About Causeway Diver Supply
Your Strait of Canso Dive Shop
Who We Are
Causeway Diver Supply is operated by Tom and Julia Jewers. Part of our home has been renovated for our dive shop and repair facilities. We run a full service dive shop, and our customers are sport and commercial divers as well as tourists.
Tom is a commercial diver with over 35 years experience, who has been instructing divers through the P.A.D.I. program since 1979. As a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, he has several excellent P.A.D.I. speciality courses to offer.
Julia is a former journalist and is a PADI Divemaster. Julia runs the dive shop, looking after sales and service. She normally has all the latest diving news and local diving conditions.
Auld's Cove
Auld’s Cove is located in Guysborough County, in northeastern Nova Scotia. The Canso Causeway, near our shop, spans the Strait of Canso and is the link between Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia.
The Causeway is a man-made structure completed in 1955, which has created a deep water, ice-free port and, incidentally, several unique dive sites. The span is nearly a mile long with depths to 200 feet, and is home to a variety of plants and animals of interest to divers.
Our Training Site
Our main training site for PADI Open Water Diver certification near the swing bridge at the Canso Canal (see porpoises in the foreground!). Although the area gives the appearance of being a restricted area, it is accessible to the public.
The dive entry site is at the north-west side of the cemetery. Visibility varies depending on the season and there is a chest deep plateau to get equipment fitted for a dive. The bottom staircases down to 40 meters and beyond. Lots of marine life around the large rocks used to construct the causeway.
NOTE: Keep to the south of dive area. It is possible to get into trouble if you follow the shoreline north into the path of large vessels entering or exiting the Canso Canal. For more details, visit the shop.
Photo: Our main training site, located to your left as you approach the green swing bridge from the west at the Canso Canal in Port Hastings
Unique Dive Opportunities
Centrally located on the Trans Canada Highway entrance to Cape Breton Island, we offer divers a base from which to obtain assistance in acquiring accommodations, equipment and divemaster services for dive sites around the Island.
The coastal routes of eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton offers excellent dive opportunities without having to backtrack over previously travelled routes.
A short distance by boat or car can put the visiting diver into a variety of interesting diving locations and conditions in Guysborough County. We are 240 km from Halifax International Airport, and 150 km from the Sydney Airport, and both airports have vehicle rental agencies.
Read on for more details about our local diving sites!
Drift Diving
The Milford Haven River runs past the Village of Guysborough, and is an excellent site for drift diving.
Lobster Sightings
The Strait of Canso along the highway through Mulgrave to Sand Point is a good area to see unusually large lobster.
Antique Finds
Many divers in the Strait are lucky enough to find antique bottles and items discarded during the days of sailing ships when the Strait was a major shipping centre.
Summer Skin Dives, Winter Ice Dives
Georges Bay and the Strait of Canso north of the Causeway offer divers clean water and temperatures that permit diving without full wet suits during the summer. The same water is used to conduct our ice dives in the winter.
Georges Bay
This body of water can be accessed by shore or from the following Harbour Authority boat launches:
On the mainland, between the launch ramps at Auld’s Cove and Ballantyne’s Cove is Havre Boucher, East Tracadie, and Cribbon’s Point. On the Cape Breton shore can be found Pigs Cove, Little Judique Harbour and Port Hood. Look for the signs at these wharfs with launch fees and contact information.
Photo: Havre Boucher Boat Launch
Red Head
Red Head is the closest shoreline point to where the wreck Baleine is situated. The Baleine is the wreckage of an old steel trawler and is used as our training site for wreck diver certification. We stock the Canadian Hydrographic Service chart for the area and can give you the latitude and longitude for your GPS. Depth is 30 meters to the seabed and 20 meters to the main deck. We try to maintain a marker on the site.
This is a serious wreck dive, not for novice divers.
Access to the site may not be made from the nearest launch ramp in Sand Point. This is not a harbour authority facility. Instead, use the launch sites at the Strait of Canso Yacht Club in Port Hawkesbury or the Town of Mulgrave’s ramp in Venus Cove, or approach from the Isle Madame shore. Contact numbers are posted.
Photo: Strait of Canso Yacht Club Boat Launch
Cerberus Rock
Cerberus Rock is found in near middle of the approach to the Strait of Canso in Chedabucto Bay. This dangerous pinnacle of rock rises from depths greater than 30 meters to near the surface (sometimes awash) which has caused the wreckage of several ships. The most popular wreck dive at Cerberus is on the bow and stern section of the 11,000 ton oil tanker Arrow which sank in 1970. The location is well marked on charts.
Novice divers, accompanied by a divemaster, will find this wrecked oil tanker to be an exciting dive while staying within the depth limitations of their training. Lots of marine life and usually good visibility. Access may be made from several launch ramps around the island.
Photo: The Arrow wreck while it was still above the surface.
Other Local Sites
There are many shore dive areas along the eastern shore, Strait of Canso, around Isle Madame and along the south-east and north-west coast of Cape Breton. The sites are all weather dependent so it is advisable to check with local divers for the current conditions.
A book that you will find useful in our area is David Barron’s book “The Combined Atlantic Diver Guide” published in 1999.
Visit the shop and we will assist you with the latest information on tides and weather.
Photo: Venus Cove Boat Launch