Best Brockville Area Dive Sites To Take Newly Certified Diver?

[cleung]

I'm going to Brockville in August and will bring along a newly certified diver with me. We hope to do 2 shore dives and 2 boat dives. These will be my friend's first open water dives right after her initial four open water certification dives. Given her level, which 2 shore dives and 2 boat dives do you think I should take her on?

 

[Bison]

Brockville has the new Statue park with all new access steps for shore diving. The Conestoga, Rothsay and even the Islander Wreck in Alexandria Bay N.Y are nice shore dives ( if your willing to cross the border ). The Keystorm wreck is a nice boat dive that is listed for novice to advanced levels.

Right now the St. Lawrence River has high water levels and stronger than usual currents with the dams open. Helen, who runs Abucs in Brockville, recently reported the boat diving was good but the current was strong. The shore dives at the Conestoga and Rothsay sites are rough due to the water levels. There is a thread about the Connie access and the Rothsay is discussed there too. I know your going in August but some newspaper reports are saying the conditions will be like this into the fall. Hopefully its better by the time your diving the river. Dive Brockville Adventure Center & Abucs Scuba Charters are on Facebook and they are always posting about the river conditions.

Have fun and dive safe!

 

[CptTightPants21]

Agree with Rothsay and Conestoga.

For boat dives, the Keystorm is is one of the best for novice divers because it rests on a slant and goes from 110' - 20'. If you can choose the two wrecks, I would make the America as the 2nd, which is slightly more advanced because you need to follow the anchor line at depth and swim into the boat channel, but overs some very nice swim-throughs.

Something like the Robert Gaskin would also be acceptable, but less exciting than the America.

 

[scubadiver888]

Agree with Rothsay and Conestoga.

For boat dives, the Keystorm is is one of the best for novice divers because it rests on a slant and goes from 110' - 20'. If you can choose the two wrecks, I would make the America as the 2nd, which is slightly more advanced because you need to follow the anchor line at depth and swim into the boat channel, but overs some very nice swim-throughs.

Something like the Robert Gaskin would also be acceptable, but less exciting than the America.

I don't remember the depth limits for OW but isn't the America, at 75 feet, too deep for OW? The Robert Gaskin might be a better choice.

The Keystorm would be good but she'll have to make sure she don't lose track of her depth and get narc'd.

 

[ljpm]

My son is doing his open water this week-end. I am taking him to the Rothsay on Wed. for his first after training dive. The Rothsay is usually about 30', 35' with the current high water. It is easily accessible from shore. The swim out and back is a bit long but not a problem. There is also very little current. Because of the swim back a safety stop is built into the dive.
My second choice would be Centeen Park. Again, 30', light current. There are now statues and obstacle (large signs to swim through). The down side is that it is a training site. There may be a number of open water classes on the week-end. My son is actually doing his open water there on Saturday.
I'm not sure if the Conestoga is accessible yet. The road was closed because of flooding in the spring. This can be an easy dive, but there will a current. On the plus side, it is about 10' from shore.

 

[grf88]

The America is not suitable for a newly minted diver. It is in the main shipping channel and needs to be treated as a virtual overhead.

 

[JohnRom]

Given your buddy will have just finished OW, I would suggest starting with Centeen Park (easy access with two sets of stairs into the water, once in the water it is shallow enough to get your buddy sorted out before you descend, training platform to get comfortable on, bottom is about 30', things to see). The second shore dive could be the Rothesay on the west end of Prescott (long swim out so check how much air has been used on the swim out) however again about 30' of depth and not too much current. For boat dives around Brockville, if she is comfortable you can do the Robert Gaskin 60'-70'. For a second boat dive this will really depend on how comfortable and how her skills are. The Lillie Parsons might be an option however the current may still be strong. Most other boat dives might be a bit of a challenge for your buddy at this stage depending on her ability. You could always look at a second dive on the Gaskin as it is big enough for her to do two dives on it and still be discovering new things.

 

[cleung]

I think the Parsons would definitely be too advanced for her at this point because of the current. Even I missed the end rope due to current and bad vis last year. Gaskin likely okay. The Keystorm might be interesting. I could make sure that she is never below my depth and I'll stay within rec levels. I know that different places treat the basic OW differently. Some are quite strict for OW where they will not let you go beyond 60 feet where some other places I've been to, everyone regardless of certification was doing a deep dive for the first boat dive each day all week. If we run out of options for boat dives, I think the ones where the boat is right beside the descent line might be okay where she can go right to the line as soon as she gets into the water.

 

[lerpy]

I would also recommend the Conestoga ( if access is open again in August) and the Rothsey, and of course Centeen Park. These will make for excellent shore dives and are great spots for practice and training. As for potential boat dives, I would say the Gaskin is the best and only option at this point. The conditions in the river are not what they normally would be given the high water and the ensuing current as the river authorities attempt to bring the water levels down. Current on all wrecks, and the drifts are up. I would not recommend the Keystorm due to depth of the wreck. Yes you can stay shallow, but as a newly minted diver I would stick to something that has a hard bottom within reason. The Kingshorn off Rockport is a pretty good option, I have used it for newer divers. The top of the wreck is still within OW limits, and even if one were to drop 80' is about the max you will hit to the bottom, current is also lower on this wreck. So this might be an option as well.

 

[JohnRom]

In another post is has been reported that the fence blocking the road to the Connie is now remove. So the Conestoga is now another good option.