Dive culture in Vancouver

[vman]

Hey everyone,

I have an opportunity to move to Vancouver, I really want to, as I like the outdoors and having an ocean and a mountain nearby is awesome!

I have a bunch of questions and need your help.

- Can you dive year round with a 7mm full wetsuit? Or is a 14mm or dry suit necessary?
- How is the variety of dive sites? I'm not a picky diver, but I'm curious to know.
- Is there an active community of local divers and would you consider it to be a social culture?

Thanks

 

[TheScubaDirectory]

I can only comment on dive sites/shops. Here is a listing of dive sites and shops on Vancouver. Good luck!

 

[Landau]

7mm will be too cold for almost everyone in winter. A few dive 14mm in winter but 90%+ are in drysuits. The surface interval is especially cold in a wetsuit.

The variety of sites close to town is so-so but within a long daytrip radius there are amazing sites especially on Vancouver Island.

There is a large, fun, active group of divers!

 

[Darnold9999]

+1 re dry suit. Wet suit works for a single dive but not so much for multi dive days.

As Landau said the diving close to Vancouver is not great. It is on a river delta so you need to get beyond the delta to get to the better sites. You are however close to some excellent sites up the coast and across the straight on Vancouver Island.

When I lived in Vancouver my go to shop wa Ocean Quest in Burnaby I also liked IDC near Kitsilano.

Found both shops to be a good source for local trips.

There are a couple of active dive clubs but I never got involved with them. Did hear that they were good groups.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Mark Hiebert has an excellent site with a long list of B.C dive sites.
index

 

[Fyffer]

When you move to van let me know we can plan a dive.

 

[Divegoose]

Another vote for a dry suit, especially if you are planning multiple dives on a fall or winter day.

Divegoose

 

[Seaweed Doc]

For multiple dives in a day, I'd go with the drysuit. If you're just doing one dive at a time, the warmest wetsuit will let you tough it out.

 

[Jonn]

The better diving is across the passage on the island, especially to the north. Browning wall, for instance, is about as good as it gets anywhere. For local diving Whytecliff Park and the new Annapolis wreck will be your go-to spots. You can technically tough it out in a wetsuit but you're there to have fun, not suffer. If you're even half-way serious about cold-water diving (and that's what this is) you're getting the suit first thing.

 

[spc751]

There are several Facebook groups for divers in the area and several dive shops organize dives every week. Very few people dive in wet suits but you can get a good drysuit for a reasonable price. Dry suits are easy to dive, you just need to get someone to show you the right way to dive it.