April 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 4   What's this?

Nautilus Swell, British Columbia

and next time, north to Alaska

from the April, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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Dear Fellow Diver:

I was ready to jump into the 49-degree water at a never-dived site. Our group of Canadian, American and Dutch divers was aboard the Nautilus Swell, a 99-year-old converted tugboat (although refurbished in 2005 for more than $3 million) based out of Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. After diving several spots in the Browning Pass area, we had moved to a virgin kelp-covered spot that Captain Al had been eyeing. Once I jumped in, I felt like I was inside a popcorn popper. Thousands of small crabs were moving everywhere, as were larger crabs, shrimp, nudibranchs and myriad fish. My eyes darted around, trying to keep up with the activity. I surfaced, whooping and hollering. So good, it was the only site we repeated, with a bonus of a giant Pacific octopus on the second dive. When I offered it my hand, it just looked at it and blew water toward me, totally unconcerned.

One can fly to Vancouver, then catch a small plane to Port Hardy, but after my buddies and I flew into Vancouver, we spent a day hiking and touring the aquarium, then rented a van and, after a ferry ride, spent another day driving up the beautiful eastern coast of Vancouver Island. Spending two nights at the Orange Tabby B&B, we explored the Port Hardy area (note: the best homemade soups and fish dinners are at the Sporty Bar and Grill), and I observed many soaring eagles, a couple of otters and a black bear mother and cub. After paying $10 to park our vehicle for the week, we boarded the Nautilus Swell at 5:30 p.m....