2000 Chapbook

This is dry suit country. If you can take the cold water, the rewards include an incredible array of filter feeders and marine life that you'll never dive with in warm waters. Vancouver Island, reachable by air or ferry from Seattle or Vancouver, BC, is a remarkable wilderness destination, both on land and in the water. A traveler may encounter anything from eagles to orcas, sea lions to bears, while diving with a remarkable range of critters such as sea lions, seals, wolf eels and giant Pacific octopuses. There are dive resorts in the Campbell River area, and a few liveaboards such as the well-respected Nautilus Explorer plie these waters. Diving is controlled by the enormous tides that dictate when and where the water is moving, so choosing an experience operator is important. Undercurrent readers have reported on other Western Canada dive operations located on Victoria Island and in Whitehorse (Yukon Territory), plus St. Albert and Edmonton (Alberta). Wreck diving is the big draw in Lake Ontario. Truly hardy souls can try ice diving at Baffin Island near the Arctic Circle. There's some diving off the Eastern provinces, such as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

British Columbia

Clavella,September 1999, Dave Kasper, Ann Arbor, MI. Vis: 20-40 ft. Water: 48-51 degrees. Petting an 8 ft wolf eel, the ugliest and most lovable fish around, is rush equal to shark diving. Giant Pacific octopus, Orcas, Dall's Porpoises, 5 ft lingcod, halibut, fields of white anemones, rockfish galore, golden fields of kelp, ratfish, invertebrates. Puget Sound king crab bigger than a frisbee. I lead trips in the Caribbean/Bahamas and love them, but they cannot hold a candle to the underwater life in the Emerald Sea surrounding Vancouver Island (Barkley Sound to the West; Port Hardy to the northeast; Nanaimo to the east; Victoria to the south). Beautiful snow-capped mountains and scenery replace the tropical beaches. Tides control everything and diving is usually at slack. Clavellaruns like most live-aboards, dive-eat-sleep-repeat. Diving from a skiff. Food is excellent and plentiful, bunks/rooms small, head and shower are Spartan. Previously dove with Extasea Charters with similar experiences. Drysuits are a must hence never a crowd. Winters offer better visibility and little water temperature drop. It's fine in a dry, dry suit. (Telephone 800-803-1383 or 250-753-3751; Fax 250-755-4014)

Exta Sea Charters/Moby Dick Motel, October 1998, Carl Rutherford, Redmond, WA. Vis: 35-40 ft. Water: 48-49 degrees. Sunny, windy. Restrictions: none. Drove up from Seattle Friday. Used the BC ferry system to cross to Vancouver Is. Saturday AM Bob the skipper came to our rooms to let us know that there were small craft warnings where we wanted to dive and asked us what we wanted to do. We waited until the PM and since the winds had not died we opted for a local sheltered dive at Jesse Island. No current, depth about 60 feet. Lots of fish but the most interesting were the number and size of the nudibranchs. Some types over 18 inches. We all used dry suits. Did two dives. Next morning the weather was calm and sunny. We were in the water diving the Saskatchewan at 9:15. Only 4 divers and Bob. Several buoys mark the destroyer for boat tie ups. We descended a buoy line amidships. Slight current. We covered half the ship each dive. Not much marine life yet mostly crinoids and one sealion. Between dives had snacks and hot soup. The bottom is 130 and the deck is at 100 feet. Great dive but will be better when the critters move in. Got back in time to make the return ferry. Bob was accommodating in every manner except one; I was using Nitrox (95 and 120) and asked where I could refills. He said it was hassle because I would have to drive a ways and they might not be open. He suggested that I use his 80's with air (part of charter). Well we found out that the dive shop 200' away filled Nitrox. I guess they were competitors. Moby Dick is an adequate cinder block motel. Great weekend and very friendly people. (Telephone 250-755-9144; Fax 250-755-9146)