R_Deluca
Contributor
If you saw the toilet then you saw just about all there is to see!
Safe Diving
Ice Diving location Ideas
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If you saw the toilet then you saw just about all there is to see!
Safe Diving
The toilet currently sits in around 80 feet of water. If you follow the line a little further next time you'll find a jug with a message at 85 feet and another one a little bit further on at around 90 feet. (These measurements are with your arm a foot into the silt btw) Read the messages before continuing.
You could try this dive at night.
I wouldn't bother going much beyond that as I've been told it takes quite a bit to get to the end of the line.
There is a thread or two on here about some of the secrets of Lake Simcoe that you could find further out.
OP
Well Big Bay point sounds interesting if you are a plumber.
wetbehindtheear
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there's an old 10-speed bike there too - held vertical with cinder blocks and jugs - it's about 20' to the right of the line as you go out - i think around 50' deep.
Yes, there is the toilet, but there is also an old-style mail box, a suspended bike, and some very large bass.
R_Deluca
Contributor
I forgot about the mailbox, but I've never seen the bike, I will have to look for it next time. I must admit that there are a lot of hugh fish but we all forgot to mention the troll statues!
Safe Diving
Garden gnomes.
Dive Source once bubbled...
Well Big Bay point sounds interesting if you are a plumber.
The massive fish make it interesting.
R_Deluca
Contributor
Garden Gnomes or Trolls whats the difference!
They can't compare to the toilet!:mean:
This thread originally was about good ice diving locations.
Big Bay Point still qualifies as a good one IMO for all the reasons previously stated.
In respect to the dive site itself, the presence or lack of things to explore is not a prime consideration for ice diving - certainly not for teaching ice diving. The divers attention should be focused on the principles of ice diving. Underwater objects may actually impair that process if not even endanger it.
I have chosen Big Bay for the last dozens years or so because it offers a shallow (15') unobstructed base for ice diver training with the potential for a deeper dive if needed.
The first dives are always conducted on the flat area and the divers learn the proper ice diving techniques from preparing the hole to signals, buddy orientation, gear protection, avoiding hypothermia and so on (the list is long). If they demonstrate good skill development, we may position the hole closer to the wall and they can then descend to a depth that removes the ice cover from the dive experience. Generally, as I have found, once you can no longer see the ice cover, it is no longer an 'ice' dive but just a cold, deep dive. It is the cover that gives the diver that feeling of being on a 'special' dive. Other than the cold, it is the cover that creates the circumstance requiring special training, special skills and special attention.
I prefer to give them as much experience under the cover as possible. There they develop the mental attitude to operate safely in the overhead environment.
Even when a deeper dive is warranted, we would position the hole over the flat but close enough that the diver can fin to the wall and descend far enough that the cover is not visible.
Going deep and losing sight of the cover, even with a safety line attached removes the visual 'ice diving' experience. The diver may concentrate on the deep, dark, cold sensations and forget he is under an ice cover - the real reason for doing the ice diver training in the first place.
Becoming comfortable and safe while diving under the ice is the prime objective of the training. Other activities (deeper dives, wrecks, photography, etc) while under the ice should wait until that objective has been mastered.
Hence, Big Bay is an exellent choice for ice diver training AND ice diving.
Once the ice divers have achieved a sufficient level of proficiency and comfort, an ice dive on the Morrison which is a few minutes from Big Bay is the next step.
Big Bay Point still qualifies as a good one IMO for all the reasons previously stated.
In respect to the dive site itself, the presence or lack of things to explore is not a prime consideration for ice diving - certainly not for teaching ice diving. The divers attention should be focused on the principles of ice diving. Underwater objects may actually impair that process if not even endanger it.
I have chosen Big Bay for the last dozens years or so because it offers a shallow (15') unobstructed base for ice diver training with the potential for a deeper dive if needed.
The first dives are always conducted on the flat area and the divers learn the proper ice diving techniques from preparing the hole to signals, buddy orientation, gear protection, avoiding hypothermia and so on (the list is long). If they demonstrate good skill development, we may position the hole closer to the wall and they can then descend to a depth that removes the ice cover from the dive experience. Generally, as I have found, once you can no longer see the ice cover, it is no longer an 'ice' dive but just a cold, deep dive. It is the cover that gives the diver that feeling of being on a 'special' dive. Other than the cold, it is the cover that creates the circumstance requiring special training, special skills and special attention.
I prefer to give them as much experience under the cover as possible. There they develop the mental attitude to operate safely in the overhead environment.
Even when a deeper dive is warranted, we would position the hole over the flat but close enough that the diver can fin to the wall and descend far enough that the cover is not visible.
Going deep and losing sight of the cover, even with a safety line attached removes the visual 'ice diving' experience. The diver may concentrate on the deep, dark, cold sensations and forget he is under an ice cover - the real reason for doing the ice diver training in the first place.
Becoming comfortable and safe while diving under the ice is the prime objective of the training. Other activities (deeper dives, wrecks, photography, etc) while under the ice should wait until that objective has been mastered.
Hence, Big Bay is an exellent choice for ice diver training AND ice diving.
Once the ice divers have achieved a sufficient level of proficiency and comfort, an ice dive on the Morrison which is a few minutes from Big Bay is the next step.
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