Scuba diving in Marquette wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Cove at Presque Isle Park, or “The Island” as locals call it, in north Marquette. One could make many dives here at the Island and still not see everything there is to see. This 323 acre forested peninsula boasts multi-use trails for hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, paved roadway for vehicles, bikes, and walkers with many pull offs for viewing. The majority of the park’s amenities; picnic area plus playground, pavilion for special events, restroom facilities and music band shell are on the west side of the peninsula near the marina, the rest of Presque Isle Park is essentially untouched and left in its natural state for nature lovers, and this is where we go diving.

Enter Presque Isle Park on Peter White Drive just past Presque Isle Marina – this is a one-way road once past the marina – and follow the drive, curving past the Presque Isle Harbor Lighthouse viewing/picnic loop (or take a quick look, the views are spectacular and very popular) and continue on up the hill and around for approximately 1 mile, your goal is the Black Rocks area at the Cove. A word of caution, there are no guard rails on the Island so watch those curves and corners, sections of the road have steep drop-offs.

Keep an eye out to your right as you come down the only steep hill on the drive, the turnoff to the Cove is hidden until you’re almost upon it and is a sharp switchback turn to the right. Enter the Cove facing east to the small unpaved parking lot or continue further along Peter White Drive to the parking area along the lake north at Sunset Point, past the small grill pavilion there is a short path along the shore to the Cove and Black Rocks. The Cove is a popular swimming area for those looking to relieve themselves of the summer heat by jumping off the 14′  cliffs into the icy cold waters of Lake Superior. This area is called Black Rocks for the blackish red 1.7 billion-year old lava type of rocks ringing this side of the Island.

The site features unique geologic formations and plenty of fun diving. Occasionally, man-made treasures like GoPro cameras, jewelry, pocket change, and other treasures are found here. Beware of changing weather conditions though, waves have been known to wash over these high rocks, tragically with loss of life.

This video shows some of the underwater rock formations.

Due east of the Cove are a group of small islands where an excellent boat dive can be found. This is the Gold Mine Pinnacle. Here a large granite formation juts off the sandy bottom of approximately 140′ to just over 10′ of depth. This “Pinnacle” can be a “Gold Mine” of fishing gear as many an unsuspecting angler has been caught off guard by the steep sides of the formation. Rarely is it buoyed anymore, but there may just be an old iron radiator to tie off to at the top of the pinnacle. This is an advanced dive due to the depths found here.