Scuba diving is often thought of as a warm water sport; truth be told, there is a substantial local diving community in southern Ontario, and even though we are 1000 km from the ocean, Ontario still makes it on the top 10 dive destinations in North America by Diver Magazine. There are several reasons for this, including the sheer number of dive opportunities in Ontario, Canada. In this article, I am going to share with you 15 Shore dives that you can do in Ontario. Ontario is a huge province, and because of that, I will group the shore dives that are within the same region for ease of planning. From Personal experience, most of these sites can dive more than once, and you still haven’t seen everything. Let’s get into it.
Diving in Ontario – What You Need to Know
Ontario is a large province with tons of lakes, rivers and quarries to dive. All of these present different opportunities to dive. Shore diving is a great opportunity to dive more regularly because of its sheer convenience and low cost. That is why I would normally encourage beginners to shore dive as often as possible. Most people will be less than an hour away from a diveable body of water, which is why I’ll share some resources at the end of this article on how to meet more divers to shore dive in Ontario.
Scuba diving in Ontario will have a few different factors than diving in warm tropical waters. The major one is going to temperature. All diving in Ontario is considered cold water diving and requires some more equipment to keep you warm. The warmest times of the year will be the end of August and the start of September. Depending on the body of water, Lake Ontario could be as warm as 12C, and the St. Lawrence River can get up to 17C. These temperatures, with the right equipment, can make for a very enjoyable dive. The second primary consideration is visibility again, this will vary greatly, had can be challenging to predict place’s like Tobermory, Ontario it is very common to have 100 feet of crystal clear water or Lake Ontario, which can have as little as zero visibility but is more commonly 20-30 feet above 50 feet of depth. The best visibility is available from December to February, the dead of winter. Most bodies of water will have algae die off, and if you bear the cold, you can have an incredible dive of 100-foot visibility often. I will do my best to give you viability conditions for each site if I have dove it often.
Gear Up – What You’ll Need
As mentioned above, all diving in Ontario involves cold water diving. What does that mean if you are not familiar with cold water diving? That means you will need a 7mm full-body wetsuit, good-fitting gloves, and a hood. If you want to know more about picking properly fitting and functional equipment for cold water diving, click here. Along with a wetsuit, having a light for signalling in low-visibility water is helpful. Finally, having a reel/spool and a surface marker will be beneficial, and it is required in some locations such as national parks.
Dive Location
1. Humber Bay
Located downtown on the west side of Toronto, this is one of the busiest shoer diving spots one can find in Ontario. There are several lines to follow once in the water, but none of the lines lead to anything too remarkable. Locals regularly use this site as just an easy spot to get a dive in. It is a good spot to check out the dives and test any new equipment. There are 3 training platforms. Most summer weekends, there will be local dive shops using this location.
Depth: max depth about 40 ft
Visibility: In summer months, 10-30 feet can often have zero visibility; winter has the best visibility.
Temperature: summer 5-13℃ winter 2-4℃
Entrance: beach walk-in with an area to gear up in the shallow, gently sloped bottom.
If you are looking to dive Humber Bay and would like to meet up with some local divers, join the Facebook group Toronto Scuba Divers, Click Here
Some of the local divers have created a great Map of everything in Humber Bay. Cink Here.
Tobermory
There are two shore dives worth doing here. Remember that these dives are part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park, so you need a park pass and a dive flag to dive here. However, it is worth diving if you are in Tobermory.
2. The Tugs:
This is one of my favourite dives as there are three wrecks to view onto the left of the entry, which is primarily piles of wood with some artifacts, then there is another wreck off to the right, which has a boiler and fallen smoke stack there is nice decking and railing to view.
Visibility: Summer is normally 40-80 ft, but often 100 ft visibility.
Temperature: Summer between 3-12℃, winter frozen over
Entrance: there is a nice deck for gearing up with stairs into the water. Once in the water, there is a smooth rock bottom of about 50 ft, 4-6 ft deep, then it slopes to about 20 ft deep. From the entry point, if you swim out further than 50 ft approximately, there is a sheer cliff drop-off, which goes down to 50 ft deep from shore.
