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Dive Review of Thousand Islands Pleasure Divers/Headlands Motel in
Canada/St. Lawrence River

Thousand Islands Pleasure Divers/Headlands Motel, Aug, 2007,

by fiona rattray, on, canada . Report 3518.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 3 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments You dive the St Lawrence River Seaway for the wrecks and drift dives. At the end of the summer, temperatures get up to the mid seventies farenheit. I did the first day's dives in a wetsuit, then switched to dry for the next two days. There's no thermocline in the river, on this dive trip, 73 degrees right to the bottom. You'll find all combinations of wet and dry suits on divers at this time of year; other times, its cold water drysuit diving for sure.

Wrecks stay relatively preserved in the fresh water, and all of these wrecks occurred for real. For example, you can see the gashes in the hull where the Daryaw or Keystorm hit the reef. Some of these ships are wooden barques built in the 1800s, before Canada was a country. Others are steel freighters that went down in 1912 right up to recent ones in the 1980's. Some are in recreational depths, others are technical dives only.

You can fly down the river, keeping the wall close to your side. Zebra mussels have increased the viz considerably in the past decade. If you're lucky you might spot old bottles or china: grab them quickly if you want them or the current just moves you along. Artifacts on the shipwrecks, however, are protected, so no souveniers. Take a SMB or safety sausage with you for end-of-dive locating if necessary, you can fly one or two islands down if you hit the right current level in the Brockville Narrows.

The Seaway is an operational international shipping channel, and huge freighters power by while you dive: stay out of the channel! They make quite the noise underwater too. You'll be sitting during your surface interval and some container ship will pass on its' way to or from China; check out the huge bow wave when a ship is loaded down.

Thousand Islands Pleasure Divers out of Rockport and Brockville in Ontario is a real class act. Wayne Greene has safety and fun combined, and he's advertising trips for both recreational and technical divers now. Check his website for details www.islanddiver.ca.

If you want to dive the wrecks on the American side such as the Keystorm or Jodrey, you'll need to fill out a form on his website and take your passport with you. A stop is made in American customs and immigration on one of the Thousand Islands, and no dive in New York waters if coming from the Canadian side if no passport, no matter what your nationality.

I got my gas fills from Dan at DiveTech in Mallorytown, just up the road from Rockport. That shop is ever diver's dream: huge and just crammed full of all kinds of gear. If you're not careful you'll wind up coveting a piece of gear that you just HAVE to get. Happens every time.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving [Unspecified]
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 73-0°F / 23--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 1 stars Tropical Fish 1 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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