Canada border crossing

[Belmont]

There is a new fill station in Landsdown near the Ivy Lea campground. You can have your tanks filled in the evening to be ready early next morning. The owner is a certified technical instructor and offers lodging and training if required. From there it's a 3 minute drive to the campground beach where you can enjoy all types of dives. You can go down to more than 200 feet under the Thousand Island bridge.

Nearby you can dive the Kinghorn in Rockport and hire a charter to see the Keystorm and the America or the Jodrey, inquire about the Rockport wall.

Every time I had to cross the border there were no issues with equipment. You have to tell them what you are carrying and the purpose of your trip.

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[oldflounder]

Thank you everyone for your ideas and suggestions. I checked my tanks and a couple of them are TC compliant. I'll take them and hope for the best. If they pop my tanks open and I don't want to pay for another vip I'll rent in Canada.

 

[rscalzo]

Never been an issue on all of our trips.

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

I dive and teach both sides of the border in the Thousand Islands region on a regular basis (will be there next weekend), and have several friends who also cross from the US to Canada almost weekly. No issues at all. To put this in perspective, I have crossed with a trailer full of supply cylinders of helium, oxygen and several sets of doubles and more than half-a-dozen stage bottles without hassles.

With regards DOT / TC stampings, if the cylinders are yours and are in hydro and display a current VIP sticker, it is most unlikely you will have any challenges at all. Again, to put all this compressed gas stuff into perspective, Canadian shops are supposed to fill using SI units (bar as opposed to PSI). I have yet to find one that conforms to this suggestion.

 

[Belmont]

I dive and teach both sides of the border in the Thousand Islands region on a regular basis (will be there next weekend), and have several friends who also cross from the US to Canada almost weekly. No issues at all. To put this in perspective, I have crossed with a trailer full of supply cylinders of helium, oxygen and several sets of doubles and more than half-a-dozen stage bottles without hassles.

With regards DOT / TC stampings, if the cylinders are yours and are in hydro and display a current VIP sticker, it is most unlikely you will have any challenges at all. Again, to put all this compressed gas stuff into perspective, Canadian shops are supposed to fill using SI units (bar as opposed to PSI). I have yet to find one that conforms to this suggestion.

What he said and all the fill stations use the foot/pound system.

 

[oldflounder]

I have a question for those of you that are familiar with the area. By asking it here it will avoid me having to go through the websites of the shops in the area and a bunch of internet rersearch. I will be in Alex Bay on June 30 and July 1. I am interested in learning something about wreck-diving - whether I can just get some experience at it by hiring a dive buddy/instructor for the day or can I take a 1 day class w/ home study and get a cert. I am interested in not more than 80' depth - don't want to get technical with lights and penetration and all. Still not that great a diver. Have close to 100 dives and about 90 hours sucking on a reg. Will be getting my AOW in a couple weeks. Will I need to make reservations w/ a dive shop or can this be arranged the day before. Around here classes only come up a few times a year but maybe at Thousand Islands area they are more busy. Names/contacts would be appreciated here on PM. Thank you in advance...........Joe

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

I have a question for those of you that are familiar with the area. By asking it here it will avoid me having to go through the websites of the shops in the area and a bunch of internet rersearch. I will be in Alex Bay on June 30 and July 1. I am interested in learning something about wreck-diving - whether I can just get some experience at it by hiring a dive buddy/instructor for the day or can I take a 1 day class w/ home study and get a cert. I am interested in not more than 80' depth - don't want to get technical with lights and penetration and all. Still not that great a diver. Have close to 100 dives and about 90 hours sucking on a reg. Will be getting my AOW in a couple weeks. Will I need to make reservations w/ a dive shop or can this be arranged the day before. Around here classes only come up a few times a year but maybe at Thousand Islands area they are more busy. Names/contacts would be appreciated here on PM. Thank you in advance...........Joe

Short notice. Long weekend and everyone I know and would recommend is busy/and is not a good enough instructor to cram anything meaningful into one day . A wreck class, intro-to-tech, or solo would all teach valuable skills. Why not book something for later in the season and just have fun this weekend.

 

[oldflounder]

This is a scouting trip for maybe many future visits if this turns out to be what I read - that is, a great dive destination. I have tons of great ocean and lake diving where I am but 25' viz is considered awesome even in the lakes. Normally 10-15' ocean is what we deal with yearround. I can't afford to fly to the Carib several times a year but I can see myself driving 8 hours to upper NY in the different seasons, even in the winter, if it was worth it. I am going for a fun time and I will do some shore wreck dives on my own but I was just curious about something more structured on short notice. Thanks for all your help and maybe we'll be in contact in the future...Joe

 

[trappist]

This is a scouting trip for maybe many future visits if this turns out to be what I read - that is, a great dive destination. I have tons of great ocean and lake diving where I am but 25' viz is considered awesome even in the lakes. Normally 10-15' ocean is what we deal with yearround. I can't afford to fly to the Carib several times a year but I can see myself driving 8 hours to upper NY in the different seasons, even in the winter, if it was worth it. I am going for a fun time and I will do some shore wreck dives on my own but I was just curious about something more structured on short notice. Thanks for all your help and maybe we'll be in contact in the future...Joe

Relativity it is... ;o) I found the viz we get here in MA around Cape Ann (at best 25-30 although I have had around 50ft in Winter too - most of the time around 10-15ft) is actually really good
I'm used to dive in our quarries and in the sea in Zeeland (The Netherlands) and there the viz is more or less 3-10ft Sometimes we dive and barely see our own equipment (we dive with cord between us, lights are mandatory) So I can;t wait to discover that nice area as well ! I have a mini trip planned in August, is is August yet ???

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

For those looking for surface support on the Canadian side of the border, here are a couple of contacts.

Charters: Thousand Islands Scuba Diving Tours Rockport Brockville Kingston Wayne Green. There are several really great operators including Tom Scott and Helen Cooper, but I have used Wayne as a primary contact for a little more than 12 years. He has four boats and a couple of RIBs.

Other Charters: http://www.diveseewayvision.com/ ; http://www.diveunderwhere.com/ ; http://www.divebrockville.com/

Dive Store/Fill Station: Dive Tech Training Centre - Home Page Dan and Beth Humble. Same story with regards the length of time I have been doing business with Dive Tech. Excellent product selection (from rebreathers to scooters, drysuits to regulators).

Accommodations: Diving At Caigers Resort Mark Janusz. Extensive renovations and other changes mean huge improvements here. Caigers is on the Riverside and is the center of ops for Wayne Green so the convenience factor is huge.


I and several American friends opt to dive out of the Canadian side even when visiting wrecks on the US side. Sure the whole customs thing is a pita but overall, we have found the service and level of support, price and so on, to be more to our liking.

FYI: water temps in the summer can hit the mid-twenties (76 in "we love the Empire" units) all the way to the bottom... there is no thermocline but a difference of a few degrees between the surface and trimix depths. Visibility in the late 90s and early 2000s sometimes hit 30 metres plus (more than 100 feet) but I have not seen it that clear for several years. More likely you will enjoy about half that most days.

Your mileage may vary. But this will get you started.