If you would like more information on the Tugs, Click Here.
3. Lighthouse.
This is a nice dive. The parking lot is a very short walk to the entrance of the water. On the side closest to Little Tug’s Bay, there is a sandy bottom with lots of grass. You will regularly find large bass and slider turtles here for some reason. If you swim along the wall away from the bay, there is a lot to see in the rock wall: fish, crayfish, and lots of lost dive equipment.
Visibility: Regularly 40-80ft but 100ft visibility if very possible
Temperature: Summer 3-12℃ degrees winter frozen over
Entrance: There is lots of room to gear up in the parking lot, which is a very short walk to the water. Entry to the water is very rocky, with several lagoon areas about 3-5 deep for gearing up. After that, it is a sheer drop-off. Depending on where you are on the peninsula, it can be 40-70 feet to the bottom. While on this dive on the bottom, make sure to look up as the peninsula has an overhang, and you will be diving under it. It’s just beautiful!
If you are looking for more information on diving the Light House, Click Here
For any Tobermory Diving information, contact Diver Den. Click Here
Wiarton, Ontario
This is on your way to Tobermory, so depending on how much diving you want to do, it might be worthwhile to visit if you’re in the area. There are three dives to do in this location. Two of them are very basic and not much to see, and the final spot is one of the few locations where you can get real depth from shore. Let’s go!
4. Wiarton Water Filtration Plant
The west side of the plant had a small boat launch. I dive this area often close to shore. It is a very nice rocky bottom with tons of fish. It is very common to see trout in this area. If you swim away from shore, it becomes a sandy bottom with little to see other than vastness. It’s a great spot if you want a shallow dive for doing a checkout dive, testing some equipment or practicing some skill in the shallows. It is also near the spirit rock hiking tail, which is worth a visit if you are there.
Visibility: 40-80 ft is often good visibility in this area, supposing enough, as the water can get warmer in this area because it’s pretty shallow.
Temperature: At the height of summer, it can be 13-18 degrees Celsius, and in winter, it is frozen over.
Entrance: The boat launch isn’t used for larger or motorized boats and isn’t busy at all, so I normally walk down the boat ramp or next to it and use the ramp to sit on and put on my fins.
5. The east side of the filtration plant is also an excellent dive.
It is mostly shallow with a sandy bottom, but if you swim out far enough, there are two wrecks to visit. This may require a scooter to get to the wrecks. I will leave a link to a Facebook group that dives in the area regularly. Feel free to reach out for details. We will help you find the wrecks.
Visibility: 40-80 feet, but it can be more.
Entrance: It’s a steep, short hill, easy to navigate in a single tank setup. I normally dive in double, so I take it very slow, but it’s still doable.
Temperature: same as the west side.
6. Cedar Hill Park
This is a regular visiting area for divers on the Bruce Peninsula. Cedar Hill Park has parking and a small gazebo, which is great for gearing up. There are also bathroom facilities (composting toilet, no running water). There is an area for a fire pit or a BBQ if you would like after the dive. Underwater, there are several artifacts that divers have placed, such as geodesic dome statues of the Eiffel Tower and many, many other things to see. This is a preferred spot to dive because one can quickly dive deeper than 100 ft from shore.
Visibility: 40-80 ft but can be over 100ft
Entrance: Both to get to the water and once in the water, it is very easy to enter, with a very gentle slope all the way to the bottom of the bay. It is a great spot for a shore dive.
Temperature: less than 20 feet can be up to 15 degrees Celsius on the surface in the summer; below 60 feet, it is always 2-3 degrees Celsius. Between 40-60 feet, there will be a thermocline. (A distinctive difference in water temperature for warm shallow water to very cold deep water)
If you want more information about diving at Cedar Hill Park, Click Here
If you are looking to potentially meet up with local divers this is a great group for Bruce Peninsula diving Click Here
Lake Simcoe
There are two areas here in Lake Simcoe they aren’t close to each other but either one is worth visiting as there is enough to see to do more than one dive on.
