Shore Dives in New York

[SpecialTest]

Looking for locations around New York I can do some shore diving... well, places I can do shore diving and have something worth looking at. I've tackled all the US accessible ones in the Thousand Islands (Islander, Bonnie Castle, St. Louis, and Frink Park) and am looking for other options. I'm about to start heading towards the Finger Lakes, but I don't expect to see much.

 

[KDAD]

@SpecialTest sorry I can't be much help but possibly you can help out. I will be taking a trip from NJ to Niagara Falls and wanted to swing over to the Thousand Islands on the way back and hit a fairly easy NY shore dive or two. Frink Park and Bonnie Castle seem ideal as they are close to I-81 for the trip back. Are they or the others (Islander, St. Louis) easy shore dives? Where can I find information on them especially the others?

I will have a Junior OW diver with me hence the easy part.

 

[GooseIt]

@KDAD the Islander is literally a 5 minute car ride away from the Bonnie Castle dive site. There is a parking lot and gazebo with picnic table to even get ready at, both of which are about 15 feet from the ramp into the water. You could pretty much show up and roll out of your car as long as the small lot isn't full.

Site Details: Islander

The wreck is in about like 40 feet of water about 50-ish feet straight out from the ramp. A lap or two around the wreck and you'll have seen it all. You can also follow a marker line going NE on the river bed from the wreck to "the restaurant" which I think is in about 60' of water IIRC. It's a few hundred yard swim, if that, and is just some patio chairs/tables down there with a fake skeleton having a drink.

I'm not going to say this is the most impressive dive ever, but I enjoyed it as the beginner I am. If you're doing Bonnie Castle already, it's worth the short drive.

 

[SpecialTest]

GooseIt basically covered it.

I did the St. Louis this past weekend (about 30 minute drive away from Bonnie Castle and the Islander) and the visibility was just horrible; 10-15ft maybe and lots of seaweed. Something to be expected this time of year. Lots of timbers and wood bits left, but in no way was recognizable as a boat.

Park here for the Islander, and walk straight out the ramp. The wreck is about 30ft down. https://goo.gl/maps/i5mrAy8vCbJAt7x47

Bonnie Castle shore access is here: https://goo.gl/maps/yvXRed4cbTuGEjZQ7
I will note that the Bonnie Castle platforms were kinda cool. There's a line that will lead you from the "beach" to two large platforms that sit about 30ft down and 30ft from the bottom (60ft of water). You can hang out at the platforms or continue to the bottom where you can follow a line west to a sunken fiberglass runabout boat, or east to an old rusty jalopy from the '50s.

 

[GooseIt]

@KDAD the Islander is literally a 5 minute car ride away from the Bonnie Castle dive site. There is a parking lot and gazebo with picnic table to even get ready at, both of which are about 15 feet from the ramp into the water. You could pretty much show up and roll out of your car as long as the small lot isn't full.

Site Details: Islander

The wreck is in about like 40 feet of water about 50-ish feet straight out from the ramp. A lap or two around the wreck and you'll have seen it all. You can also follow a marker line going NE on the river bed from the wreck to "the restaurant" which I think is in about 60' of water IIRC. It's a few hundred yard swim, if that, and is just some patio chairs/tables down there with a fake skeleton having a drink.

I'm not going to say this is the most impressive dive ever, but I enjoyed it as the beginner I am. If you're doing Bonnie Castle already, it's worth the short drive.

@KDAD - I'm not sure if you ever went, but I just recently redove the Islander. I do want to make a correction. There isn't a line marker that leads directly from the wreck to the restaurant. You'll have to swim about 30-40 yards NE before you run across a large submerged platform and the guide line is attached to that platform that you can then follow. You'll know you're going the right way to the platform if you run across an old radiator from a house.

 

[coldwaterglutton]

This list has been posted here before, most are downstate from you:

Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: New York, USA East

 

[KDAD]

@KDAD - I'm not sure if you ever went, but I just recently redove the Islander. I do want to make a correction. There isn't a line marker that leads directly from the wreck to the restaurant. You'll have to swim about 30-40 yards NE before you run across a large submerged platform and the guide line is attached to that platform that you can then follow. You'll know you're going the right way to the platform if you run across an old radiator from a house.

Yes, we did end up diving the Islander. It was a fun dive. After circling the wreck a few times my daughter started to head off to the NE on her own and I followed. I did notice the radiator (she doesn't know what one is) and we found the platform. We both noticed the line and started to follow it but were starting to run low on air and it was getting deeper so turned back short of the restaurant. Visibility was nice around 20 ft and the water was warm at 72 deg. Vis did seem to start dropping as we went down the line but we didn't make it down there anyway.

We hope to go back for a longer trip next year to hit more of the spots there.

Thanks all for the information.