Diving in GTA/Ontario

Hello all GTA divers,

I will be moving back to GTA soon after some years working in Asia, where I learned diving and have dove around (read "warm water").

looking forward to continue to dive locally after moving back (lakes, tobermory etc.) and have a few questions:
- one would need to have his/her own tank usually for fun dives?
- is a 7mm wetsuit good enough generally for diving between May/Jun to Sep/Oct or most divers here dive dry suit all year around?

appreciate if someone can shed some lights on the above, thanks.

Having your own tank is good as it saves you the hassle of renting it out and returning it, and you have it available for whenever you need it.

As for water temps, there's always a lag of about a month or two, depending on the wind and waves, before the water warms up and cools down. Coming from a warm climate, you might want to purchase a drysuit over there if they're any cheaper pricewise.

So in May/June, the waters around here will still be cold; i.e., mid-single digits degrees C (low 40s degrees F) on the surface.

Then in Sep/Oct you'll get the full effect of the summer warming temps if there were any--15C to 18C at Toby, maybe a little more in L. Ont. Then there's always Gulliver's Lake which is warmer but murkier.

Check out these two links:
Michigan Sea Grant Coastwatch --for water surface temps; they aren't bad predictions from my experiences (click on one of the lakes).

Wind, waves & weather forecast Grimsby Buoy/W Lake Ontario - Windfinder --this one gives you a good forecast of wind, waves, and direction.

I lived in Toronto and now in Ajax. When I lived in Toronto I found it inconvenient to rent tanks. So I ended up buying tanks just so I'd have some full tanks if I wanted to go diving. Essentially, if the weather was good and someone wanted to go diving, getting tanks and driving to a good dive location was a pain. Having full tanks in the basement made it a lot easier to just get up and go. End of the weekend I could drop the tanks off to be filled and pick them up during the week (avoided hot fills this way too).

I don't have a drysuit. I have a 7mm wetsuit with a 7mm tunic. Around July/August it is warm enough to go deep with just the 7mm. May/June or September/October I'd throw the tunic on (14mm on the core) and it was warm enough. I actually found it colder above water in October than in the water.

I also noticed that people who did drysuit diving with me complained about cold hands just as much as I did. They just weren't cold during surface intervals.

You can possibly dive in 7 mil but your diving will be limited. If you in general do 30-40 mins dives you would probably be ok but cold.

elan:

You can possibly dive in 7 mil but your diving will be limited. If you in general do 30-40 mins dives you would probably be ok but cold.

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Most the locations I dive are 80 feet plus. At that depth I hit NDL in 30 minutes or less. A lot of the dives are below 100 feet. So NDL is 20 minutes or less. There are some dives above 80 feet but most are going to be limited to under 30 minutes just due to NDL.

Thanks all for the info, very helpful. Seems a dry suit may better fits my "experience in warm water" but the downside is $$. Despite the cold diving environment here in GTA/surrounding, am looking forward to return home and this great city, will get back to this board soon after return and hope I will be able to join some local dives with you guys soon in the upcoming season 2014!

Get a membership with this group when you get here. They have a weekly pool night, which is free as a member and good for trying out new equipment. And they arrange local weekly outings when the season starts.

Ontario Underwater Explorers Scuba Club

If you make your way over to the bare sizing charts and see if you'd fit into an XL Bare XCD2 pro dry.. I have one sitting around collecting dust I'd give you a killer deal on Has about 5 dives on it, includes p-valve.

Scubafoon:

Thanks all for the info, very helpful. Seems a dry suit may better fits my "experience in warm water" but the downside is $$. Despite the cold diving environment here in GTA/surrounding, am looking forward to return home and this great city, will get back to this board soon after return and hope I will be able to join some local dives with you guys soon in the upcoming season 2014!

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Scubafoon:

...questions:
- one would need to have his/her own tank usually for fun dives?
- is a 7mm wetsuit good enough generally for diving between May/Jun to Sep/Oct or most divers here dive dry suit all year around?

Click to expand...

Although I've left the Toronto area several years ago; I dove there for some time. Regardless where you go, a tank purchase can save you some money in the long run, however this has more to do with your diving frequency than anything else.

As to a 7MM WS, this really has to do with your personal tolerance to cold water. When I lived in Toronto, I dove both wet and dry (usually dry). When I relocated to Vancouver, I had a dive shop/school/charter business and ended-up hanging up the dry-suit because I was just too warm. At the same time I sold dry-suits to divers who were finally looking forward to being warm... It's really what you find tolerable (temperature and cost).

I was a regional diving director (Asia/Pacific) for a large commercial diving business (now Technip) based in Jakarta for a number of years. When I returned home, I got a rude reminder of Canadian water temperatures (I now wear a dry-suit). I suspect that you too will note the temperature differences.

I would also recommend that you consider joining a diving club in your area. A list can be found on-line at the Ontario Underwater Council Website (Ontario Underwater Council). Welcome back to Canada and Ontario!

Yes, I have been away for more than 5 years (with occasional visiting trips to Toronto) and the last time in Jan 2013 and I can tell my body was not used to the cold weather even on land...... it will take a while to self adjustment!