7. Shanty Bay
This is a small beach community on the north side of lake Simcoe, in order to dive Shanty bay you will need a parking pass because the entrance to the water is a private access but if you have a parking pass you should be okay with the locals. This is a preferred spot mostly because you can get to 100 ft of depth from a shore dive. Lake Simcoe will have lots of sport fish.
Visibility: Can be variable depending on rain, normally 30-50 ft but can be reduced by algae in hot summers.
Temperature: Summer from 5-16 degrees celsius. In the winter, it is frozen over.
Entrance: very easy access to the water beach. Access or from a pier. The bottom is a genial sandy sloped bottom.
If you are looking to meet up with a local Diver to do Shanty Bay, Click Here.
8. Centennial Park J.C Morrison wreck
This was one of my first regular dive spots, this is a battle wheel wreck suck in 1857. It’s located in about 30 ft of water. The prattle wheels of the boat are still pretty intact; most of the rest of the wreck is a pile of wood. This area has an amazing abundance of fish, large bass and pike and lots of perch. It often felt like a tropical dive. This dive dosen”t require a dive flag but a good idea to use one because there are a lot of anglers who regularly drop anchor in this area to fish. I would be lying if I said I never cut any anchor lines when people ignore my dive flag, but we will keep that here. There is lots of parking and easy access to the water.
Visibility: often best in the spring when waters are cooler, and as the supper progresses, it decreases but often 20-40 ft
Temperature: water gets up to 18 degrees celsius in the summer and freezes over in the winter
Entrance: The wreck can be accessed from the grassy area in front of the parking lot. There is a small set of concrete stairs. Entering here will get you to the wreck in about a 20-minute dive. Alternatively, you can walk to the beach area and enter on the sandy beach. This will make it about a 30-40-minute dive as it is just a little further from the wreck. You won’t be disappointed if you like to see fish.
Warren Lo, a renowned Photographer, has some great pictures of the wreck. If you are interested, check it Out Here.
9. Innerkip quarry Trout Lake
This dive site is located between Toronto and London, Ontario. If you’re on a road trip and hurting to dive this isn’t a bad spot to stop at. Innerkip Quarry caters to family camping changes at a small daily fee for day visitors, but it’s not a bad place to spend the better part of the day getting 3 to 4 dives in to see all the things that sunk in the quarry. Call ahead of time to check on visibility, as it can be zero visibility at times, and it would be horrible to drive out that far and not be okay with zero visibility.
Visibility- 0-20 ft can be quite variable.
Entrance: There is lots of easy access to the water. Once in the water, there is a shallow area to put your fins on, and after that, it is a steep drop-off.
Temperature: In early spring, 3-7 degrees celsius, but in the height of summer, it can be up to 23 degrees, which is why visibility can be reduced due to algae growth.
For more information on Innerkipt Quarry Trout Lake, Click here
10. Sherkston Quarry
This is a very busy spot, not so much for divers, but the quarry is located in a resort. This could be a fun way to visit Sherkston Quarry, such as staying at the resort and enjoying the beach and all the amenities because there are a lot. The quarry is historical as it was filled with water when there was a power outage, and the pumps stopped working and filled with water leaving lots of rail carts and trolleys underwater, there are many other things sucked for divers to experience. Call ahead of time before visiting as this quarry is spring-fed and sometimes will be closed to public swimming due to water quality issues.
Visibility- visibility can be as little as 10 feet in the height of the summer but normally 20-40 ft
Entrance: There are many easy places to access the water, including stairs, platforms, and shallow areas. Once in the water, there is a steep drop-off.
Temperature- normally 5-14 degrees celsius, but can be warmer depending on the summer temperatures
For more information on Sherekston Quarry, Click Here
11. Gulliver Quarry
This Quarry is located just outside of Hamilton, Ontario. It is regularly used by dive shops for checkout dives, so it can be quite busy. There are several artifacts to explore.
