Diving Help!

[HybridDiver]

Hello, Is there any cave diving off vancouver or even on western side? Im inland at kelowna and im trying to find a cave diving area, Im taking my course in ginnie springs this year and would like to know wheres the caves are when i get back home.
Chris

 

[Hyper-limits]

I haven't heard of any caves around Vancouver Island, I heard of guys diving some caves in Northern BC, I don't where there are, but I heard that they have extreme conditions, low viz, deep and of course as cold as you can get.

 

[haha49]

i know there is a mine in bc somewere you can dive and a couple of under watter caves but from what i heard there is a strong current into them and they arnt safe..

 

[MarkH]

There are a few smaller caverns and tunnels (Tilly Point, Swordfish Island, etc), but nothing like Mexico or Florida. You might want to try diving in Horne Lake. The Horne Lake caves are a popular surface attraction and who, knows, there might be some underwater in the lake as well.

 

[HybridDiver]

Awesome thanks for the heads up, Im going to find a awesome cave system in b.c for all the future cave divers coming up the ranks like me!
Chris

 

[nadwidny]

Bill Nadeau did some exploration of the cave systems on northern Vancouver Island back in the late 90's. As Bill's passion is cave diving, he is probably one of the best resources about caves in that area. Last I heard he was a cop in Parksville. If you want to talk to him you could try Sundown Diving in Nanaimo and see if they have contact info.

 

[nadwidny]

I haven't heard of any caves around Vancouver Island, I heard of guys diving some caves in Northern BC, I don't where there are, but I heard that they have extreme conditions, low viz, deep and of course as cold as you can get.

"Vancouver Island is so rich in caves, with more than 1,000 recorded, that it is sometimes referred to as the "Island of Caves". "

Taken from here

 

[canadiancavedigger]

The large majority of caves on the island will require you to know how to cave at a high level just to get to them and get in water .The resurgences are very remote and VERY advanced with very fast currents and or low viz etc.These are all very advanced cave dives.Bill N dove with David Sawatzky and Ralph Hoskins/Rick Browning in the 90's but they still dive areas along with local experts like Pat Shaw .

http://www.cancaver.ca/

The emails for Vancouver Island cavers is in this website.If you are one of the few truly interested people contact someone like Pat.You will have to do a LOT of Florida cave diving first and you will not get locates until people feel you are a cave conservationist.Very few have interest in diving these sites once they actually see them though as they are NOT like Florida at all.DO NOT think once you finish training in Florida etc that you will be ready to jump into a "local" cave for fun.The expeditions are serious and extreme.That being said,if you are one of the very small few truly interested...seek out the knowledgeable ones like Pat Shaw.They are primarily side mount de jour BTW with the odd site back mountable but only after slogging in for many miles on logging roads...if you are lucky there is a road.These are entirely NOT recreational cave dives due to the site conditions and remoteness.


D.Hynes

NSS #38701
Toronto Caving Group
Nibelungen Speleo Club

 

[Hyper-limits]

"Vancouver Island is so rich in caves, with more than 1,000 recorded, that it is sometimes referred to as the "Island of Caves". "

Taken from here

Well, that's good to know. Thanks