Shipwreck Tour Munising, MI |
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Rating |
Excellent |
Age |
7 and up |
Lockers |
Not Available |
Restrooms |
On Board |
Food |
In Town |
Closest Coffee |
In Town |
Recommendation |
This is an amazing trip. This is the only place in the U.S. to see real intact shipwrecks from the comfort of a glass bottomed boat. |
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Review: by Dad
I had wanted to do this boat tour for years. I was not aware that it was the only place in the United States that did a tour like this. What makes this trip so great is actually the unique conditions that make up Munising Bay. This bay has been the last stop for dozens of ships for the last 3 centuries. The area has been set aside as an underwater preserve for divers and shipwreck tours.
Munising Bay is one of the few safe bays on this stretch of Lake Superior. Lake Superior is notorious for quick weather changes, and bad storms can sneak up on you. Most of these ships had entered the bay to avoid storms on the open water. The problem is the bay goes from very deep to very shallow very quickly. There is a shelf of sandstone that is in the bay. It is kind of like the cliffs of the Pictured Rocks submerged underwater. Most of the wrecks occured because the ships ran aground on this shelf. For this reason they are fairly shallow. Add to this the frigid waters of the bay and you have a perfect place to preserve wrecks for hundreds of years.
The tour takes you to at least 3 wrecks. It is a 2 hour trip, which may be kind of long for the younger kids. One of the wrecks you can see is from 1926, the other from1870. The third one is interestingly unidentified. In the first year of tours, some passengers noticed this third wreck. It had never been known before that. It is a scow schooner, and the research has yet to yield any record of a scow schooner wrecking near Grand Island.
If you have never been on a glass bottom boat tour I will tell you that the visiblitly is excellent. The pictures do not do it justice. You will have no trouble seeing the shipwrecks and identifying specific parts of the ship. The crew will give you the history of the ships and the wrecks. They will also help you see how the ship is lying on the bottom, and tell stories about the specific parts you see.
The trip is pretty expensive, so make sure you budget for it. I would heartily recommend this tour. Remember, you can't do this anywhere else in the United States.
Other Reviews:
Sam: Amazing. The toilet seat was probably my favorite artifact to see.
Will: The Pictured Rocks Boat tour is also a must do here in Munising.