80 / 116
78
|
WINTER 2017
snaggle-toothed, Muppet-faced monsters, some of which
are quite friendly and slither right out of their lairs in
expectance of a sea-urchin treat. Thirty minutes north
of Nanaimo is
Tyee Cove
, an excellent, mellow shore
dive popular for open-water training and another haunt
of wolf-eels as well as perch, leather stars, swimming
scallops and even GPOs. Octomaniacs will also like
nearby
Madrona Point
, another top shore site and
known hiding spot for multiple eight-armed rock stars.
VICTORIA: SPLENDID DIVING ALONG
VANCOUVER ISLAND’S SOUTHERN SHORE
Victoria has much to show for itself beneath the waves.
And topside it’s a contender for first prize thanks to a
brilliant mix of lovely weather, a happening city scene,
tasty eats and plenty of active pursuits such as hiking,
biking and whale watching. Pods of orcas are regularly
sighted throughout summer and early fall, so your odds
of seeing the Pacific Northwest’s totem animal slice
through the sea and launch skyward in a breach are very
high indeed.
We kick off things with a bang at
West Race Rocks
,
whose claim to fame — besides strong currents and
phenomenal marine life large and small — is its title as
the first marine protected area in Canada. We cavort
with sea lions in the shallows for 15 minutes while
waiting for the ebb tide to peter out, then we weave
our way through bull kelp stalks lined with hundreds
of burgundy and silver-striped brooding anemones. As
we get deeper, visibility opens up to 40 feet, and the
thermometer registers a balmy 48°F. A shelving wall
resplendent with urchins, hydrocorals and tunicates is
our studio backdrop for a photo session with red Irish
lords, decorator crabs and dahlia anemones. Only the
incoming tide can send us back to the surface.
Back on board the boat, we motor west. Majestic and
snow-mantled, Washington’s Olympic Mountains slide
by on our left across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Vancouver
Island’s Metchosin and Sooke headlands are on our right
shoulder.
Swordfish
Island
can be dived off-slack and is
an ideal follow-up to the current-dependent Race Rocks.
This site’s signature feature is a swim-through on the
northeast corner that’s sometimes hidden by a thick tangle
of bull kelp. Inside the tunnel, which averages just 15
feet deep, we find walls draped in splendid soft coral and
sparkling white anemones, perfect for wide-angle pictures.
For an intro to fjord diving, drop deep at
Senanus
Island
in Saanich Inlet north of the city. From 100
feet to beyond 150, cloud sponges in all their eerie
beauty await. If the force is with you and the tides are
right, a shore dive at current-sensitive
Ten Mile Point
in the eponymous upscale Saanich neighborhood
offers remarkable macro photography. To shore dive
with abandon even when the currents are screaming
elsewhere, head to
The Breakwater
, the most popular
dive in Victoria, day and night. Titan-sized stone blocks
stacked neatly in tiers make for easy entry and provide
prime real estate for marine denizens. We burn off the
morning’s tea and crumpets by schlepping our gear a
few hundred yards to submerge at dive flag marker 4.
Our pain, our gain. Underwater the weightlessness is
bliss, and we glide down the steps to 65 feet. Heading
east we spy gunnels in the kelp stalks and chitons on
the rock blocks. Cranky crustaceans brandish claws, and
triton snails lay eggs. Ling cod are everywhere, big and
bold and glowering at us. My imagination calls forth a
multilevel state penitentiary. The Breakwater inmates
look like trouble, and their sinister gazes shift to follow
our every move. In truth, the lings are lazy and happy, as
spearfishing is prohibited here. And that makes us happy.
BARKLEY SOUND: THE WILD WEST COAST
Winding along Alberni Inlet, the water smooth and
silver like the back of a 25-mile-long snake, we’ve
escaped to Barkley Sound and the Pacific Rim National
Park. It’s a rugged, remote wilderness. Bald eagles perch
in hemlocks and cedars, while a black bear emerges
from dense foliage to stroll the intertidal. Three
humpback whales exhale explosively, lift their flukes
with a flourish and dive down to feed.
Situated on Vancouver Island’s outer coastline, the
sound’s diving is notably different. Many species here
— giant kelp, fish-eating sea anemones, certain reef fish,
various bryozoans, the purple-ringed topsnail — are
infrequently seen on the inside shoreline. This is due in
part to the influence of the Pacific swell and surge that
are a result of open ocean exposure. Barkley’s reefs have
a look all their own. As a bonus, one can dive many sites
just about any time instead of having to wait for slack. This
is because water moves in all directions through the tight
island groupings, which tends to nullify the current flow.
Renate Reef
is a broad, plateau-topped seamount
rising to within 35 feet of the surface. Divers must
sometimes contend with surge, but the life here is well
worth it. Mounds of staghorn bryozoans resemble a
tropical reef’s coral heads and hide purple- and gold-
ringed topsnails, camouflaged crabs and scalyhead
sculpins. Strikingly scarlet vermilion rockfish hang
deeper at the reef base. In the
Kyen Point
microcosm
we discover a juvenile wolf-eel and electric-blue and