Hi folks back from Nanaimo BC

[JJHACK]

Well, we had a great week of diving. My wife is a very new diver with 12 dives when we arrived, but she really got a lot of good experience this week. We also had the absolute pleasure of diving with the author Andy Lamb on the boat! He is not only incredibly knowlegable about PNW sea life but a very nice guy to share diving with.

We dove the Rivtow wreck twice, snake island on the SE side and then again on the NE side with the seals. If you just hold still in this place the seals will swarm you to see what you are doing there. It's a photography dream for seals. Visibility as about the same everyplace, 30-40 feet or possibly more, even when getting down to 75 feet plus. ( my wife did not dive this deep)

Another great location we visited was the HMCS Saskatchewan and another place called clark rock. The HMCS was too deep for my wife, but clark rock was a fabulous dive us both. We also did some shore dives which are so much fun in BC. The locations are well mapped by the dive shop and have very well done changing rooms made of wood with benches and clothing hooks, with an attached outhouse next to the facilities.

Put simply the diving is better than anything I have experienced yet in the sound or seattle area, and in all but one location I was the only vehicle in the parking lot! I really like diving Alki cove two but the parking is a pain. Nanaimo BC is a pure joy to do a week long trip and dive multiple amazing locations with no crowds or traffic to deal with.

We used our camp trailer for the base camp and stayed in the " Living Forest" RV park. It's private but so heavily wooded it's much more like a state forest campground. Plus they have a great ice cream shop down by the inlet over look.

This is certainly a place I will dive again soon. Steve and Shirley at the Nanaimo dive shop were so helpful in pointing out the best places and in helping us make good decisions for the proper locations to choose from for my wifes level of experience. Their Dive boat Shepard Charters is custom built for diving with the platform being about 5" from the surface of the water. Steve and Shirley are both 15 year plus technical divers and know the area as well as anyone.

[Steiger]

Man that sounds like you had a blast!

[Penopolypants]

BC diving is the best!

[kineese]

I love Steve and Shirley! I would recommend them anytime
Did you find wolf eels at Clark Rock? The first time my hubby and I dove it we found 7 (3 pairs and a bachelor)

[Gdog]

Awesome, great report!

[YellowEye]

Very cool! Glad you got to go! Which shore dives did you hit?

[ScubaJess]

Sounds like so much fun!
I hope to dive there sometime
Thanks for the report.

[JJHACK]

Have to go check my dive log for the shore dives.

The one that sticks out is tyee cove. Mostly because when I was coming in about 6 feet deep I could hear something louder and then I saw a boat with an outboard. This is a dive only location.

These goof's dragged the boat down to the water. When I popped up the guy said to me. " hey see any fish down there?"

I shared this with Shirley from the dive shop. She was so disgusted and angry, far more then I was!

I would dive these shore dives constantly if I lived there. I would get fired from my job!

[60south]

+1 for camping at Living Forest, an inexpensive option.

You've made me want to go back!