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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Sunken Villages: Exploration Highlights
Sunken Villages: Exploration Highlights sunken-villages-exploration-highlights Comprehensive Overview of the Sunken Villages and Marine Life in the St. Lawrence River Sunken Villages: Exploration Highlights The Sunken Villages in the St. Lawrence River are a result of the flooding caused by the St. Lawrence Seaway and Hydro Project in 1958. These submerged sites offer a unique window…
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Talon Chutes, Mattawa River
Talon Chutes, Mattawa River talon-chutes-mattawa-river Dive Site Information: Talon Chutes, Mattawa River Location & Access •Coordinates: 46.2824° N, 79.0033° W •Address: Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada •Dive Type: Shore Dive •Access: •By Boat: Launch from Pimisi Bay and follow the river to Talon Chutes. •By Foot: Park near the Trans-Canada Highway and hike along the path…
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The Empty Scuba Park
The Empty Scuba Park the-empty-scuba-park Site Identification & Location Name: The Empty Scuba Park Location: Colonel Samuel Smith Park, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaCoordinates: Located on the peninsula within Colonel Samuel Smith Park Site Description The Empty Scuba Park, despite its seemingly unremarkable name, offers a unique and intriguing diving experience in Toronto. The site is known…
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Town of Goderich, Ontario, Lake Huron
Town of Goderich, Ontario, Lake Huron town-of-goderich-ontario-lake-huron Coordinates: Specific coordinates for each wreck are not provided, but they are located near Rotary Beach, Goderich, Ontario. Vessels Involved: VESSEL TYPE DESCRIPTION The shipwrecks off Rotary Beach represent a mix of schooners, steambarges, and small steamers, typical of the vessels that plied the Great Lakes during the 19th and early 20th centuries. These ships were primarily…
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Turner’s Island Dive Site Overview
Turner’s Island Dive Site Overview turner-s-island-dive-site-overview Location: Turner’s Island, Lake Clear, Ontario, Canada Coordinates: Exact coordinates not provided; located off the northern tip of Turner’s Island Depth Range: •Minimum: 3 feet (1 meter) •Maximum: 50 feet (15 meters) Dive Type: Shore/Island Dive Site Description Turner’s Island is the largest island on Lake Clear, known for…
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Upper Brewers Mills – Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Upper Brewers Mills – Kingston, Ontario, Canada upper-brewers-mills-kingston-ontario-canada Site Overview Dive Highlights Historical Features: •Locks and Dams: Two manually operated locks dating back to 1830 and earth embankment dams on both sides from the same period. •Historical Buildings: •A lockmaster’s house (1840) designed for defense. •A canalman’s house built in 1897. •Cultural Artifacts: Reported discoveries…
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Upper Stonecliffe Village
Upper Stonecliffe Village upper-stonecliffe-village IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION: Name: Upper Stonecliffe Village Dive Site Location: Holden Lake, Ottawa River, near Rolphton, Ontario, Canada GPS Coordinates: Not specified; located within Holden Lake, between Rolphton and Mattawa Depth: 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 meters) Accessibility: Shore entry available at multiple points around Holden Lake SITE…
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Wee Hawk
Wee Hawk wee-hawk
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Welland Scuba Park
Welland Scuba Park welland-scuba-park Location & Accessibility Explore the Welland Scuba Park: A Diver’s Haven in the Heart of Ontario Nestled between the Lincoln Street bridge and the Broadway St. bridge, the Welland Scuba Park offers a top-tier diving experience in the historic Old Welland Canal. With an average depth of 30 feet, this section…
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West River Drift
West River Drift west-river-drift Location: West side of Grand Island, Niagara River, NYAccess Point: Shoreline at West River Parkway or designated park areasMax Depth: ~20 ft (6 m)Current: Moderate to strong driftVisibility: 15–30 ft (4.5–9 m), varies with weather and flowHazards: Boat traffic, strong current, entanglement hazards from debris Dive Summary:This drift dive offers scenic gliding along the western edge of…
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West Street Boat Ramp, Kingston, Ontario
West Street Boat Ramp, Kingston, Ontario west-street-boat-ramp-kingston-ontario Dive Site: West Street Boat Ramp, Kingston, Ontario Site Identification & Location: •Name: West Street Boat Ramp Dive Site •Location: West Street, Kingston, Ontario (Part of the Marine Museum Dive Area) •Coordinates: General area near the West Street Boat Ramp, Kingston, Ontario •Depth: 33 feet (11 meters) Site…
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Windmill Point Park Dive Report
Windmill Point Park Dive Report windmill-point-park-dive-report Windmill Point Park Dive Report IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION •Location: Windmill Point Park, Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada •GPS Coordinates: Approximate: 42.8685 N, 79.0541 W •Depth: Varies across the quarry, with both shallow and deeper sections available. •Accessibility: Shore entry with well-maintained access points. SITE OVERVIEW Description: Windmill Point Park is…
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.