Near Montreal - just a few minutes West

Mark Derail · Sep 12, 2011

Shore diving in the canal system at Pointe-des-Cascades.

Max depth is 18-20 feet, perfect for training.
Many Montreal schools give courses here.
Free to use, free parking, bring your own gear.
Visibility 5 feet on a good day, no current (unless you swim into the partial waterfall).
Google Maps
From the Google Maps link, due South is the free parking.

Next place to recommend is through dive shop Einstein Scuba / Les explorateurs sous-marins. This is further out, past Valleyfield.

Google Maps
Most dives are 60$ using a pontoon boat.
I got my FQAS certification with Marie-Êve, shop run by Stoni & Marie-Êve.
In the middle of the lake, there are some sunken barges and boats, all tied together with rope so you can swim around.
Makes for a fresh water reef.
Strong current - you HAVE to hold on to something - like the buoy chain - all the way down.

.

In both locations I have seen abundant fresh water fish. It's always surprising how much colder, opaque, and denser the water is in a lake / large river. 40 feet feels like 80 in Cozumel (Mexico).

Atom · Sep 13, 2011

There's also the quary on the south shore, though it's a bit more of hassle (opened only on certain days, a bit expensive for a quary too).

Mark Derail · Sep 13, 2011

Atom:
There's also the quary on the south shore, though it's a bit more of hassle (opened only on certain days, a bit expensive for a quary too).

If you mean the Kahnawake quarry, it is private property, and on Indian land. Only through Total Diving (a dive shop, on Sherbrooke corner Cavendish) can you dive there. I don't know if Total Diving will be there next year or not, pure speculation and hearsay at this point.

That is why I did not post about it. Also, you need a serious wetsuit to dive there, with those 3 thermoclines.

One place I'd like to try is Beaver Lake on top of Mont-Royal. It's so shallow, that with 3000 psi and a full hour under, my dive computer would tell me that I'm still good for 99 minutes. Since it's a caldera from an ancient volcano, I'm curious.

Another good place, though they are drift dives, is in the St-Lawrence, between Brockville and the Ontario/Quebec border, many wrecks.

Atom · Sep 14, 2011

Mark Derail:
If you mean the Kahnawake quarry, it is private property, and on Indian land. Only through Total Diving (a dive shop, on Sherbrooke corner Cavendish) can you dive there. I don't know if Total Diving will be there next year or not, pure speculation and hearsay at this point.

That is why I did not post about it. Also, you need a serious wetsuit to dive there, with those 3 thermoclines.

One place I'd like to try is Beaver Lake on top of Mont-Royal. It's so shallow, that with 3000 psi and a full hour under, my dive computer would tell me that I'm still good for 99 minutes. Since it's a caldera from an ancient volcano, I'm curious.

Another good place, though they are drift dives, is in the St-Lawrence, between Brockville and the Ontario/Quebec border, many wrecks.

Yep that's what I meant. And yes, you have to go through Total Diving to dive there. I wish it was opened every night during summer but I guess Robin can't spend the whole summer there (Tuesday doesn't work for me for night dives). Don't sneak in, the peace keepers check the cars once in a while. It is cold down there!!!! Better to have a dry suit than a wet suit.

Like you said, the river between Brockville/Kingston is awesome, pretty warm during the summer, nice wrecks, more fishes than in the lakes, and some really really cool walls.

For anybody dving in the region I recommend Scubapedia (Accueil - Scubapedia) and Neptune (Neptune the world of silence) loads of info on sites.

Mark Derail · Sep 15, 2011

Another dive shop to mention, they are in the West Island of Montreal, is Action Scuba.
The owner gives a UW photography course I intend to take.

From their website, Action Scuba often organizes trips to the Brockville area.

I've met Robin a few times; he's the only employee/diver left at Total Diving that I know of. Everyone else is new. I found it annoying that TD only organized quarry dives last summer. My 3/5 mil wetsuit cannot be used there, and my girlfriend gets the chills easily. So I've looked elsewhere.

Now if we can get some other Montreal area divers to let us know about other dive sites, personal experience. Especially shore dives, which ones are drift. Boat rides are fun & easy, but add 60$ per person on average.

I would think that near the dam of Highway 19 crossing into Laval & connecting Montreal North, would be a good spot. I've googled a link to the place.

Ile de la Visitation.
Google Maps

Also, who has been diving to Lake Champlain? Must be some nice wrecks there and non-drift.

silver02ca · Sep 15, 2011

Nothing around Montreal worth diving....I prefer driving out to lock 21 to dive.

silver02ca · Sep 15, 2011

Lock 21...Long Sault ontario....about an hour and 15 minutes from montreal, depending on your driving speed.

Look at S.O.S for site description. Definitely an advanced dive.

Lock 21

Action Scuba will be diving there this wednesday (Sept. 21st) evening at 6:30pm

Upcoming Events

melanie. · Sep 15, 2011

silver02ca:
Nothing around Montreal worth diving....I prefer driving out to lock 21 to dive.

Nice dive

The vis has been decent as long as it isn't raining. The current hasn't been that bad, easily manageable, heck you can even swim against it in some places which is saying a lot. So wouldn't call it an advanced dive by any means

On a plus note you no longer have to pay to get into the park

silver02ca · Sep 15, 2011

Thats true they are most likely on the winter schedule and the park doesnt charge in the winter. More money to spend on dive gear.....lol

ActionScuba · Sep 30, 2011

Hi Mark!

Action Scuba here and yes, you are correct, we do offer regular trips to the Brockville area. We run dive charters every weekend from May to October. But we don`t stop diving when we put the boat away! We love diving and so we organise regular shore dives throughout the year - yes, even in winter.

We typically do shore dives to free places like Lock 21 (although there is a park fee in summer), Lock 23, the Contestoga wreck, the Rothesay wreck and a few other places. We don`t organise these shore dives for profit, just for the fun of diving and meeting new buddies.

We invite you to come join us! If you want to hear about upcoming shore dives open to anyone, check in regularly to facebook page or website. We`d love to meet you!

Near Montreal - just a few minutes West

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