White Star Park

I grew up in Gibsonburg and when my wife and I dove White Star last summer it was a boyhood dream come true. As a boy swimming on the beach side I can remember seeing divers and wanting to do that. My diving experience to this point had been in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands. So keep that in mind when reading my comments. The shore entry was by far the easiest I have ever done. No waves, no current. Visibility wasn't the greatest maybe 20-30ft clearly and out to 30-40ft fuzzy. Lots of interesting stuff to see on the bottom. I especially enjoyed riding the motorcycle underwater, the forest and the diver memorial there. Looking forward to diving there again when I get home.

White Star was my first open water dive. My Instructor from Weteachscuba.com and I went at the end of May this year. The water temp was 32 degrees and the visibility was unreal! I would have thought I was in the tropics, the visibility was so good. There is no changing area and the cost is $15 a day to dive. There is a reasonable amount of things to look at. I only saw one fish the whole time I was in the water.

I would consider this "home" quarry. I am from Ohio and have been diving here since my 3rd and 4th certification dives for the last 5 years. I use it for practice dives before and after boat dive season on Lake Erie. There are 2 entry points. The first is walk-in and used by classes. Very easy! The second is a platform style deep entry where they just added a ladder this past Spring. Again very nice entry/exit. The bottom is limestone and the main floor is 40 feet. There are the remains of the crusher going down to 70 feet and a tunnel that is off-limits. There are piles of stone rubble on far end by the deep entry on which an old police cruiser is perched. There are several "wrecks" and a step-van that used to deliver for the Frito-lay Company. The vis can vary widely from the spring to fall and from weekday to weekend. I have seen it as high as 50 feet in the Fall on a weekday, to around 10 feet when there have been classes all weekend in the Summer. There is a dive concession there during the weekends during the Summer offering air fills and snacks. The "facilities" are outhouses, but there is an area for changing. It is a great place to take students (I am only a DM, but I assist there a lot). I also like to go there during the week just to enjoy a relaxed kick back dive.

I would go back. I am not a Northern diver, so I used a 5 mil which I believe now for myself was a bit too much; I think I could have used a 3 mil. The vis was pretty good for cold water diving. I talked to a few people, but the group of three I was with pretty much did our own thing. Everyone and everything was great at White Star. Even with the 5 hour drive and gas prices going up, it was still worth it

Two dive entries - The one closest to the fun stuff a bit difficult, the other closest to the platforms very easy. Bottom mostly level at 50 ft with some topography. Rock crusher dual-pit to 70 ft with easy swim-thru under dividing wall (several feet of clearance) and spiral staircase. Several boats, cars, etc. Not much plant life in late fall. Several varieties of fish. This is a textbook Nitrox/big-tank/long-bottom-time dive with a lot of real-estate to explore. Rock crusher is a nice multi-level dive. No dressing facilities observed but plenty of room in the outhouse-style restrooms.