Hornby Island trip video
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:49 pm
At the end of March I had the chance to take a trip to Hornby Island, British Columbia for some diving. I had a great time and I can't say enough nice things about Rob and Amanda Zielinski from Hornby Island Diving. Their diving setup is very comfortable and homey, the proximity of the dive locations means no long boat rides, and Rob, Amanda, and the staff were amazingly friendly.
We had some fun dives on the trip, but for me the best moments were all about the Sea Lions. We had several dives where we met groups of them at the end in the shallows. However, the highlight of the trip and one of my favorite dives I've done, was diving right off the small island where the Sea Lion colony is located. As we swam along the coast line in 30 feet of water we were continually surrounded my large groups of curious Sea Lions. Sometimes at many as 30 or 40 would be surrounding you at a time. Occasionally they would get aggressive or nippy. I had a few bites at my camera and on my sides, legs, and fins, but for the most part they were very playful and interested. If you ever felt like it was a bit too much action it was easy to sink to the bottom of move out to deeper water and you would generally be left alone. Every time I get a chance to dive with Sea Lions it is fantastic, they are so curious, playful, and interactive. Being in a large group like this brought the excitement to a whole new level. Overall it was an amazing experience and a lot of fun.
I think the perfect trip would be to go up at the time of year when the Six Gills are around and the Sea Lions are still on the island. Then you could alternate between deep wall dives for potential Six Gill encounters and shallower off-gassing dives on the Sea Lion colony. You have to navigate through a few ferries to make it to the island, but it is a great place to do some unique dives if you are looking for a semi-local trip. The video is uploaded to my Vimeo account, I believe you can stream the embed in HD or go to the site:
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/22559476[/vimeo]
Let me know what you think
.
Thanks,
Aaron
We had some fun dives on the trip, but for me the best moments were all about the Sea Lions. We had several dives where we met groups of them at the end in the shallows. However, the highlight of the trip and one of my favorite dives I've done, was diving right off the small island where the Sea Lion colony is located. As we swam along the coast line in 30 feet of water we were continually surrounded my large groups of curious Sea Lions. Sometimes at many as 30 or 40 would be surrounding you at a time. Occasionally they would get aggressive or nippy. I had a few bites at my camera and on my sides, legs, and fins, but for the most part they were very playful and interested. If you ever felt like it was a bit too much action it was easy to sink to the bottom of move out to deeper water and you would generally be left alone. Every time I get a chance to dive with Sea Lions it is fantastic, they are so curious, playful, and interactive. Being in a large group like this brought the excitement to a whole new level. Overall it was an amazing experience and a lot of fun.
I think the perfect trip would be to go up at the time of year when the Six Gills are around and the Sea Lions are still on the island. Then you could alternate between deep wall dives for potential Six Gill encounters and shallower off-gassing dives on the Sea Lion colony. You have to navigate through a few ferries to make it to the island, but it is a great place to do some unique dives if you are looking for a semi-local trip. The video is uploaded to my Vimeo account, I believe you can stream the embed in HD or go to the site:
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/22559476[/vimeo]
Let me know what you think
![:) :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Thanks,
Aaron