cleung
Contributor
Thanks to some feedback we got from this board, three of us ended up going to Brockville to dive the St Lawrence River for our very first times on August 28, 2016. We went with Brockville Scuba Adventure Centre/Abucs Scuba, a long established dive operator there.
This was our very first Ontario dive charter we have ever used so I don't know if this was standard but we had to transport our rental dive tanks ourselves to the dive boat, the Helen C which was docked just outside town. It was a bit of schleping to do especially from the parking lot to the dock where the boat was - we later realized that there were a few carts we could use at the dock. But still, since we were all use to dive operators in the tropics where tanks are already on board or they are transported there for us, we were a bit taken by this extra work we had to do.
I used all my own gear including my 3 mm wetsuit and own weights so the only gear I rented was two tanks. For a two tank boat dive with two tanks I had to transported myself, plus $10 for a BBQ, the cost worked out to be about $140 (HST in). So I would say that this was not cheaper than say most tropical dive days I've done after exchange rates.
The water temperature was the real pleasant surprise for us as it was at 76 degrees F. The only time we got a bit chilled was on the boat in between dives but the sun soon warmed us up at the island we stopped over during our surface interval.
The Helen C is an adequate dive boat with ample space and cover. It does not have a head but it does have a very unique ladder and platform which is stored underneath the boat and access for our return is via a hatch opening. So we simply just swam to the platform which was submerged and stood up on our fins. This was the easiest return we've ever experienced.
The first dive was the Robert Gaskin, a wreck dive with a maximum depth recorded by my dive computer at 68 feet. Access to the wreck was via a rope tied to a buoy. The visibility was fair and there was a very mild current which was manageable. We were even able to penetrate the wreck quite easily through a very large opening.
There were some marine life at the wreck, probably some small bass and perch fish. But overall, we were quite happy with this 30 minute dive as our very first one in the St Lawrence River. We would definitely recommend this dive site for all levels of divers including newly certified ones.
The captain of the Helen C, the only staff person on board, gave a nice detailed dive briefing before hand but one other thing to keep in mind is that the standard for these dives is not to follow any divemaster. They are available at extra charge but the usual case is that we are on our own for these dives. Since most of the dives here are wrecks, navigation should not be too difficult.
After a stop at a small island to stretch our legs during the surface interval, we went to our second dive which was the Lillie Parsons wreck. Many divers like this wreck but for us, our experience was not so positive. First of all, the dive boat drops us off on one end of the same small island and we had to swim to the rocks to catch a chain that leads down to the wreck. This I did not like. Then the visibility was much worse than at the Gaskin.
When we got down to the Parsons wreck, the current was quite strong and we had to use a chain that ran along the entire top side (facing the shore) of the wreck. There were some marine life including the same types of bass and perch plus some gobies along the bottom. At the stern, we also saw several large walleye fish. The entire bottom side (away from the shore) we had to drift down and when we got to the bow, we grabbed the same chain that runs along the top side for another rotation around the wreck. We went around three times but the wreck itself was not much to see.
The deepest point recorded on my dive computer was 62 feet but I recall that most of the wreck was much shallower. Back at the stern when it was time to leave the wreck, we had to go over the top and catch the current to drift towards the rocks for the last part of this dive which is essentially a drift dive. On previous YouTube videos, this part was pretty straight forward if visibility was fair. But today it was not as we often lost sight of the rocks.
We were to catch a rope at the end of the drift along the rocks at about 30 feet to do our ascent where the dive boat would be waiting a short distance away. I ended up missing the rope altogether and lost my two dive buddies in this soupy water which was what it looked like at this point. When I surfaced, I was a bit further past the dive boat and it came to get me. Minutes later, I saw my two buddies surface closer to the rocks where I was suppose to go.
It turns out that I was not the only diver that missed the rope as one other ended up even further out than I did. Two others opted to do a longer version drift where we pick them up at an adjacent island but with the poor visibility, they never made it out that far as they ended up close to rocks about halfway there.
Although this was not a very deep dive, the combination of poor visibility, probably the worst I've ever been in, along with strong currents, would completely freak out new divers. So with these factors, none of us would recommend this dive site for new divers, at least not with the conditions we had.
The overall service of the captain was great as he also did the BBQ after the two dives. But one thing that was quite interesting was that our boat did have a few single divers without any dive buddies. The captain did not put these singles together and they were left to dive solo, including the one who ended up further out in the bay. Again, I don't know if this is standard practice here but my dive instructor back in Mississauga later told me that this dive operator has been known to allow individuals to dive solo.
Overall, we had a great first dive day in the St Lawrence and all three of us who are mainly tropical divers who have all resisted diving in our own local waters, would go on future dive trips to Brockville as well as to try out other local areas like Tobermory even if we already know that the marine life would be nothing compared to that in the tropics. These local dives certainly add a new dimension to our diving but we would still try to get in these dives during August and September when local waters are warmest.
