Shore dives along the lake huron coast?

[lead_bucket]

Curious about any good shore dives along the Lake Huron coast.
Places such as Kincardine. Port Elgin, Point Clarke .. etc.

(I've heard from a friend of a friend.. that Kincardine is quite a nice place to dive ... but they were unclear where they went in.
Maybe out of MacGregor Park)

If we get a good list, I'll format them and post them back as a new thread.

Let's get a list going folks!!
Wes

 

[Groundhog246]

Very shallow along that shore. At Goderich for example, you're about 4 miles out to get 50 feet deep. There's a ships graveyard off the beach in Goderich, so far all I;ve found are some old pipes and a few timbers. There's a hull (keel, ribs, planking) off the beach North of the river, but the beach is private, so access is an issue. You can shore dive "the long dock" at Southampton and there are a couple of smaller wrecks that sank after colliding with it. For all these site, visibility is often poor as an wind from the NW has a long fetch and the resultant waves stir up the bottom. Did a treasure hunt dive off South end of the beach in Port Elgin last Saturday. Average vis was 3 to 4 feet. We did manage to locate coloured rock and win a prize. On the plus side, water temp was 66F.

 

[CAPT HOOK]

Little Tub in Tobemorey is a good site. (but you probably know that)

 

[rjchandler]

In kincardine has a "pile-o-boards" wreck south of the peir. North I believe there is an old sailboat. What you may also find is heavy boat traffic, lots of fishing line and low viz if it has been raining. A good hunt for fishing lures dive.

Don't think Pt Clark would offer much for shore diving - shallow, boat traffic, fishing line, etc. I go in from shore frequently about 2 miles north of there. rocks, rocks, rocks - couple carp - rocks, rocks and mebbe 12ft max depth. Borrowed a scooter once and was able to get out far enough to get 20ft. The problem with going out far enough from shore to find depth is that storms come up suddenly.

 

[maj2]

We have a family cottage in this area, and it is not really conducive to shore diving. Very shallow for a LONG distance out from shore. Even then, it is a very flat bottom with little to see.

That being said, I spent some time this summer looking for potential dive sites, and this article from the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Association indicates a few wrecks in the area.

Again, not really shore dives, but they are in the area.

The Goudreau looks particularly interesting (apparently a 300ft steel freighter), as does the Saturn (a 172ft wooden "steambarge", not mentioned in the article above). I have no idea of how much of the wrecks (if any) still exist, but am hoping to poke around the area later in the summer, the next time I am in the area.

 

[lead_bucket]

Thanks Everyone!

I'm begining to see that the story I was told was just that .. a story.

This guy said there was a sharp wall drop-off after the shallow shore entry, north of Kincardine, near the power plant. He made it sound like it wasn't that far out.

Not sure I want to dive near the intake of a power plant !!
Wes

 

[Groundhog246]

You'd probably get arrested if you tried. There's a no go zone around the plant and it's monitored. Head in side and there'll be a patrol coming to visit shortly.

 

[d33ps1x]

Can they do that? I thought private parties had no say in Crown property such as anything below the high water line like the lake.

 

[rjchandler]

Can they do that? I thought private parties had no say in Crown property such as anything below the high water line like the lake.

I think we are talking about Bruce Nuclear

 

[Groundhog246]

They can with the permission of the government. I'd expect that the 'zone' is a government requirment. I'm originally from the East Coast (PEI) and a little over 20 years ago, mussel farming arrived where I lived. The fishermen leased section of rivers and bays and placed their mussel lines. You could boat through the leases, but were legally obliged to avoid the lines and could be held financially responsible for any damage if you snagged. In one section between the harbour and where we moored our boat we had a 40 foot wide channel left to sail through (and I mean sail, not motor). Most annoying.

With the concerns over nuclear material, is an exclusion zone a surprise? There another "no go" zone where we boat now (Meaford) by the Land Forces Training Center (formerly the Meaford Tank Range) and I've seen OPP on the dock to meet a boat who sailed inside the buoys (heard the range on the radio telling him to get the heck out of there too).