Northwest Dive Club

Looking for some info on diving around this island. Anyone?

Ummm its about the same on the north side as Skyline wall, except not as steep and requires a live boat. The Bluff on the southwest corner is good. Right by the light and slightly south. Live boat only. The inside "side" by Burrows Bay is kinda silty and typically has horrid vis which "spills" out and makes the vis at Williamson Rocks typically bad too.

There are better places to dive, why the interest in the particular island?

Personally I think that the west (I meant EAST) side of the island is very much like Skyline Wall, while the north side is quite different - there is some interesting structure off the northeast corner in particular. CaptnJack is right about the visibility around Burrows, though I wouldn't say it's especially different on the inside versus the outside - if the visibility is bad, it is going to be bad all the way around the island. This area does seem to collect and circulate silt that flows out of Skagit Bay - when visibility is bad it is horrendous, and when it is good it is well, pretty average. I agree that there are better sites to target. However, when Rosario Strait is looking rough, the area around Burrows Island and Allen Island can provide refuge and a backup dive plan. Drifting the full length of the west (meant EAST again) wall can be fun and presents some good macro photography opportunities. The northeast corner has some interesting rocky structure if you're willing to venture into deeper water. There is a small reef off the south southwest corner in the channel between Burrows and Allen) that is kind of interesting, but it can be tough to plan for slack, and you will want it truly slack because the flow there is really chaotic. The west side of the island off the lighthouse has always been a bit of a disappointment to me - just never found much to interest me there. I would also suggest checking out the south side of Young Island (teensy one directly south of Burrows) - it's a shallow dive, gets lots of light, and more often than not I find very photogenic Basket Stars there. Have fun!

Thanks for the info guys. The reason for the interest stems from a sea kayaking tour, circling the island, that the dive buddy and I took a couple of years ago. Since then I have gotten certified and he has just got a boat.... so the exploring and questioning begins :smt038

Try to pick up the San Juans boat diving book from Lighthouse Diving in Lynnewood or Seattle. That will give you alot of ideas. Burrows is like a C+ kinda site compared to many good alternatives

I'll keep an eye out for the book, thanks again!