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St. Lawrence River -
Overview |
The St. Lawrence River forms part of the border
between Canada and the USA. It is a long
river system penetrating almost four thousand kilometres into the country and
flowing from Lake Ontario through Montreal to the estuary in the Province of
Quebec, ending with the Island of Newfoundland.
The section from Kingston to Montreal was known
as the International Rapids. It was flooded
in the 1960's to form the Seaway, which allows ocean going vessels access into
Lake Ontario.
The stretch of the St. Lawrence from Kingston to
Cornwall is too long to dive diving in a single day! Diving seems to naturally break up into three zones: [1] Kingston
area [2] Kingston to Prescott and [3] Prescott
to Cornwall.
Diving Season
The diving season, for most people, is from
April/May to October/November.
Temperature
Temperature within the river is uniform, varying
throughout the season from 50F - 75F. In
Lake Ontario, there is a thermocline which, at the height of the season lies at
about 55'-60'. Above that depth, the temperature tracks that of the river,
below it is a more or less constant 50F-55F during the season.
Current
In the river, current conditions can vary
immensely, even from day to day at any particular site. Current depends upon the amount of recent
rain, storm conditions and the use of the dams in the river. There are sites with zero current and others
with strong current, over 4 knots. These currents make for some excellent drift
diving but also require some physical effort and experience. There is
negligible current in Lake Ontario.
Gear
Diving equipment is generally a full 6.5mm wet
suit. Hood and gloves are usually required
below 60F. Above 60F, people begin to
shed hoods, gloves, etc. Some form of glove is always recommended for protection
against cuts from the Zebra Mussel, which are very sharp. Dry suits are quite popular in this area as
it enables year round diving.
Visibility varies from site to site but, in
season, is generally between 25'-45'. There
are daily variations, depending upon rain, storm, etc.
Fish are pike, muskellunge, eel, carp, bass,
etc.
Kingston has become one of the better known dive
sites in the province. It competes with Tobermory in being a very accessible,
well-serviced dive destination. The
quantity of wrecks is similar with many of them intact and penetrable, however
the waters are darker and bottom composite usually silt. There is also current
and the possibility of overhead traffic that generally makes diving around
Kingston more challenging. Kingston is a
much larger city than Tobermory and as such offers a great deal more pursuits
beyond diving.
Due to proximity of the seaway channel, merchant
and pleasure boats can create heavy traffic near the wrecks.
All wrecks in Ontario are the property of the
province and it is strictly forbidden to remove any object(s).