Ice diving the Niagara

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GMT

New
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Location
Ontario
# of dives
25 - 49
Does anyone know if it would be possible to get to the niagara, or any wreck in toby by snowmobile. would it be possible to ice dive the wrecks or is the ice to thick.
 
Does anyone know if it would be possible to get to the niagara, or any wreck in toby by snowmobile. would it be possible to ice dive the wrecks or is the ice to thick.

GMT...

You may want to contact Kelly...from Divers Den...The shop is closed for the winter but she is responding to e-mails...unless they're away...

Ice diving in Tobermory used to be conducted regularly...not sure if there's any interest anymore...Kelly's your best bet for advice...based on your level of experience...local conditions...and any ''planned events''

Best...

Warren
 
I did my ice specialty in Tobermory in Feb 2013. Stayed in the harbor and dove the tugs. Our entry was right at the Robert K wreck. Ice at that time was 16-18 inches thick in the Little Tub.
Ice diving did not seem to be a regular thing. Our diving drew the local press for an article and photos like diving in Tobermory was something unique. Either that or they needed a lot of filler since it was February in Tobermory and not much else happens then...
 
Either that or they needed a lot of filler since it was February in Tobermory and not much else happens then...
This... and the owner/editor of the local paper lives right across the road from the platform.

Technically, it might be possible to ice-dive at the Niagara, but obviously it would be entirely dependent on ice conditions. The last couple of years, the lake ice was very unstable. The few years before that, a few folks took sleds out to Flowerpot and I heard of others going all the way to Killarney.

As for the wisdom of ice-diving, and given that the OP claims to have 25-49 dives, I'll respectfully suggest that that's a big dive to do on SCUBA. A reg or inflator freeze-up in 25' at the tugs is one thing, but a freeze-up in 80' at the Niagara is considerably more problematic. Mind you, the water at that depth is going to be warmer than the water under the ice, so it may be ok. After you've logged a few hundred more dives and are kitted out with completely redundant gear and suitable training.
 
Also remember that you are in a overhead environment. Light can get limited due to ice/ snow cover, ice can shift, and your line to the hole can be lost.

Had a little bit of a scare last week when ice diving. We laid a reel from our hole to the main lines that run out to different boats and objects at our local diving spot. When we turned to go back to our reel it was gone. We had to navigate by compass (which worked perfectly with a second reel). Turns out an ice fisherman hooked our line and pulled it up. Total PITA when something goes wrong under the ice.
 
Also remember that you are in a overhead environment. Light can get limited due to ice/ snow cover, ice can shift, and your line to the hole can be lost.

Had a little bit of a scare last week when ice diving. We laid a reel from our hole to the main lines that run out to different boats and objects at our local diving spot. When we turned to go back to our reel it was gone. We had to navigate by compass (which worked perfectly with a second reel). Turns out an ice fisherman hooked our line and pulled it up. Total PITA when something goes wrong under the ice.

HOLY CHIT!
 
Total PITA when something goes wrong under the ice.

And then add a reg freeze-up on top of that and someone's in for a world of hurt.

Diving under solid ice is a good deal more complicated than it seems it should be. Up here, most ice-diving is shallow and done with the divers being tethered. That's a reasonable option in 20' of water where the distance from the hole likely isn't going to be great.

On a dive like the Niagara, assuming you could find it, and assuming you could locate the hole right over the wheelhouse, you're likely looking at running out a solid 200' of line, which is a bit of a pain on a tether. And the more I think of it, finding it would be a challenge. I dropped the last mooring there when we wrapped up the season, so apart from GPS coordinates, it's going to pretty touch to hit accurately.

Anyway, all in all, don't call me to join in. It's not a great idea IMHO.
 
I have preached that for years
 
Thanks for all the responses, all are appreciated. I haven't updated my profile for a while and am now tec certified and have the dual redundancy setup. If I was to do a dive like this it would be with my instructors who are very competent and trusted. The thought process on the niagara 2 was this. It is located in a protected bay so I thought the ice conditions would be good. there is road access to the bay within a short distance of the wreck. gps coordinates would be redly available to locate the wreck. It is deeper therefore the water temp might not be that much colder than during the diving season. I however have no ice diving experience whatsoever, so I appreciate the feedback and honestly thought ice diving would be the norm in Tobermory considering how popular of a dive spot it is.
 
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