Shops near Perth, ON

[Kakedive]

Going to be staying in a cabin at the Rideau from 23 July to 30 July and was looking for help from locals. I am trying to find the closest place to Perth, ON to fill tanks. My fiance and I are taking four tanks and would possibly like to refill them to do more diving. The closest place I found on google maps is in Richmond which is 1 hour away, I am not looking to drive that long just to fill a tank. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[smoritz0370]

As far as I am aware, from there you are either going to Ottawa, Kingston or Mallorytown/Brockville. If you find something closer please post it as my parents live near Westport and I would really appreciate knowing.

[smoritz0370]

Out of curiosity, where are you planning on diving in that area?

[Seraphimx]

Dive-tech in Mallorytown is pretty big/awesome.
Furthermore, most diving that I know about is in the Kingston/Brockville general area.
For you, it would be on the way to the dive site.

Looking at your location:
Some dive shop in Canada don't accept DOT (only) stamped tanks.
Some dive shops told me so, but I don't know if it was for air-fill or just maintenance.
Usually, in canada, you need your tanks to show both DOT & TC stamps.

For dive-tech, their website makes them look like a small shop but I was pretty impressed once I visited.
They have a big selection of gear.

[Kakedive]

Thanks for the reply Seraphimx. We are taking four tanks total, 1 each for 2 dives and they are only DOT. Unless we find somewhere close we will be done after the tanks are used up. There is a guy in Ottawa that I've been trying to contact about wrecks in the Rideau, however, I haven't heard back from him yet. So without the information from him, there are a couple of different places that we are considering. If you are close and are interested in joining us then please let me know.

[elan]

Going to be staying in a cabin at the Rideau from 23 July to 30 July and was looking for help from locals. I am trying to find the closest place to Perth, ON to fill tanks. My fiance and I are taking four tanks and would possibly like to refill them to do more diving. The closest place I found on google maps is in Richmond which is 1 hour away, I am not looking to drive that long just to fill a tank. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I doubt you can find anything closer than Brockville/Ottawa. Perth is really a small place. I have never hear of any significant diving going on there. We used to drive through Perth often and unless someone has it's own compressor I think there is nothing around. Dive Tech in Malorytown is probably the biggest shop I have seen in Ontario, they stock almost everything but the prices are high. They also have a huge bank of both air and 32. You should have no issues filling the DOT tanks especially if you show them you are from Pennsylvania. I heard shops in the places close to the border are legally alowed to fill DOT tanks

[Seraphimx]

@elan
I second that I found Dive-Tech to be on the pricey side.
I don't get it. Some people told me they import the regs for ScubaPro dealers in Montreal.
Shouldn't they have a lower price then? I found some things to be over MSRP.

@kakedive
Contact me, I wouldn't mind, but I'm not the most experienced diver around. I can only comment on the dives I did. I usually dive with Nepteau in Montreal or shore dives.
You can get the schedule on Centre de plongée Nepteau - Le spécialiste de l'équipement, des cours et des conseils en plongée sous-marine au Québec (http://nepteau.com/site/calendrier)

on the 23rd they Dive the Keystorm/Vickery (american wrecks) it's an awesome dive for advanced divers. Fishes are pretty big there.
on the 24th they dive at the bellydumper/powerhouse, I haven't done that one yet, last time I tried there was a thunderstorm so it was cancelled.

There are plenty of charters around, I only know of this one and I personally know the owners/couple, the wife was my EFR instructor.

Shore dives are easy Lock 21, Lock 23, Conestoga. And they are free (except air or park access(8$))
Boat dives are awesome but on the pricey side 80$/2 dives/diver + airfill.

Depends on what you want to do. I you just want a leisure dive and to relax, I'd say the Lock 21 is cool.
The Longsault park is a nice place, the scenery is really nice, a perfect place to picnic. Yo go there, you dive, you lounge around and go back home relaxed.

If on the otherhand you like excitement, well the Vickery/Keystorm is awesome but you'll go home/hotel and sleep. (I do). The current is usually strong and the wrecks are deeper. But the wreck is huge.

