Alberta Dive Locations

[DeNomad]

I was wondering if anyone wanted to share some of the more obscure good Alberta diving locations. I was hoping to find some diving in the area near North Buck Lake, near Boyle. There is quite a few little lakes near there, but I don't know what the diving is like. Searching the internet I found a site saying there were clams in Lake Chump though. There is very little to find on the internet for the lakes near this area...


I'll post some of the regular locations I know of here.

Twin Lakes - Near Edmonton, used for OW cert's
Lake Edith - Jasper, used for OW cert's
Lake Annette - Jasper, used for OW cert's
Lake Patrica - Jasper, wooden remains of a ship the military made of ice (I'm not kidding, just google that one)
Lake Minnewanka - Banff, submerged mining townsite
Horseshoe Lake - Jasper, not sure what that one is about

 

[nadwidny]

I was wondering if anyone wanted to share some of the more obscure good Alberta diving locations. I was hoping to find some diving in the area near North Buck Lake, near Boyle. There is quite a few little lakes near there, but I don't know what the diving is like. Searching the internet I found a site saying there were clams in Lake Chump though. There is very little to find on the internet for the lakes near this area...

Did a dive in Lac Sante near St Paul. Pretty much same ol' same ol'. Also did one in Skeleton a few years ago.

Cold Lake has some sites. I've seen some sort of interesting pictures from some mounds/pinnacles that are reachable by boat. A group of us are trying to get out there and do some exploring beyond the usual shore sites but we're having trouble finding a suitable boat.

There is also Forfar near Athabasca. Like Twin but less to see (if that's possible). Some freshwater clams.

For something different there is a bit of a river run east of Edson (I think it was the McLeod) that I've done that was quite interesting. Best done when the river is low so that the flow is reduced. Viz was probably 40-50' last time I did it.

Twin Lakes - Near Edmonton, used for OW cert's

Any shop that uses Twin for OW should have its' accreditation pulled.

Lake Minnewanka - Banff, submerged mining townsite

It is actually a couple of dams (only one of which is dove by recreational divers) and a tourist settlement (boat or scooter dive) although there is a report that a mine shaft has been located further up from the townsite.

Horseshoe Lake - Jasper, not sure what that one is about

2 dives here. Front side is a shorter walk and takes the diver under the main cliffs that they swimmers use. I've found watches, credit cards and other bits here. Silt bottom that starts shallow and gets deeper. Back side is a longer walk but a much nicer site starting in a small cove surrounded by walls. Pretty much drops straight down to 40' then drops quickly to go past 80. I've never gone deeper than that because the viz goes to crap right about then. Apparently it doesn't go much deeper.

 

[DeNomad]

Any shop that uses Twin for OW should have its' accreditation pulled.

Actually that's a pretty solid shop, I think they might use it for AOW and specialties. Not 100% which classes they use it for, but they go out there pretty often.

Thanks for the info on all those lakes. Was diving in Skeleton worth while? I go to that lake fairly often, but mostly for wake boarding like the billion other guys with boats there. I'm not sure I'd feel safe at all diving there. Heck, one hick drove his boat into my uncles boat when it was stationary in the middle of the lake. Lord knows what they would do with a divers flag.

I did a little internet searching and I found an old website saying that Chump Lake had some clams, might an interesting dive.

 

[DeNomad]

Double post - scubaboard is working oddly.

 

[nadwidny]

Actually that's a pretty solid shop, I think they might use it for AOW and specialties. Not 100% which classes they use it for, but they go out there pretty often.

Depends on which shop you're talking about. There is one shop that goes to Twin that is anything but solid.

Thanks for the info on all those lakes. Was diving in Skeleton worth while?

Not really. I was in what I think is the eastern bay and it was shallow and got very weedy as summer went on.

 

[nadwidny]

Double post - scubaboard is working oddly.

I can't access the PM you sent me. Go to my crappy website and email me at the address listed.

Edit-Never mind. PM is now working again./edit

 

[Tim_Barker]

If you are looking the characteristics of various lakes here in Alberta (unfortunately not the mountain lakes) the following site lists a lot of the lakes and they have performed bathymetric scans of the lakes.

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/

 

[Tim_Barker]

Just for something to do, my wife and I are going to pick a different lake (those closest and with spots deeper than 20M will be the first ones) each weekend and go dive it. Odds are we will see nothing but it should be good experience (which we definitely need)

 

[nadwidny]

Just for something to do, my wife and I are going to pick a different lake (those closest and with spots deeper than 20M will be the first ones) each weekend and go dive it. Odds are we will see nothing but it should be good experience (which we definitely need)

I found that finding a lake deeper than 20M was almost impossible. When I was doing some research I was surprised to find that even Lesser Slave, which one would think would be deep given its' size, maxes out at much less than that.

I would be interested in what you find out. We need a bit more variety closer to Edmonton than just Twin.

Some additions to the OP's list - Though not dove regularly anymore, people used to dive at Hubbles. Back in the day Divers Den had set up a site similar to what Twin has with the various bits of artifacts to see/bump into. I haven't really heard of anyone going there for about 5 or 6 years now. I think they took the shark out but I can't remember. I've also seen pictures from the 60's from Lake Eden. One of the pictures is about a car-sinking for a dive attraction but of course nobody these days really knows much about that.

Also people used to dive in Wabamun, especially one of the channels that leads either to or away from (I forget which) the power plant. Apparently there were some huge jack hanging out there that the spearfishing types got all excited about. The Edmonton Aquanauts (defunct but apparently operating again) used to hold a "Clam Dive" there every summer. The object was to get as many clams to grab onto a string as possible.

Further south there is Waterton which I've never dove but apparently has some nice walls and the paddlewheeler wreck and garbage dump from the POW camp. There are some lakes in the Crowsnest that people have dove. The UW Archaeology group were looking for a derailed box car some years ago. Viz was reportedly really bad and I can't remember if they ever found it or not. They did find an old shoe. Also one of my buddies from Lethbridge was diving a lake there recently and found what he says is a door from a helicopter. The story goes that one crashed while on fire fighting duties but research on that is still ongoing.

The Alberta Underwater Council tried to set up a dive site at the Pine Coulee resevoir. Before the area was flooded they set in place swing sets, a bus, and other odds and ends along with a park, changing area, etc. Unfortunately the water has a terrible problem with algae growth and the site is pretty much undive-able so the project was abandoned.

 

[JeffG]

I found that finding a lake deeper than 20M was almost impossible. When I was doing some research I was surprised to find that even Lesser Slave, which one would think would be deep given its' size, maxes out at much less than that.

I would be interested in what you find out. We need a bit more variety closer to Edmonton than just Twin.

I would rather see a list of lakes that don't allow motorboats and start there.

Some additions to the OP's list - Though not dove regularly anymore, people used to dive at Hubbles. Back in the day Divers Den had set up a site similar to what Twin has with the various bits of artifacts to see/bump into. I haven't really heard of anyone going there for about 5 or 6 years now. I think they took the shark out but I can't remember.

I think it is because the best way to dive the site is from the beach of a private Resort and they want money...too much money the last time I checked. It was something like $15 a day pass.