Dive Conditions at Welland?

[Soggy_Diver]

Hi,

Planning a dive to the scuba park and swing bridge in Welland on Wednesday, July 17. How are conditions there currently?

Thanks!

 

[W W Meixner]

Hi,

Planning a dive to the scuba park and swing bridge in Welland on Wednesday, July 17. How are conditions there currently?

Thanks!

SD...

Contact the Dive Academy in Oakville...and call Dans in St. Catharines...DA used to dive the canal park in Welland regularly...

Best...

Warren...

 

[cleung]

How did the Welland dives go? My group is planning on coming down there for our first time in mid August. We will definitely do the main scuba park dive site but unsure whether it's worthwhile to do a second dive over at the bridge especially if conditions are not so great in terms of vis.

 

[Soggy_Diver]

How did the Welland dives go? My group is planning on coming down there for our first time in mid August. We will definitely do the main scuba park dive site but unsure whether it's worthwhile to do a second dive over at the bridge especially if conditions are not so great in terms of vis.

Hi,

We didn't get to Welland because there was heavy rain and thunderstorms, so I don't know what the conditions are like right now.

 

[underH2Oman]

A

How did the Welland dives go? My group is planning on coming down there for our first time in mid August. We will definitely do the main scuba park dive site but unsure whether it's worthwhile to do a second dive over at the bridge especially if conditions are not so great in terms of vis.

A friend said vis was (10-15ft) at the park. I have always thought the vis is better at the bridge when I dive in that area. Personaly would pick it before the scuba park.

 

[cleung]

Three of us went to Welland for the first time last weekend. Visibility was really crappy but the water was super warm - my dive computer registered 25 degrees C - don't know if that's entirely accurate but it was still quite warm especially after diving at Humber Bay all summer. We started from the left side of the dock to catch a line going out. The one we found was probably not the one heading to the other side of the canal because the first attraction we came up to was the shipwreck which was a pretty nice steel one. From there we headed back to shore near the right side of the dock.

After lunch, we drove over to the swing bridge area. We saw a nice dock but don't know if it was a private one or not and it was too far of a swim to the bridge anyway. We ended up using this really small dirt trail that went down to the water near the bridge on its' north side. Not sure if this is the area most divers access from or not but we did not see anything else close. This is pretty well right across from the small parking lot as soon as we drove through the tunnel at the bridge. Although this trail is not long, it is a bit steep and traction not great which made it challenging with all the dive gear.

Visibility was pretty bad here too but water was just as warm. We found a line and followed it for awhile as we were curious to see where it led to. But after awhile and studying our compass position, I figured that this line actually took us away from the bridge and back towards the scuba park so we turned around until we got back near the bridge. We surfaced to confirm our position. We decided to follow along the bridge for a bit and vis was a bit better here and there were more fish too including a huge carp and another big fish along with smaller ones.

I would like to return back to Welland Scuba Park maybe in a month in late September. Water will be colder then but at least the vis might be better so perhaps we can see the other features like the cars we missed during our first dive. I would like to explore the swing bridge more now that we know not to bother following that line that went back towards the scuba park. I hope the September temperature will not drop as far as temps at Humber Bay.

I would like to confirm with other who know the swing bridge - is the small steep trail we used the best access to use?

 

[Soggy_Diver]

Hi Clint,

Some people prefer that access. I like parking at the Scuba Park, then putting on my gear, soaking it to stay cool, and walking along the canal (about 400m) to the clearing close to the bridge and wading in.

 

[cleung]

Hi Clint,

Some people prefer that access. I like parking at the Scuba Park, then putting on my gear, soaking it to stay cool, and walking along the canal (about 400m) to the clearing close to the bridge and wading in.

I did see that clearing -- it's on the west side (same side) of the scuba park right?

 

[Soggy_Diver]

Yes, west side.

 

[cleung]

We have plans to return in late September. Even though water temps will be cooler (but probably not as cold as Humber Bay or Tobermory), I'm assuming vis to be much better then.