[ajtoady]

There is a dive shop just outside of Ogdensburg on the US side. From the Rideau area might be closer than Mallorytown. Bluefin Diving and the contact #'s are on the web.

[elan]

@elan
I second that I found Dive-Tech to be on the pricey side.
I don't get it. Some people told me they import the regs for ScubaPro dealers in Montreal.
Shouldn't they have a lower price then? I found some things to be over MSRP.


Yeah I do not know what their business model is but apparently they survive well :) they are in a busy area so looks like people buy stuff.

I prefer NTD out of kingston they do not keep stock so you have to wait but I was able to get deals lower than anywhere else.

To the OP being close to 1000 islands area I wouldnot waste time diving around Perth and would dive awesome wrecks of st lawrence. Unless you dove them all and want to look for something different.

[elan]

There is a dive shop just outside of Ogdensburg on the US side. From the Rideau area might be closer than Mallorytown. Bluefin Diving and the contact #'s are on the web.

Not anywhere closer if you take into account the crossing the border crap during weekends :) when the hell would those guys remove the stupid border. It so much time wasted. Should look at Europe :)

[Seraphimx]

Not anywhere closer if you take into account the crossing the border crap during weekends :) when the hell would those guys remove the stupid border. It so much time wasted. Should look at Europe :)

Amen...

[ScubaSteve]

:offtopic:


I you just want a leisure dive and to relax, I'd say the Lock 21 is cool. The Longsault park is a nice place, the scenery is really nice, a perfect place to picnic. Yo go there, you dive, you lounge around and go back home relaxed.

I tried to find the entry point for Lock 21 one time when I was driving home from Halifax.......drove and walked around Long Sault islands for hours and never found it. Do you have precise GPS coordinates for the entry? I would have no interest in doing it for the first trip without an "experienced Lock 21" diver but want to know where the entry point is.

:focus:

[bleeb]

I tried to find the entry point for Lock 21 one time when I was driving home from Halifax.......drove and walked around Long Sault islands for hours and never found it. Do you have precise GPS coordinates for the entry? I would have no interest in doing it for the first trip without an "experienced Lock 21" diver but want to know where the entry point is.

44.998106,-74.89924 - Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=44.998106,-74.89924&ll=44.998227,-74.89926&spn=0.00242,0.006341&sll=45.030398,-74.890559&sspn=0.015772,0.032015&num=1&t=h&z=17)

Get off the parkway onto the dirt road and then park on the grass near the water or under a tree. Entry points at the arrow or also the gravel beach on the other side of the bushes about 100' down stream. The locks themselves are actually a bit to the south west of the island. There are lines leading down starting a bit off shore. There's a sizeable pavilion with historical postings about midway between the entry points and the dirt road.

I wouldn't do it for the first time without someone familiar with the site, either. Not too difficult a dive for an experienced cold murky water diver, but with the low vis, current and depth, it wouldn't be hard to get lost getting down to the lock structure to start with.

[Seraphimx]

98650
From Neptune:http://www.neptune-scuba.info/ca/on/ecluse-lock-21-en.html

There's a white buoy marking the tip of the lock, it can be easily seen from the entry point.

There are 2 ways to go.

1) The website's way. Start at point A. You crawl (10-30ft) to the TOP of the doors of the lock (point B), go on top of the lock with the railing helping you, go to the southern tip of the lock, descend, go in front of the doors, enter by 2nd door, immediately go right to get out of current, explore a bit, follow the line out & exit at point A.

2) Another way. See those 3 squares, those were waiting wooden column so ships could attach to those while waiting for the lock to open/close. Start at point A. Crawl at the bottom and swim to the further column, let yourself drift keep to the central wall (you'll be between the central & south wall), as soon as the wall end go behind the central wall to stop drifting. Go to the northern wall for the exit cord. Exit at point A.

It's a 25-30min dive. It's not hard.
PS. I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting a compass bearing, the currents hit the walls and you easily lose direction because of low viz, currents ARE NOT a reference here, since they bounce back from the structure, you think current is pushing you while it's actually pulling you etc etc. Keep north and you'll go to shore.

Even better, PM me and we'll go dive it together. :D

PS. ANYONE SEE THE "LAKE ST-LAWRENCE".... it's not a lake.