St. Lawrence River diving

[Darth Fishhead]

I've heard about (I didn't go for the aboot joke! I'm so proud of myself... wait...) some awesome wreck diving on the St. Lawrence. Can anyone speak to it? I think that it would make a fun trip that would cost me a bit less than another trip to the Caribbean.

[Jaymeany]

i've heard great things but never dove it.

[Subaqua]

I think the Thousand Islands is the place you heard about (in Ontario). I did not have a chance to go yet, but I'm planning to go in september. You can look at that site http://neptune-scuba.info/ca/on-en.html for more info. Some of my friends did the Muscallonge, Lilie Parsons, Dariaw, and Robert Gaskin and enjoyed it. Hope this helps.

[tedtim]

In addition to the Muscallonge, Lilie Parsons, Daryaw, and Robert Gaskin you can head downstream for some shore diving

Rothesay - shallow, kind of beaten up now, sunk in 1889

Conestoga - very shallow, there are a few good ways to dive this including a nice drift through the old Galup canal.

Lock 21 - 60 ft or so, lots of current. This is a lock that was submerged during the creation of the St. Lawrence seaway.

And if you can find an charter operator - Eastcliffe Hall, Mille Roche Power House, and a few other barges.

Try http://www.scubaq.ca/ontarioscubadiving/ for a few photos. Select the links for Brockville and Miscellaneous.

A short drive up stream from Brockville is the town of Rockport. Charter operators go from there to the Kinghorn, Keystorm, America and a few others.

Also, go to http://www.saveontarioshipwrecks.on.ca/ and select the Divers Guides links for some good descriptons.

[Darth Fishhead]

That's very helpful, thank you. I look forward to getting wet up north.

[diver_daver]

Before I moved to the west coast, this was my play ground! Check out a map and you can get good wreck diving from Kingston to just before the dam near Cornwall. There are good shore dives and charter dives. I could not safely give you names of operators anymore as I've been gone a season and things do change. Do a Google search as well as the web sites listed above and you should get some good info.

Dive conditions very through out the season, they start cold in the spring and warm up through to Sept. then start to cool down again to ice diving in the winter months in the quiet bays. Water temps range from freezing to mid 70's in August. Google again, and you can get current water temps from the American weather buoys. Vis can very depending on where you are, in the channel were there is current, a quiet bay, silty bottom, rock bottom, how many divers are in the water, etc. That being said, you generally will find good vis, not Caribbean vis, but you will enjoy the wrecks and the current can work with you.

[Liv7301]

I went to college at SUNY Potsdam and spent many an undergrad evening in Cornwall. And there were som great family trips to the Thousand Island region. Makes we wish I was a diver when I was still living up there!!

[Marcin2005]

If you want to see what Ontario Diving is like take a look at this site. It covers the Great Lakes; as well as, the St. Lawrence.

Ontario Scuba Diving

[lyonsce]

The diving in the 1000 islands area is great in the summer. Water temps are in the low 70s and the vis is probably 50ft or so. It's a great long weekend dive spot that's a short drive away (from NY, PA, etc). I use divebrockville.com, they are very good.

[texdiveguy]

Northern Atlantic Dive Expeditions - RMS Empress of Ireland