Quadra Island Adventures!

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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YellowEye
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Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by YellowEye »

Howdy Folks!
Last weekend ScubaJess, SphnMartin, vjw and I went to celebrate vjw's birthday diving around Quadra Island!

What a great trip! I've never dove the area before. Honestly didn't know much about it other than I heard lots of Strawberry Anemones and it's supposed to be pretty good. Quadra is located outside Campbell River, a city about halfway up the east side of Vancouver Island,. There definitely were a lot of strawberry anemones, along with a lot of cool sponges (tennis ball sponges, nipple sponges, stalked vase sponges, etc), greenlings, tube worms, snakelocks, nudibranchs, octos, wolfeels, bait ball fish, lots of sea stars (including adult sunflowers :partydance: ), urchins (gazillions), some kelp and lots and lots of current!

We booked via Abyssal Charters. It was an all-inclusive package that included a hotel stay, 6 dives, and meals. The accommodations were pleasant, the captain was super nice and knowledgeable. Viz was medium, probably a dark 20 feet below the 30' depth. Good times!

This was some challenging diving... We probably didn't hit the best tides possible but it is in general very fast out there... The main channel gets faster than deception pass... The slack tide windows were extremely short, and once they were over if you insist on >60 min dives like I do they'd blast you down the reef if you didn't find a good hiding spot. One of our dives, a back eddy dive at Copper Cliff, looked like a river before we got in. It was a fun challenge trying to take photos of an octo when the current was blasting away so hard even the rocks I was holding on to started tumbling upon my grip. At the end of one dive (Steep Island), I think I zoomed along the wall faster than I've ever been in a drift dive before. Some ups and downs and back eddy fights along the way. Quite the rush.

Here were some of the snaps along with a few more comments!
Scuba Jess, exploring the crazy colored reefs at the "Row and be damned" dive site
Scuba Jess, exploring the crazy colored reefs at the "Row and be damned" dive site
A wolfeel residing in a colorful home
A wolfeel residing in a colorful home
Steep Island had an amazing colony of Tube Worms.  A sight quite unlike any I've seen before!
Steep Island had an amazing colony of Tube Worms. A sight quite unlike any I've seen before!
Moon Jellies and bait fish
Moon Jellies and bait fish
A tube worm cluster
A tube worm cluster
The hard-to-catch octo I was mentioning
The hard-to-catch octo I was mentioning
Nipple and tennis ball sponges on a carpet of strawberry anemones
Nipple and tennis ball sponges on a carpet of strawberry anemones
Adult sunflower stars :)
Adult sunflower stars :)
Leather stars
Leather stars
Lion's Maine jelly
Lion's Maine jelly
What a great trip, I definitely want to go back and explore this area some more!
Last edited by YellowEye on Wed Jun 27, 2018 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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stphnmartin
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by stphnmartin »

Great report YE! Love the octo shot especially given the conditions you endured to get it!

I basically got nothing on video. So, yes, another trip is warranted!
:popcorn: View dive videos on my youtube channel. GH5, Nauticam housing, Big Blue 9000s, Sola 500, 1200, Scuba Lamp Snoot, Mavic 2 Pro, Osmo, Final Cut Pro X
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Jan K
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Jan K »

It is always pleasure to see your reports, and as always, great accompanying pics, especially new areas I will probably never see. Thanks for sharing.
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I take photos because I like it, not because I'm good at it. :) by Unknown
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ScubaJess
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by ScubaJess »

Howdy Divers!

Happy Thursday!
What a crazy fun adventurous away Mission!! :pirate:
Happy Birthday to Vjw!!!! :)
Super beautiful pics YE! It was so fantastic diving with you guys! :partyman: :eric: :taco: :partydance: I can't wait to go back!

The diving was soooo colorful :luv: and plastered with life and the dive boat marina had excellent coffee shop with delicious hot dogs! Also our captain BBQed Burgers :burntchef: for us & got us coffee & ice cream! What a cool guy! :notworthy:

Here are some of my snaps! :popcorn:
My away team
My away team
Friendly Rockfish
Friendly Rockfish
Hermit Crabs on a trek to see the strawberry anemones
Hermit Crabs on a trek to see the strawberry anemones
talkative Kelp Greenling
talkative Kelp Greenling
Nudi eating some peach flavor cup corals
Nudi eating some peach flavor cup corals
nudi art
nudi art
Top Snails on a hike
Top Snails on a hike
reef shot
reef shot
Rain from underwater
Rain from underwater
pretty clouds when I got out from copper cliffs
pretty clouds when I got out from copper cliffs
Attachments
flowers outside our hotel were the same colors as the reef below the sea
flowers outside our hotel were the same colors as the reef below the sea
Dramatic cliff sides we got to dive under
Dramatic cliff sides we got to dive under
Captain Earl BBQed us some yummy burgers
Captain Earl BBQed us some yummy burgers
we rescued a broken boat and towed it to shore
we rescued a broken boat and towed it to shore
Stephen & Val
Stephen & Val
FoggDukkers Coffee has the best view, super awesome coffee shop :)
FoggDukkers Coffee has the best view, super awesome coffee shop :)
ice cream on surface interval
ice cream on surface interval
on dock coffee break with Val :)
on dock coffee break with Val :)
Live Long And Prosper!!!

Stay Warm underwater with the Weezle Extreme Plus undergarment! Please let me know if you would like to order one or have any questions. :luv: :partydance: :eric: :taco:
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Gdog
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Gdog »

Super cool report and photos you guys! Looks awesome, what a great trip!
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Vjw
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Vjw »

I’m so impressed with the pics you both got! Beautiful colors, beautiful life, just ..... beautiful!!! The wolf eel in den with reef above is really amazing! So is the jellyfish and the octo. Wow! Had such a fabulous time!!!! Thank you SCM for setting it all up!! What a wonderful weekend!!
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Penopolypants
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Penopolypants »

Y'all got some great photos even with the challenges! I loved the tube worm site too! It's amazing how they soak up the light.

I went up there several years ago on a weekend with the currents were relatively mild, and diving could still be a bit challenging. It is an absolutely lovely place to dive though!
Come to the nerd side, we have pi!
Sharkb8
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Sharkb8 »

Amazing photos as always! Sounds like an awesome trip.
Party underwater
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McGlencoe
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by McGlencoe »

As always, awesome pics YE and SJ!
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Tom Nic
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Re: Quadra Island Adventures!

Post by Tom Nic »

Amazing! Canada diving is the best!
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
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