Entrance- easy access to water with a shallow area for gearing up. Total depth is 20-25ft
Visibility- best in the spring up to 40 feet, but most of the summer 5-20 feet.
Temperature-0-5 degrees Celsius in the spring but up to 20 degrees Celsius in the summer.
For more information, visit Gulliver Quarry. Click here.
Welland Canal and Scuba Park
12. Welland scuba park/canal
This is a great place to visit for a shore dive; it is regularly used by many local divers and dive shops alike. There is a lot to see under the water, everything from sunken cars to small wrecks that are safe to penetrate a sunken submarine. It is very easy to do multiple dives in the same location. There is plenty of parking and a fully functioning bathroom. (running water). There is also more than one dive shop within a 20-minute drive.
Visibility- can be variable, but normally, the best visibility is early spring. As the canal warms up through the summer, the visibility will drop down to 20ft.
Entrance- if you enter from the grassy area of the canal, there are shallows where you can gear up (put your mask and fins on) directly in front of the parking lots. It has an old boat launch, which makes for a potentially nice entry, but be careful as the ramp is normally covered in a thin layer of algae, leading you to see a constant flow of divers slipping and folding into the water. Alternatively, there is a nice dock to gear up on and make a giant stride into the water.
Temperature- Summer can get as high as 15 degrees celsius, normally 6-10 degrees in the winter, and the canal freezes over.
13. swing bridge
This is also in the Welland Canal, just a different access point where you get to dive under an old swing bridge between all the support pillars. This is a great dive, as the light from the surface penetrating the old train tracks and all the pillars that you swim in between makes for a very different dive. Keep your eyes out for a real abundance of fish.
Temperature and visibility are the same as above in the Welland Canal.
Entrance—There is a small parking lot for suiting up, but access to the water is down a steep, muddy hill. It’s very common for there to be a thick rope so divers can ease their way down and pull themselves up. The rope isn’t always in place, so it’s not a bad idea to bring your own 40ft of 1” marine rope that will ensure that you will get the spring bridge to dive.
For more information about the Welland Canal, or if you’re looking to dive with locals, check out this Facebook Group. Click Here.
14. Canteen Memorial Dive Park
Canteen Memorial Park in Brockville, Ontario, seems like a really interesting dive. In full disclosure, I haven’t done this dive yet, but as I am writing this paragraph, I am seeing what I am missing. It looks like there are 45 sculptures and statues underwater for divers to enjoy
Entrance- nice concrete stairs make it a nice entry to the water.
Visibility: 5-50 feet
Temperature: 0-26 degrees Celsius
For more information on diving at the Memorial Dive Park, Click Here.
Niagara river
The Niagara River has some very fun and historic dives to be done. They are all drift dives; several of the dive shops in the area have regular dives on the Niagara River. Because the exit of the dive has to be timed so you don’t miss the exit, it is recommended to dive into these drift dives with someone who has done them before unless you’re comfortable with drift diving. These dives are a ton of fun. You barely have to do any kicking, and you will see tons of fish and, if you’re lucky, even some big sturgeon. There is a link to the dive information at the end of the paragraph.
15. The International Train Bridge
would be the best recommendation for a beginner Niagara River dive. This is the lesser visited sight, so it is a better opportunity to see fish and artifacts (lots of bottles)
16. Barge and Black Creek:
This is also a drift dive with a small barge that can shelter you from the current. It’s a great opportunity to see some fish.
Check out this link and reach out to Dan Dive Shop if you have any questions about diving the Niagara river. Click Here.
Now that I am going on this list, I am reeling with several other shore dives that anyone who loves scuba diving would want to visit, even if it is just in the spirit of getting another dive in. I may either add to this list or start another list of 15 more shore dives to do in Ontario. Hopefully, this article has exposed you to a few sites you never heard of or just got your dive mojo flowing to get in the water. Visit the local watering hole either way when on a dive; only take pictures and level bubbles till the next article full of adventure.