Shore Diving near Rochester, NY?

I am an independent NAUI instructor in the Rochester, NY area, and am looking for possible locations to do my students' Open Water Dives. I have done the majority of my teaching in Massachusetts, so visibility is not a problem, but I do need some easy access places near Rochester to do dives. I was thinking perhaps Lake Ontario. Any suggestions?

A quick look via maps.google.com shows that you have Lake Ontario, Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, & Little Sodus Bay in nearby driving. There is also Lake Erie, Seneca Lake, & Cayuga Lake (with a few others in that area)

I suggest calling your local parks and recreation to find out where it is legal to dive within those areas. They will give you the most information as to what is ok within the law.

I have two possible locations for you within 3 hours of Rochester if you don't mind a short drive.

Cape Vincent, New York state This is in the The St. Lawrence Seaway (1,000 Islands region) Enter from the shore at the boat launch snorkel out following the sunken pier and dive. A sunken barge is in 40 ft of water so its also an interesting site. The water is very calm.

Cayuga Lake, Taughannock Falls State Park- North entrance (next to the swimming area and boat launch). Walk through the park and look for picnic tables on shore and then walk in. Do this early in the moring to avaiod boat traffic.

I snorkle both of these sites, and have seen divers at the first location. I haven't found much in Rochester itself - maybe Irondequit bay in the back areas near Ellsion park would have soemthing good.

A lot of divers in the Syracuse area go to Skaneateles Lake. It's beautiful, and there's good visibility. You could contact National Aquatic Service in Syracuse or the Auburn Skin Divers Association . Also, you should visit the Dive NY board where crazy but helpful people hang out.

Lisa

Given your location - Skaneateles Lake is probably a good bet. Seveys’ Marina. Walk-in, hang a left, and there is a shallow flat area. The Marina is where one of the LDS runs their dive boat.
Sodus Bay is supposed to be okay. I’ve heard of other’s diving there, but haven’t heard any locations.

Cape Vincent – longggg drive – but the town is small and quaint – shore dive, watch out where you go though. There can be some pretty heavy boat traffic. But if you stay near the old pier area, you should be okay. Another LDS also uses that site for class.

Alexandria Bay is another good option. Shore Dive. Also used for check-outs.

I was an instructor in Rochester about 10 years ago. At that time we used to use Deep Run Cove on Canandaigua Lake but I believe that site is now closed to divers because of the underwater intake located there. Diving on Lake Ontario in that area is not usually done because it is so shallow. Have never really heard of anyone diving Lake Ontario there from shore. Another place is Severn Point on Seneca Lake which is about midway between Geneva and Watkins Glen. Have sometimes done some shore diving with classes at Watkins Glen as well as long as you are careful to stay off private property. The Aquatic Center uses an old quarry called Aquatic Acres but I think they have exclusive access. There is a forum called Dive NY on this site where you can speak directly to folks from Rochester. I have been teaching back in the Boston area now for almost 10 years.

I have heard there is good wreck diving in Lake Ontario near Toronto. But have not heard of anyone diving the lake near Rochester so there may be an opportunity to explore. It is worth noting however that the Genesee river was badly polluted for many years. It’s been more than 10 years since I lived in Rochester but at that time limited intake of local fish was indicated due to the pollution. Hopefully it is getting better.

I second the 1000 Islands. Good shore dives on both sides of the St. Lawrence River. Temps in the 70's during the summer months and nice camping facilities on the Canadian side make this a great budget weekend trip! Here's a quick review I did on another web site (listed above) back in 2007 for the St. Lawrence area in general....

Well, doing a review for the entire St. Lawrence river could be lengthy since it's diving possibilities cover literally hundreds of miles but here are a few comments and highlights. Start in Clayton, NY and do a shore dive on the Wreck of the Islander. See the review here on ShoreDiving.com as with any wreck I mention. Next, make your way up to the Prescott, ON area in Canada (about 1 hr drive north and east) and shore dive the Conestoga (locals call it the Connie) and also dive the wreck of the Rothesay just a few miles away. All three dives I mentioned are easy/shallow shore dives but still hold much interest for advanced divers as well. Current can be an issue at the Connie, and, if you do dives from a boat, the current can really rip (Cozumel Like) in places and at certain times. Shore diving the St. Lawrence river is a great weekend trip for NE US divers. Stop in one of the local dive shops in ON, Canada and you can get air fills and even more info about other shore dives close by (none as exciting but still ok) and also info on doing one of the frequent boat dives as the St Lawrence River is littered with wonderful wrecks. There are more shore dives than you can do in a long weekend unless you really go all out. Enjoy!!!