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Why is 1000 Islands World Class Diving?
Rich, Intact History: Wrecks elsewhere in the world are subject to damage by fishing boats, trawlers and commerce, marine life, storms and many other perils that simply aren’t found along the Seaway Trail. The volume of freshwater boat traffic over the last 400 years through such a small geographic area is unmatched in the world. The unpredictable winters on such large bodies of freshwater sent many early sailing vessels, with the topsides encased in ice, causing the boats to roll over.
Until the recent invasion of Zebra Mussels and Quagga Mussels, the River has had limited diving activity, and those who did dive it, tended to respect the integrity of the wrecks for all.
The oldest known wreck in the Great Lakes lies silently in the waters just off Clayton, NY in American waters. The Iroquois was built by the French in 1759, and sunk the 1763 after striking a shoal. Only the ribs remain in the relatively fast water of the American Channel. Please do not disturb this archeologically significant wreck. Do not dive this wreck without the guidance of local professionals as it is intentionally not marked and anchor near it will cause further damage to it.
Freshwater, Clarity and Warmth: Warmth on the North Coast? It’s warmer if you think of it as the deep south of Canada, the Canadian Riviera, or the Canadian Keyes. Everything is relative. Summer water temperatures can be up to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, all the way to the bottom. A real treat for those familiar with freshwater diving, there is no thermocline to speak of. Clarity is can approach 100 feet in the spring and fall, summertime clarity is closer to 25 to 75 feet depending on the algae and rain activity.
Why haven’t I heard about this before now?
Diving in the 1000 Islands has been a well kept secret, even today you will find divers who are reluctant to share information about some of the best dive spots. Many of the most popular dive spots in the St. Lawrence are shared on this website.
Often when people think about diving in a river, they think runoff, muddy waters, currents, rocks and boring. The St. Lawrence is different than most river diving due to it’s location, it’s source, and the invasion of a tiny mollusk from Eastern Europe called the Zebra Mussel.
The location of the St. Lawrence provides a steady flow of billions of gallons/hour of warm surface water from Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario has 7,340 square miles of surface area, making it the 17th largest lake in the world. This huge “settling tank” clarifies and warms the water before it enters the St. Lawrence. The shape of the geology of the St. Lawrence River acts like a giant skimmer, drawing only the warm surface water from Lake Ontario.
The recent invasion of the prolific Zebra Mussel and it’s insatiable appetite for filtering water has had a profound effect on removing a substantial amount of suspended material from the water column. Each zebra mussel can filter nearly a liter of water per day. The light now penetrates further improving the visibility. Many of the photographs on this website were taken without additional lighting or strobes.
Accessible: Syracuse, NY and Ottawa, Ontario are the closest airports to the 1000 Islands. When you arrive, you’ll find fully equipped dive shops, hotels, restaurants and merchants ready to service and support your equipment or to rent whatever you need for an enjoyable day all around the islands. Be sure to bring your C-Card and your passport. We are proud to serve you and work hard to earn your return visits.
A diver’s paradise for you to enjoy and explore.
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