Nanaimo?

[YellowEye]

A bunch of folks from this board went to Nanaimo last week.

How was it???

[dlh]

Nanaimo was great! There were about 9 of us who headed up last Friday to to dive with Sea Shepard charters. They were great and the diving was really fun. I think we had a 6/3 CCR/OC split in the group with 2 of the OC on doubles. Nanaimo is a great for CCR with the deep wrecks providing lots of area to explore and make those long bottom times and short deco benefit really pay off.

We did two dives each day. Day 1 was the HMS Saskatchewan & Snake Island Wall. Day 2 was spend on the Saskatchewan & Cape Breton. I've been diving on these wrecks for about a dozen years or more and they are better every year. The real delight from this trip was the EXPLOSION of Cloud Sponges on both wrecks. They are all over both ships and some are really big. Largest I saw was 5-6 feet tall and wide, and all over on the sides, interior, bays, etc.

Conditions were pretty good. The weather of overcast with a bit of sun and the currents were negligible. Vis was great below 40'. Thick fuzz down to 30-40 and then it was quite clear below that. Very little particulate and about 40' of visibility. It was quite dark however due to the fuzz at the top we might as well have been night diving, and very little emerald green to be found in the background.

Here are a few photo of the adventures:

Rebecca under the Guns on the Saskatchewan

Rockfish in Cloud Sponge condo

Liane with Paul's fin...

Cloud Sponge in the turret hatch

Snake Island Wall anemonies

Giant sponge on port side of the Cape Breton

Giant sponge on port side of the Cape Breton

Cabezon on eggs

Cabezon on eggs

Liane and Paul on the Cape Breton

Sponge on the stern of the Breton

Sponge on the stern of the Breton

[Jan K]

Great photography ! Love the sponges

[YellowEye]

Very cool, good to hear it was a great trip! Nice photos!
The size and quantity of those sponges sounds impressive.
I'll have to try to go back soon!

Was it a good operator?

[ScubaJess]

Fantastic pics & report! Looks like a great time! Paul & Liane look so cool!

Did you see any candy stripe shrimp in those snake locks?

[dlh]

No, I didn't see any candy's there. I was really focused on wide angle subjects on this trip and didn't even bring along a macro lens.

I use to go up there a couple times a year and it had been about 5 years since my last dives there. It's a real close-to-home treat for a weekend adventure.

[seattlepaul1975]

Great pics!! Was great getting to dive with you!