Best ice diving in Canada?

[SeaHound]

Hello -

I am from Washington DC and have been fantasizing about ice diving for quite some time now. I look at some of the pictures you guys post and they fascinate me beyond anything! If I come to Canada to do ice diving specialty, where should I go? Any destination or dive center recommendations? I would obviously like to dive where visibility and marine life is so that I can take home some pictures. I dont mind traveling the distance so if anyone has a recommendation distance may not be an issue.

Thanks in advance -

S H

[nadwidny]

Hello -

I am from Washington DC and have been fantasizing about ice diving for quite some time now. I look at some of the pictures you guys post and they fascinate me beyond anything! If I come to Canada to do ice diving specialty, where should I go? Any destination or dive center recommendations? I would obviously like to dive where visibility and marine life is so that I can take home some pictures. I dont mind traveling the distance so if anyone has a recommendation distance may not be an issue.

There is no ice diving in the oceans, except the Arctic. So you will be diving in a lake where marine life is extremely limited or non-existent. If travel is not an issue I can recommend contacting one of the dive shops in Calgary. They do ice diving courses regularly throughout the year at Lake Minnewanka near Banff, Alberta. Beautiful location in the Rocky Mountains and you will be diving on either a submerged dam or a submerged road bed with bridge pilings.

Calgary Dive shops-
Aquasport Scuba
The Dive Shop
Adventures in Scuba

I know my Ottawa friends dive a quarry near there that is very nice but I don't know if dive shops do courses there or not. I'm sure someone from that area will chime in.

[Underwater Ogre]

Ice?? and diving?...isn't ice for your drink after diving???

Good luck,
U\O

[Roko]

I've never ice-dove in Minnewanka (I did my ice diving course in a much less interesting lake), but I've dove there on numerous occasions in the summer and always wanted to do it as an ice dive, hoping for better viz... It's what I'd recommend based on that.

[Belmont]

Morrisson quarry in the Gatineau region of Quebec.

[Hawkwood]

There is no ice diving in the oceans, except the Arctic. So you will be diving in a lake where marine life is extremely limited or non-existent. If travel is not an issue I can recommend contacting one of the dive shops in Calgary. They do ice diving courses regularly throughout the year at Lake Minnewanka near Banff, Alberta. Beautiful location in the Rocky Mountains and you will be diving on either a submerged dam or a submerged road bed with bridge pilings.

Calgary Dive shops-
Aquasport Scuba
The Dive Shop
Adventures in Scuba

I know my Ottawa friends dive a quarry near there that is very nice but I don't know if dive shops do courses there or not. I'm sure someone from that area will chime in.

You beat me to it! The classes at the Calgary shops typically start in mid to late February, depending on the ice conditions. Diving usually through March.

[Arctic-Diver]

Ah, now this is the thread for me! A good place to learn with amazing visiblity would be at West Hawk Lake in Manitoba near the Ontario border. It is a flooded meteor crater which decends to 300+ feet. (However i don't recommend exploring that deep). Visibility is amazing, and there are many dive shops in Winnipeg which run Ice Diving courses there on a regular basis. There are beautiful cottages to rent, and trails to explore during your surface intervals.

But if I were to choose the best ice dive i've ever done? I would say up at CFS Alert ("The most northern permanently inhabited station in the world"). I was lucky enough to travel up there to perform maintenance on their fresh water pumps under 5'6" of ice. Diving in the ocean was the kicker though. The bottom of the ice heaves 10+ metres (33+ feet) down, forming inverted mountains and ice caves. Best dive ever! I highly doubt even the most beautiful reef can out do the spectacular ice formations and marine life I saw.

The only down side is that travel to CFS Alert is restricted to the general population. There are arctic expeditions that can take you onto the ice cap and exploring in the Quttinirpaaq National Park. But I won't even dare to guess at the cost of such an expedition, never mind if you wanted to add the logistics of diving in such a remote and unforgiving environment.