This was our very first Ontario dive charter we have ever used so I don't know if this was standard but we had to transport our rental dive tanks ourselves to the dive boat, the Helen C which was docked just outside town. It was a bit of schleping to do especially from the parking lot to the dock where the boat was - we later realized that there were a few carts we could use at the dock. But still, since we were all use to dive operators in the tropics where tanks are already on board or they are transported there for us, we were a bit taken by this extra work we had to do.
I used all my own gear including my 3 mm wetsuit and own weights so the only gear I rented was two tanks. For a two tank boat dive with two tanks I had to transported myself, plus $10 for a BBQ, the cost worked out to be about $140 (HST in). So I would say that this was not cheaper than say most tropical dive days I've done after exchange rates.
The water temperature was the real pleasant surprise for us as it was at 76 degrees F. The only time we got a bit chilled was on the boat in between dives but the sun soon warmed us up at the island we stopped over during our surface interval.
The Helen C is an adequate dive boat with ample space and cover. It does not have a head but it does have a very unique ladder and platform which is stored underneath the boat and access for our return is via a hatch opening. So we simply just swam to the platform which was submerged and stood up on our fins. This was the easiest return we've ever experienced.
The first dive was the Robert Gaskin, a wreck dive with a maximum depth recorded by my dive computer at 68 feet. Access to the wreck was via a rope tied to a buoy. The visibility was fair and there was a very mild current which was manageable. We were even able to penetrate the wreck quite easily through a very large opening.
There were some marine life at the wreck, probably some small bass and perch fish. But overall, we were quite happy with this 30 minute dive as our very first one in the St Lawrence River. We would definitely recommend this dive site for all levels of divers including newly certified ones.
The captain of the Helen C, the only staff person on board, gave a nice detailed dive briefing before hand but one other thing to keep in mind is that the standard for these dives is not to follow any divemaster. They are available at extra charge but the usual case is that we are on our own for these dives. Since most of the dives here are wrecks, navigation should not be too difficult.
After a stop at a small island to stretch our legs during the surface interval, we went to our second dive which was the Lillie Parsons wreck. Many divers like this wreck but for us, our experience was not so positive. First of all, the dive boat drops us off on one end of the same small island and we had to swim to the rocks to catch a chain that leads down to the wreck. This I did not like. Then the visibility was much worse than at the Gaskin.
When we got down to the Parsons wreck, the current was quite strong and we had to use a chain that ran along the entire top side (facing the shore) of the wreck. There were some marine life including the same types of bass and perch plus some gobies along the bottom. At the stern, we also saw several large walleye fish. The entire bottom side (away from the shore) we had to drift down and when we got to the bow, we grabbed the same chain that runs along the top side for another rotation around the wreck. We went around three times but the wreck itself was not much to see.
The deepest point recorded on my dive computer was 62 feet but I recall that most of the wreck was much shallower. Back at the stern when it was time to leave the wreck, we had to go over the top and catch the current to drift towards the rocks for the last part of this dive which is essentially a drift dive. On previous YouTube videos, this part was pretty straight forward if visibility was fair. But today it was not as we often lost sight of the rocks.
We were to catch a rope at the end of the drift along the rocks at about 30 feet to do our ascent where the dive boat would be waiting a short distance away. I ended up missing the rope altogether and lost my two dive buddies in this soupy water which was what it looked like at this point. When I surfaced, I was a bit further past the dive boat and it came to get me. Minutes later, I saw my two buddies surface closer to the rocks where I was suppose to go.
It turns out that I was not the only diver that missed the rope as one other ended up even further out than I did. Two others opted to do a longer version drift where we pick them up at an adjacent island but with the poor visibility, they never made it out that far as they ended up close to rocks about halfway there.
Although this was not a very deep dive, the combination of poor visibility, probably the worst I've ever been in, along with strong currents, would completely freak out new divers. So with these factors, none of us would recommend this dive site for new divers, at least not with the conditions we had.
The overall service of the captain was great as he also did the BBQ after the two dives. But one thing that was quite interesting was that our boat did have a few single divers without any dive buddies. The captain did not put these singles together and they were left to dive solo, including the one who ended up further out in the bay. Again, I don't know if this is standard practice here but my dive instructor back in Mississauga later told me that this dive operator has been known to allow individuals to dive solo.
Overall, we had a great first dive day in the St Lawrence and all three of us who are mainly tropical divers who have all resisted diving in our own local waters, would go on future dive trips to Brockville as well as to try out other local areas like Tobermory even if we already know that the marine life would be nothing compared to that in the tropics. These local dives certainly add a new dimension to our diving but we would still try to get in these dives during August and September when local waters are warmest.
To answer a question that you didn't really ask; yes, it is typical that you carry you own gear to the boat.
