Mermet Springs Scuba, Illinois, United States

5RobEleveld 5:00 PM Mar 25, 2015

These Guys Nailed It - Awesome
I dove with Mermet Springs on the 22nd of March 2015. I contacted Glen (one of the owners along with his wife PJ) late on the 17th, early on the 18th of March, to request a dive guide for Mermet Springs for the 22nd. Still recovering from jet lag from Korea I sent my e-mail close to midnight and within minutes Glen responded to my e-mail. He stated he would lock in a dive guide for me. Talk about customer service. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised based on how thorough his website is laid out. I arrived there as requested at 8AM because I requested to finish two dives by noon. My dive guide, Kent, was there already and ready to go when I was. Kent was phenomenal (a true professional/wow). Kent knew the quarry like the back of his hand. Kent was able to set the pace that I requested, hit the sites I wanted to hit, hit the time I wanted to hit, and checked to make sure I was good to go about every 20 seconds. I mean talk about customer service. Once again, I shouldn’t be surprised because the whole operation is laid out that way. Customer service focused. So, let’s get down to brass tacks. I believe Glen and PJ sat down and said we don’t care if we make money. They said let’s lay out the best quarry dive operation that can be possibly laid out. If we make money, we make money. So, from my perspective it was a “build it and they will come”. Contrast this with a different dive operation I dove with on Saturday (don’t plan on reviewing them), that operation was built the exact opposite. It was built on let’s make money, and spend as little as possible on it, and charge as much as possible. Sunday with Mermet Springs was great compared to the other operation’s charge and make as much money as possible philosophy (that operation is about 2 ½ hours from Mermet Springs). Because Glen and his family are divers they understand what divers want. A dive map, a dive briefing, safety, warm showers, changing room, gear layout area, food, etc…etc…etc. They nailed it with their operation. Because I didn’t have a dive buddy (coming from outside of the U.S.), the dive guide option was awesome. You should see the requirements to be dive guide for Mermet Springs. It would blow your hair back. The dive store (or things you can buy) selection is great if you forgot anything. Their shirt selection (or swag as I call it) was great and fully stocked. Safety, wow, this place was founded on and built around safety. You will see that when you get there. The final thing I will say is that I have never dove to underwater music but you can at Mermet Springs. They have an underwater PA system installed that can play music or it could be used in an emergency to relay information to divers. Talk about safety. If I was going to buy/run a quarry dive operation, I would copy what Glen has done. It would be the do what he has done. I can’t think of how I would improve it though. I would follow the “build it and they will come” philosophy like he has done. I will say having my 100th dive (and 101st) dive on the 727 from U.S. Marshalls will always make that dive and this place memorable. The friendliness/family environment that the staff demonstrates makes you want to come back again and again. Hard to think of a friendlier place to dive that just makes you feel good about saying you were able to be a part of it even though it was only for a day.

5Bowazon 5:00 PM Feb 15, 2017

Best fresh water diving
Great place to dive in fresh water. There's so much to see below the surface. It does get cold when you get deep about 40-55 feet according to the time of year. Planning many more trips.