Shotline Diving – Shore Dives & Access Points
Shore Diving the Great Lakes & Rivers
The region’s many lakes, rivers, and bays give divers a near-unlimited resource for training, practice, gear checks, or simply getting underwater for fun. From quiet inland lakes to river shore entries with steady current, shore diving is often the easiest way to stay active between charter trips and big expeditions.
Sites range from beginner-friendly, shallow entries to advanced dives with current, depth, or navigation challenges. Many are shared spaces — boat launches, public parks, cottage lanes, and waterfront communities — so we treat every site as if we are guests, both above and below the waterline.
Shore dive catalogue
Ongoing project: known shore dives are published as dive-sites and expanded over time.
Search Shore Dive Sites
Start with a site name, town, lake or river, or a well-known landmark. Search will surface any related dive-sites, nearby wrecks, and special sites documented in Shotline.
Quick ideas: “Minet’s Point”, “Hudson Terraplane”, “Jaycee Gardens”, “Wolfe Island shore”, or a local park name.
Why Shore Diving Matters
Shore diving is more than “the thing you do when the boat is full.” It’s a core part of Great Lakes and river diving culture because it allows divers to:
- Maintain skills between charter trips or big expeditions.
- Test and tune equipment after service, upgrades, or configuration changes.
- Introduce new divers to local conditions in a controlled environment.
- Explore history close to home — old wharves, piers, crib work, and near-shore wreckage.
- Build community through club nights, training evenings, and “after work” dives.
Shotline uses shore diving as one of the main ways to document new sites, verify existing records, and encourage low-impact diving practices across the region.
Shore Dive Quick Guide
- Check access: parking, hours, local rules.
- Walk the entry/exit before gearing up.
- Plan navigation for low-viz or featureless bottoms.
- Match the dive to the least-experienced diver in the team.
Guest Behaviour
Most shore entries are shared spaces. Tidy staging, quiet voices, and no-souvenir, no-touch diving go a long way to keeping access open.
Finding Shore Sites in Shotline
Shore-accessible locations are gradually being tagged, verified, and linked through multiple tools in the archive:
- Master Wreck Index: region, depth band, rating, and relationships.
- Wreck & Shore Map: visual overview of wrecks and shore sites; click through to records.
- Dive-Sites CPT: current catalogue of known shore dives in the Shotline system.
- Verified by Mark: field-checked notes on access, parking, and conditions.
Shore Access, Safety & Low-Impact Diving
All access notes in Shotline are planning tools only. Conditions, ownership, and local rules change. Treat every shore entry as someone else’s space and every site as part of the historic record:
- Parking: obey signage, do not block driveways, ramps, or emergency access.
- No souvenir collecting: take photos, video, sketches, and notes — not artifacts.
- Garbage out: the only thing you should remove from a site is trash.
- Underwater behaviour: no touching wrecks, no moving artifacts, careful finning, no tying into fragile structures.
- Dive planning: match the dive to training, experience, gas, and conditions on the day.
Aim to be the diver who “leaves only bubbles, takes only memories” — and whose presence makes sites better, not worse.
Shore Dive Site Directory
Browse documented shore dives below. Each entry links to a dive-site page with access notes, depths, navigation tips, and site-specific etiquette where available.
