Diving in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Canada has to be the best new, up-and-coming dive location for cold-water eco-diving enthusiasts world-wide!
Although it's possible to dive there year-round, April to October are probably the best months. The main attraction are the four giant iron-ore carriers that were sunk by German U-boats in 1942. You can reach these wrecks for exploration from about 20 - 45 m (70 to 145 feet). The wonderful thing is that they are so well preserved in the colder North Atlantic waters. They are teeming with life and haven't been stripped bare, so there's lots to see on the decks and inside. All the wrecks (the PLM-27, the Lord Strathcona, the Saganaga, and the Rose Castle) are covered with colourful anemones. There are several lumpfish which make their homes on the wrecks. Cunners abound and ocean pout can be seen in their lairs or darting about.
Beside the wrecks, there is great shore diving as well. Not far from Foxtrap where one accesses the wrecks, you can do a shore dive on abandoned whaling vessels. There's even a whale bone graveyard that you can dive in the former whale processing area of Dildo.
Topside, the scenery in the area and all around the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland is breath-taking. There are picturesque light houses, beaches, quaint towns, and the oldest city in North America, St. John's. That town is hopping in the nightime with lots of restaurants and a street which boasts the most pubs of any street, George Street.
I think that early summer is the best time to visit, since one then has the opportunity of seeing humpback whales as well as icebergs heading south along the eastern coast of Newfoundland.
Getting to Conception Bay is easy. There is an international airport (YYT) in St. John's (Torbay) which is only about fifteen minutes away from tour operators and accomodations in Conception Bay. Bring your camera since above and below the water there are images that you'll not see elsewhere!
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