Contemplating trip to St. Lawrence River

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SkiDiver

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Location
Schenectady, NY
# of dives
200 - 499
We (me, wife and two kids, ages 15 and 18) are contemplating a trip to dive the St. Lawrence River. We'd be there in mid to late August on our way home to Boston from a trip to Barry's Bay, Ontario, which would normally take us across the St. Lawrence near Alexandria Bay, via I-81. (All of us are nitrox certified but none of us has wreck training, FWIW.) I'm figuring a two-tank morning dive to see some of the famous local wrecks could be fun.

Questions for the collective:


  • Is there good diving in that general area?
  • What specific areas and dive sites would you recommend?
  • Dive ops? We'd also need to rent tanks and some (but not all) gear.

We are happy to dive from the Canadian or US side, whichever is better.
 
Diving out of Brockville (Canadian side) is excellent, with many charters & sites. A-Bay has good stuff too. Suggest the Keystorm (Chippewa Bay) as a must do. Bow in 35', stern near 110'. I'm sure you will get a couple more responses from folks. Have fun! Diving is awesome there.

samples:

Dive 1000 Islands: Wreck Diving, Scuba Diver, in the Thousand Islands
Visit 1000 Islands : Virtual Travel Guide : Thousand Islands Tourism Council : Business Directory
Diving and Shipwrecks in the 1000 Islands

let google be your friend...

---------- Post added May 6th, 2014 at 03:06 PM ----------

Visit 1000 Islands : Virtual Travel Guide : Thousand Islands Tourism Council : Business Directory
 
Thanks, Bob! I appreciate the info and recommendations. I did indeed poke around a bit and saw those sites you linked. I'm hoping to get some personal experience and recommendations here to supplement that useful info.

Keystorm looks great.
 
I dive that area 3-4 times a year.

The nearest charter to the US crossing to A-Bay on the Canadian side is Thousand Island Pleasure diving (5 minutes from the bridge). They dock at Caigers Country inn on the thousand Island Parkway. Wayne from Thousand islands has been great to charter with. Thousand Islands Scuba Diving Tours Rockport Brockville Kingston

Dive Tech in Malorytown should be able to help with equipment needs (about a 20 minute drive from the bridge) Dive Tech Training Centre - Home Page

Hope this helps
 
Thanks! Are there any good ops that also rent gear and tanks, or do we need to plan two stops?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Another vote for Island divers, they run a great op and will take care of you. Dive Tech training center in Mallorytown ( Dive Tech Training Centre - Home Page ) has everything you need gear wise and they are about a 10min drive from the dock at Caigers. If you've never done the keystorm or America (those usually go together on a two tank dive) you really should :)

Keystorm
The Keystorm Shipwreck - YouTube

America
The America Shipwreck - YouTube

Best viewed in HD setting..



Thanks! Are there any good ops that also rent gear and tanks, or do we need to plan two stops?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
There is also the wreck of the Mayflower up near Barry's Bay...stern paddle wheeler in 20 ft of water...could almost be a decent snorkel dive if you don't have your own gear.
 
I'd recommend diving the Lily Parsons; after a couple of laps around the wreck, you can drop down to about 80' & have a nice drift dive. Another more challenging, but fun & interesting dive is the Daryaw. This can be a challenging dive so consider yours & your buddies experience & skill levels prior to venturing to her. She is wedged in the narrows upside down, so one must pull themselves to her & get under her into the wide open ship's holds areas. You will find refuge from the river's current there. You can find more information on her & all the other St. Lawrence River wrecks here:: Sunken Treasures - The Wrecks of the 1000 Islands | 1000 Islands1000 Islands & on You Tube.

Enjoy the diving!

Regards,DSD
 
Oh ya you should totally do the Lily and the accompanying drift :)

** was trying to post some cool pics of the Lily but apparently scubaboard has other ideas**

---------- Post added May 9th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ----------



















 

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