Chookumkuk Narrows ?

[Hollywoodivers]

Is there a way to Dive the Narrows ? I hiked there recently and it was slack tide. It looked really nice. And the water seemed to be a bout 50 farenheight...Any advice ? I even saw a plague that was dedicated to the undersea life there. Hoping to go back there sometime soon. Hal

 

[nadwidny]

Skookumchuk. You need an operator who knows what they are doing. I would recommend Bryce Christie from Sunshine Coast Tours as he is an excellent captain, has the best boat I've ever dove off of, and is local. Kal from Porpoise Bay is also good but the boat ride is longer to do it from his place. I've done a couple of trips to the area where I was able to dive Skookumchuk and it is a very interesting place. Diveable slack only happens a handful of days per month.

 

[deepdiverbc]

It's a nice dive especially the wall on the west side below the lookout but you have to respect the currents and get out when your time is up.

The narrows can run as high as 16 knots. Even when the current is running relatively slow it is very unlikely that you will get a 40 minute dive in because the slack doesn't last too long. It's a good idea to plan your bottom time based on expected duration of the slack. Air supply and nitrogen level are secondary as you can get swept away long before they become factors.

It's good advice to go with a charter that knows the area.

 

[Mikey123]

I know that Suncoast Diving is running a charter up to "the Skook" sometime in early November... They have a zodiac and a larger boat, and can probably get about 15 people into the water.

I've done it once before (this past February) and it is definitely a highlight dive. We went under a few minutes before slack... The current pulled us "up" the inlet for about 10 minutes, then we suddenly stopped for about 5 or 6 minutes (giving me some time to catch my breath as this was one of my first drift dives), and then pulled us back "down" the inlet. It's amazing how fast the current picks up here.

I'm not sure Suncoast's phone #, but the website is www.suncoastdiving.com