Access: Shore dive.
Location: Situated on the St. Lawrence Seaway in downtown Prescott (just east of Brockville).
What you’ll find: An excellent dive location for Scuba or Freedive. During the summer and fall you can watch the huge cargo ships go by about a kilometer from shore (and hear them underwater).
The dock has ample parking and decent entry points (ladder and a ramp). Coincidently the local scuba store, Sea n’ Sky Scuba, is located at the back end of the parking lot. You can use the change facility/bathroom for a small donation.
The water is always cool, with a slight current (2-3 knots). The site has a small wreck and various amounts of detritus thrown off the dock including a concrete staircase. Depending on the season you can see numerous fish of varying sizes, including barracuda sized pike. Lines have been placed underwater leading to the various points of interest.
In the immediate area around the dock the depth is between 20-25′, further out it reaches a depth of 40-50′. Generally people stay within 100 meters of the dock as there is sporadic light boat traffic. The dock is extremely popular with the local scuba crowd. Weekends can see as many as 100 divers getting certified. Visibility varies with the number of scuba divers, last rain fall and season. It is usually between 10-20′, though I have seen it as good as 40 feet.
I found it an excellent area to scare the stuffing out of introduce new scuba divers to freediving by doing a long breath hold at the staircase near where classes congregate.
- Sea n’ Sky Scuba
- Town of Prescott
Submitted by David Nesbitt.