Shops near Perth, ON

[Kakedive]

Going to be staying in a cabin at the Rideau from 23 July to 30 July and was looking for help from locals. I am trying to find the closest place to Perth, ON to fill tanks. My fiance and I are taking four tanks and would possibly like to refill them to do more diving. The closest place I found on google maps is in Richmond which is 1 hour away, I am not looking to drive that long just to fill a tank. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[smoritz0370]

As far as I am aware, from there you are either going to Ottawa, Kingston or Mallorytown/Brockville. If you find something closer please post it as my parents live near Westport and I would really appreciate knowing.

 

[smoritz0370]

Out of curiosity, where are you planning on diving in that area?

 

[Seraphimx]

Dive-tech in Mallorytown is pretty big/awesome.
Furthermore, most diving that I know about is in the Kingston/Brockville general area.
For you, it would be on the way to the dive site.

Looking at your location:
Some dive shop in Canada don't accept DOT (only) stamped tanks.
Some dive shops told me so, but I don't know if it was for air-fill or just maintenance.
Usually, in canada, you need your tanks to show both DOT & TC stamps.

For dive-tech, their website makes them look like a small shop but I was pretty impressed once I visited.
They have a big selection of gear.

 

[Kakedive]

Thanks for the reply Seraphimx. We are taking four tanks total, 1 each for 2 dives and they are only DOT. Unless we find somewhere close we will be done after the tanks are used up. There is a guy in Ottawa that I've been trying to contact about wrecks in the Rideau, however, I haven't heard back from him yet. So without the information from him, there are a couple of different places that we are considering. If you are close and are interested in joining us then please let me know.

 

[elan]

Going to be staying in a cabin at the Rideau from 23 July to 30 July and was looking for help from locals. I am trying to find the closest place to Perth, ON to fill tanks. My fiance and I are taking four tanks and would possibly like to refill them to do more diving. The closest place I found on google maps is in Richmond which is 1 hour away, I am not looking to drive that long just to fill a tank. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I doubt you can find anything closer than Brockville/Ottawa. Perth is really a small place. I have never hear of any significant diving going on there. We used to drive through Perth often and unless someone has it's own compressor I think there is nothing around. Dive Tech in Malorytown is probably the biggest shop I have seen in Ontario, they stock almost everything but the prices are high. They also have a huge bank of both air and 32. You should have no issues filling the DOT tanks especially if you show them you are from Pennsylvania. I heard shops in the places close to the border are legally alowed to fill DOT tanks

 

[Seraphimx]

@elan
I second that I found Dive-Tech to be on the pricey side.
I don't get it. Some people told me they import the regs for ScubaPro dealers in Montreal.
Shouldn't they have a lower price then? I found some things to be over MSRP.

@kakedive
Contact me, I wouldn't mind, but I'm not the most experienced diver around. I can only comment on the dives I did. I usually dive with Nepteau in Montreal or shore dives.
You can get the schedule on Centre de plongée Nepteau - Le spécialiste de l'équipement, des cours et des conseils en plongée sous-marine au Québec

on the 23rd they Dive the Keystorm/Vickery (american wrecks) it's an awesome dive for advanced divers. Fishes are pretty big there.
on the 24th they dive at the bellydumper/powerhouse, I haven't done that one yet, last time I tried there was a thunderstorm so it was cancelled.

There are plenty of charters around, I only know of this one and I personally know the owners/couple, the wife was my EFR instructor.

Shore dives are easy Lock 21, Lock 23, Conestoga. And they are free (except air or park access(8$))
Boat dives are awesome but on the pricey side 80$/2 dives/diver + airfill.

Depends on what you want to do. I you just want a leisure dive and to relax, I'd say the Lock 21 is cool.
The Longsault park is a nice place, the scenery is really nice, a perfect place to picnic. Yo go there, you dive, you lounge around and go back home relaxed.

If on the otherhand you like excitement, well the Vickery/Keystorm is awesome but you'll go home/hotel and sleep. (I do). The current is usually strong and the wrecks are deeper. But the wreck is huge.

 

[ajtoady]

There is a dive shop just outside of Ogdensburg on the US side. From the Rideau area might be closer than Mallorytown. Bluefin Diving and the contact #'s are on the web.

 

[elan]

@elan
I second that I found Dive-Tech to be on the pricey side.
I don't get it. Some people told me they import the regs for ScubaPro dealers in Montreal.
Shouldn't they have a lower price then? I found some things to be over MSRP.

Yeah I do not know what their business model is but apparently they survive well they are in a busy area so looks like people buy stuff.

I prefer NTD out of kingston they do not keep stock so you have to wait but I was able to get deals lower than anywhere else.

To the OP being close to 1000 islands area I wouldnot waste time diving around Perth and would dive awesome wrecks of st lawrence. Unless you dove them all and want to look for something different.

 

[elan]

There is a dive shop just outside of Ogdensburg on the US side. From the Rideau area might be closer than Mallorytown. Bluefin Diving and the contact #'s are on the web.

Not anywhere closer if you take into account the crossing the border crap during weekends when the hell would those guys remove the stupid border. It so much time wasted. Should look at Europe