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Parrotts Bay, Lake Ontario, Ontario, Canada
Parrotts Bay, Lake Ontario, Ontario, Canada parrotts-bay-lake-ontario-ontario-canada Site Identification & Information •Dive Site Name: Parrotts Bay •Location: Parrotts Bay, Lake Ontario, Ontario, Canada •GPS Coordinates: Approximate location near the public park at Parrotts Bay •Depth: Maximum of 30 feet (9 meters) •Bottom Composition: Sandy bottom Site Description Parrotts Bay is a shallow, beginner-friendly dive site…
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Parry Sound Salt Docks
Parry Sound Salt Docks parry-sound-salt-docks Identification & Location •Name: Parry Sound Salt Docks •Location: Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, on Georgian Bay •Coordinates: Not provided; site accessible from Parry Sound shoreline Site Description The Parry Sound Salt Docks is a historic dive site that immerses visitors in the maritime and industrial legacy of Georgian Bay. Once…
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Petawawa Barge & Bottle Dump
Petawawa Barge & Bottle Dump petawawa-barge-andamp-bottle-dump Dive Site Report: Petawawa Barge & Bottle Dump Location Village of Petawawa, Ontario, Canada Coordinates: N/A (Upstream of the last set of rapids on the Petawawa River, near the confluence with the Ottawa River) SITE OVERVIEW Depth Range: 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) Average Depth: ~6…
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Petawawa River
Petawawa River petawawa-river Petawawa River Dive Site Report IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION Location: Petawawa River, Village of Petawawa, Ontario, Canada Access Point: Via North Street, opposite the golf course Maximum Depth: 35 feet (10.7 meters) Optimal Diving Depth: 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 meters) SITE OVERVIEW The Petawawa River dive site is situated…
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Portsmouth Olympic Harbour
Portsmouth Olympic Harbour portsmouth-olympic-harbour Portsmouth Olympic Harbour (POH): A Shore Dive in Kingston, Lake Ontario Greek Anchor Portsmouth Harbour MOV Part. by Shot Line Diving on Sketchfab Identification & Site Information Directions to the Dive Site From Highway 401: Dive Site Features Visibility & Conditions Special Features 1. Scootering Adventures: The site serves as a launch…
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Prescott Scuba Park Overview
Prescott Scuba Park Overview prescott-scuba-park-overview Located along the St. Lawrence River near Prescott, Ontario, Prescott Scuba Park is a well-known site for scuba training and recreational diving. It is particularly popular among local Ottawa-area dive stores and clubs, offering an alternative to busier sites like the Rothesay and Conestoga shipwrecks. This park provides a controlled and accessible environment for training while…
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PRIMITIVE “MYSTERY” CANALS SUBMERGED UNDER THE OTTAWA RIVER
PRIMITIVE “MYSTERY” CANALS SUBMERGED UNDER THE OTTAWA RIVER primitive-mystery-canals-submerged-under-the-ottawa-river PRIMITIVE “MYSTERY” CANALS SUBMERGED UNDER THE OTTAWA RIVER Source: Ottawa Rewind, September 12, 2023 by: Andrew King Unexplained engineers built primitive canals along the Ottawa River that are now underwater… .AN ANCIENT HIGHWAY The Ottawa River has been a conduit for travel and trade for thousands…
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Provincial Paper Company
Provincial Paper Company provincial-paper-company Identification & Site Information Site Description Beneath the St. Lawrence River lies the submerged village of Mille Roches, one of the Lost Villages affected by the St. Lawrence Seaway construction in the late 1950s. Mille Roches was a thriving community, its economy dominated by a prominent paper mill that played a…
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Queen’s Wharf Remains
Queen’s Wharf Remains queen-s-wharf-remains Identification & Site Information • Name: Queen’s Wharf Remains (Unofficial) • Type: Hull debris / historical dock remnants • Location: Off former Queen’s Wharf site, Toronto Harbour, near Bathurst Quay • Coordinates: 43.6404, -79.3941 (View on Google Maps) • Depth: Approx. 4 metres (13 feet) • Access: Shoreline entry from waterfront paths near Bathurst Quay; kayak launch…
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Ruth B. (Tug)
Ruth B. (Tug) ruth-b-tug Location: Niagara River, south of Peace Bridge (near Broderick Park)Access Point: Riverside shore near Bird Island Pier or Broderick ParkMax Depth: Variable; ~20–30 ft (6–9 m)Current: Fast, consistentVisibility: 10–20 ft (3–6 m)Hazards: Rapid drift, submerged structures, traffic near Peace Bridge Dive Summary:The Ruth B., a tug that struck the Peace Bridge in 1986, lies partially submerged and decaying…
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Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park
Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park samuel-de-champlain-provincial-park Shore Dive Overview: Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park •Location: Mattawa River, Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada •Coordinates: 46.300374, -78.875027 •Dive Type: Freshwater Lake Dive •Depth Range: •Minimum: 6 feet (2 meters) •Maximum: 15 feet (4.5 meters) •Dive Duration: 30-60 minutes (depending on current and exploration time) Historical…
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Sans Souci Bar and Tashmoo Marina Dock
Sans Souci Bar and Tashmoo Marina Dock sans-souci-bar-and-tashmoo-marina-dock IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION: Name: Shore Dive at Sans Souci Bar and Tashmoo Marina Dock Type: Shore Dive Site Location: St. Clair River, near Sans Souci Bar and Tashmoo Marina, Ontario DIVE SITE DESCRIPTION The Sans Souci Bar and Tashmoo Marina dock are popular shore diving locations…
Live Great Lakes & Rivers View
Shore-Accessible Sites on the Shotline Map
Zoom into harbours, bays, and river bends. Markers for wrecks and shore sites will link into Shotline records where available — use this view as your spatial starting point.
Tip
Use layers to focus on one lake, corridor, or region at a time.