Divers choose chilly waters over tropical scuba diving destinations

Choosing a diving destination can be a tricky decision for many passionate scuba divers because the world is full of underwater delights. During the selection process, most divers opt for crystal clear warm waters, colourful marine life and a warm tropical climate.

Some divers, however, are ditching exotic scuba diving destinations such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, to brave the chilly waters of Montreal in Canada, in a quest to discover some of the best freshwater diving sites in the world.

Darcy Kieran the owner of Total Diving, explained: "Water is very popular in Quebec, when you land at Dorval you can see that everybody has a pool and you rarely see that anywhere else in the world. So people like water around here, but they just don't think about diving because they associate diving with the Caribbean."

With the water temperature rarely reaching above 20 degrees Celsius, Quebec is not usually the first choice for divers planning scuba diving holidays.

"Nobody should care about cold water," Kieran said. "People go skiing in the winter at minus 10C and they think it's very comfortable because they just dress properly. Scuba diving is always above zero otherwise the water would be ice. So we're always warmer than skiing and we just dress properly and we're very comfortable in the water. It's just about wearing the right thing."

PADI offers a range of scuba diving courses for people as young as 10 years old and once certified, divers can take their skills and qualification all over the world.

Many dive stores in Quebec offer a Discover Scuba programme that allows people to experience the underwater sport before committing to a whole course and there are a number of diving clubs across Montreal where members can get to meet fellow divers and enjoy organised scuba diving excursions.

Gilles Décarie, a PADI instructor and member of H20 Dive Club, said: "We organise trips usually once or twice during the week on weeknights and then we have Saturdays and Sundays going once to a Quebec site and once to an Ontario site."

Popular freshwater diving sites in Canada include: Lake Memphremagog where divers can enjoy good visibility, several dive sites teeming with marine life, and fantastic night dives; Brockville, Ontario with waters full of 19th-century warships and modern-day metal freighter vessels; and Kahnawake Quarry where visibility varies from 10 to 25 metres and divers can encounter marine species such as pike, tilefish and perch, turtles as well as Canadian beavers.