Shotline Diving – Great Lakes & St. Lawrence
The Lakes, the River & the Routes Between
The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence are an inland ocean system: five basins and one river corridor that have carried timber, ore, grain, coal, cement and people for more than two centuries. Each lake has its own temperament – Superior’s cold swell, Huron’s island mazes, Erie’s fast-changing squalls, Ontario’s deep shipping lanes, Michigan’s harbour approaches, and the river’s current-swept channel to the sea.
This page is your first-class overview of that system. The lake cards below give you a quick historic and diving profile for each basin and the river, and link into dedicated region pages where Shotline records, projects, and future “Must Do” dive sheets come together.
System Snapshot
Inland seas: five Great Lakes, one river corridor, hundreds of wrecks, shore dives & special sites being documented in the Shotline archive.
How the Lakes & River Fit Together
On charts, the system looks simple: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, then the St. Lawrence to the sea. In practice, each basin has its own weather patterns, bottom profile, traffic routes and casualty history. The wreck record reflects that: deep ore carriers in Superior, island corridors in Huron and Georgian Bay, squall losses on Erie, the Kingston–Picton–Seaway corridor on Ontario, and current-swept wrecks in the river.
This page is designed as the “boarding pass” layer. Use it to choose which lake matches your current appetite for depth, logistics and history. The individual lake and region pages then narrow that down into specific corridors, ports and projects.
- Planning a weekend? Pick the basin first, then the corridor (Kingston, Picton, Seaway, Georgian Bay, etc.).
- New to Great Lakes diving? Start with Ontario, Erie or Huron/Georgian Bay for a mix of accessible wrecks and shore dives.
- Looking for “big iron” and cold water? Superior and selected Michigan / Huron sites are where ocean-style dives live.
- Interested in traffic and engineering? The St. Lawrence and Seaway combine active shipping, locks and complex history.
As Shotline grows, each basin will accumulate featured wrecks, shore dive reports, aircraft cases and dock/structure records so that a lake section feels like its own “mini atlas” within the project.
Planning by Lake
- Choose a lake card that matches your team’s depth/conditions comfort.
- Open the lake/region page for highlighted corridors & signature wrecks.
- Use the Wreck Map to see where those sites sit in relation to ports & shore entries.
- Cross-check in the Master Index for depth (m/ft), rating and quick notes.
Before You Lock in a Plan
Treat this page as strategy, not a weather forecast. Final choices should always follow current conditions, your training, boat captain/guide advice and official navigation sources, not just how exciting a corridor looks on the map.
Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Directory
Use the cards below to pick your basin. Each one gives a quick personality profile – history, conditions, and what kind of diving it tends to reward – plus a link into the corresponding lake or river page as those sections come online.
Lake Superior
The Inland Ocean
Deep, cold and remote. Ore carriers, bulk freighters and long cross-lake routes make Superior feel closer to North Atlantic conditions than an inland lake. Preservation can be exceptional; logistics and weather windows demand respect.
Good for: experienced cold-water & technical teams, “bucket list” wrecks.
Expect: cold profiles, longer transits, highly weather-dependent schedules.
Lake Michigan
Harbours & Highways
Busy harbour approaches, historic package freighters and schooners, plus mid-lake routes between major industrial centres. Many wrecks sit within charter range of well-equipped ports, with a mix of intermediate and advanced profiles.
Good for: mixed-experience groups, charter weekends, harbour-area history.
Expect: traffic, variable visibility, strong port-town logistics.
Lake Huron & Georgian Bay
Islands, Channels & Shoals
Narrow channels, long island chains and complex shoal systems created classic casualty zones. Wooden schooners, steamers and later traffic share reef lines and passages that are now dive corridors with strong historic context.
Good for: wreck touring, photography, mixed-level charters.
Expect: island navigation, variable visibility, moderate depths with standout sites.
Lake Erie
Shallow, Busy & Weather-Sensitive
Comparatively shallow but notorious for fast-building weather and shoal areas. Dense shipping tracks mean a high wreck count, with many sites suitable for intermediate divers and survey teams – when conditions cooperate.
Good for: building Great Lakes experience, charter weekends, survey work.
Expect: changing visibility, wind-driven conditions, clusters of wrecks along routes.
Lake Ontario
Gate to the Seaway
The eastern gateway: historic sail, steam, canal traffic and modern lakers all intersect here. The Kingston corridor, Picton, the approaches to the Seaway and multiple shore-accessible sites make Ontario one of the most heavily documented areas in Shotline.
Good for: wreck touring, research, mixed charter & shore-dive plans.
Expect: varied depths, strong historical context, many project corridors.
St. Lawrence River & Seaway
Corridor to the Sea
A river that behaves like a major sea lane: locks, narrows, current and active shipping. Many wrecks lie in or near working channels, under bridges or alongside shore structures, making local knowledge and regulation awareness non-negotiable.
Good for: experienced teams comfortable with current & traffic.
Expect: current, structures, navigation constraints and cross-border considerations.
Next Step: Turn Lakes into Dives
Pick a Lake, Then Open the Tools
Choose the basin that fits your goals, then use the lake overview, the Interactive Wreck Map and the Master Wreck Index together to build a realistic weekend, training block or research plan.
Shortcut
Already know your basin? Jump straight to the Master Index or the Wreck Map.