Niagara II

The Niagara II has a very unique story-- it was selected to be a dive site by the Tobermory Marine Association.  That is, the association bought, cleaned and prepared it as a dive site-- no fires, no running agroud, no storm-- just a carefully crafted and intentional plan to make this ship an interesting scuba diving wreck.  In May 1999, the Tobermory Maritime Association towed the barge out into Georgian Bay and blasted it into a new dive site in order to attract repeat or new divers to the Tobermory area.  The result is a mixed-depth dive (between 45 ft and 100 ft) since the ship sank and settled upright, with little damage to the interior of the ship and a matching mixed-difficulty designation due to the variance in depth.  Though, this site is most appropriate for intermediate or advanced divers since you can check out the entire wreck.

This intentional preparation offers its fair share of little benefits, such as access holes and a safer site.  Aside from a bit of a crushed nose (from impact when she was sunk), the ship is still in great shape.  In essence, the TMA has taken some creative dive liberties in preparing the ship, making this wreck into an underwater playground for divers who are trained enough to penetrate the wreck.  For example, you can swim down the smokestack into the interior of the ship. 

Want to check out the sinking of the Niagara II?  Visit Darryl's Diving Service for dive pictures and videos.   Also, the Divers Den (a Tobermory dive shop) has some really great pictures of the sinking of the Niagara II.

For more information about diving the Niagara II, contact a Tobermory dive shop (Diver's Den -- , G+S Watersports-- ) or visit the Tobermory Maritime Association's website for pictures of their dive sites and general information about their projects. 

Can't live without your GPS when you're driving in your car?  Why not let it guide you to your next dive site?  Check out www.GeoDiving.com for the GPS coordinates of the dive sites closest to where you want to be.