Artificial Reef in the GTA?

[wes]

Let me first apologize if this question has been previously beaten to death...

Toronto is the most densly populated city in Canada, it stands to reason there are a lot of divers in Toronto. Yet the closest artificial reef is a 3 hour drive away in Kingston.

Are there divers out there like me who'd like the idea of going for a quick dive after work; perhaps on a retired HMS warship, etc...or do most divers in the GTA prefer doing their diving elsewhere?

 

[Butch103]

Not being picky, but there are no reefs in Kingston...Are there?

Just wrecks yep......

To answer your question, I would be interested in a warship, if it was sunk. Not some old tanker sunk for the hell of it.

Something of historical signifigance...

wes once bubbled...
Let me first apologize if this question has been previously beaten to death...

Toronto is the most densly populated city in Canada, it stands to reason there are a lot of divers in Toronto. Yet the closest artificial reef is a 3 hour drive away in Kingston.

Are there divers out there like me who'd like the idea of going for a quick dive after work; perhaps on a retired HMS warship, etc...or do most divers in the GTA prefer doing their diving elsewhere?

 

[taz22]

Butch103 once bubbled...
Not being picky, but there are no reefs in Kingston...Are there?

Just wrecks yep......

To answer your question, I would be interested in a warship, if it was sunk. Not some old tanker sunk for the hell of it.

Something of historical signifigance...

The one thing with history it can happen, but the more manufactured it is, the less value attributed to it for the most part.

Take the Speigel Grove sunk off Key Largo last year, while a nice wreck to dive it is just far to sanitized to really enjoy it as much as a wreck that has sunk by accident. I'd much prefer to dive the Lillie Parsons time and time again then do dive the Speigel or Duane, simply for the act that it is the history and the mystic of the wreck that keeps me coming back for more. Each wreck has a unique story, take the Gaskin and the fact it sank three times before resting where it does now, the J.B. King that sank after the lighting strike etc etc etc.

 

[Ontario Diver]

But I'd like to see some more "diver friendly wreck-like playgrounds" like the Wolfe Islander II.

It would be good to have a few places where neophyte divers can practise their skills on before enjoying high-impact diving on our favourite real wrecks....

 

[MWC]

I'd love to have a "wreck" to dive around Toronto. However, there is one huge snag. The only sheltered water around Toronto is Toronto Harbour. Diving is (or at least was) severly restricted in the Harbour. IIIRC you had to get permission from the Habourmaster (Federal) for a particular location at a particular time, and I don't think it was rubber stamp type permission either. Now, if we could find the right location, we might be able to negotiate a blanket approval for diving at that one spot. When I'm back down in Toronto (early next month) I'd be willing to do some calling to find out if there would be a location that would even be remotely feasible.

If we're outside of the Harbour, the shortest fetch is 30 miles, and an easterly has a 160 mile fetch. That would tend to limit the number of really good diving days.

Matt

 

[Doppler]

Great idea but as Matt has already said: "where?"

Now there are some neat potential spots down towards Oakville and the round part of the Golden Horseshoe...

 

[Scuba Duffer]

No interest here. My wife and I will continue to head for southern areas when we want to dive. We just can't get interested in diving these cold/green waters.

 

[sparky30]

You should try Brockville in the summer.. water is 75 deg top to bottom, very nice an clear.. I've had visibility in excess of 80 ft..
Granted, we have some pretty boring sea life compared to down south, but our wrecks are pretty neat...

 

[sparky30]

There are over a dozen known wrecks off St. Catharines, but nobody wants to share the coordinates.. Its all being kept secret disguised as an archeological dig... Disappointing...
I'd love to see some more wrecks opened up closer to home.
There was some talk about sinking the old burned out pirate ship/restaurant that's sitting in Jordan harbour... That would make a cool dive site..

 

[canuckdiver]

who is it that owns that boat at jordan harbour right now?