you should probably just stay in town and get breakfast before heading down to the quarry and enjoy the restaurants for dinner before returning to one of the nearby hotels.
The site has a submerged school bus, helicopter, airplane. I think the best is the tubes submerged at 60′. These are stacked and two of them are on an incline. This makes it really good for practicing getting your buoyancy dialed in.
This is a cold water diving site, and it has a deep end (100′+). I think the depth is the main reason I would want to go back to this site. Most of the other «attractions» are static and well, once you’ve finned through an airplane, there’s no real reason to do it again. As a pretty new diver, the depth and tubes offer chances to dial in the parts of my diving that other quarries in the are don’t really offer.