Diving near beautiful scenery in the Pacific Northwest

[TSandM]

I haven't dived Victoria (it's on the list!) but I agree that BC has some stunning scenery AND some mind-blowing diving. And generally better viz than Puget Sound, too. It's a little harder to get to, and there is a little less non-diving stuff than staying around the Seattle metro area.

 

[asha]

If you end up across the border in Canada, Vancouver has stunning scenery. Hike through the rainforest in Stanley Park, drive up to the Tea House, bike on the seawall. The Capilano suspension bridge is fun, if a bit touristy. I lived up there before the road improvements for the Olympics, but the drive up to Whistler on the sea-to-sky highway was also extremely scenic.

 

[tmassey]

Echo that summer is not the best time for diving. From right now until September or so the vis will be less than 30 feet - sometimes way less. Places open to the Pacific (Browning Wall and Barkley Sound) may have better vis, but no guarantee.

I'm confused: if March to September is the worst time to go, when is the best? Is it one of those things that it's so cold anyway, you might as well dive in December and who cares about the frigid water?!?

As for not coming in summer, that probably works out better for us, anyway. We like to go in "shoulder season": away from crowds yet still nice weather. In fact, mid-September through mid-November would be the best time (except for the fact that that is the prettiest time to be in Michigan, and you hate to be *away* during that time.) But a lot depends on what time of year will be best for my wife's pursuits: hiking, biking, etc.

I am going to toss out a suggestion to come a bit further north to Vancouver Island. (...) The possibilities are more than you could possibly do in one trip. But you do have to come to Canada

I avoid crossing the border as *much* as possible, but living in Michigan we are familiar with border crossing: we all have passports/enhanced ID's, etc.

Again, thank you all for the suggestions!

 

[Darnold9999]

For diving, best is just before the fall storm season. Kelp is still alive and attached and vis can be up to 100 feet. Next to last time I was at Browning wall you could look up and see the trees on the bank from 100 feet. This was in November and a couple of days later we left in a storm with heavy winds and rain.

However for an all round visit I would pick mid to late September. The diving is very good and the weather for outside activities is also very good. Starting to cool off, but still late summer conditions. A month before is good and a month after as well but you run the minor risk of a late algae bloom in early August or an early winter in late October.

For just diving October - November is slightly better, but hiking and biking will be a bit riskier as sometimes we get an early winter which means the rain starts early.

Sometime in November storms start to come in and some of the dive spots are not really available. Have been blown out of a trip to Browning Pass because of hurricane force winds that did not allow the boat to get there. Diving is still available, but options become more limited when the wind is blowing. Hiking and biking is also marginal in storms.

Not sure what level of hiking/biking you are looking for but here are a couple of suggestions.

A very easy 55km bike ride that is very scenic in the Victoria area can be found here Galloping Goose Regional Trail The benefit of this ride is that is an old rail line so very little traffic and "fairly" level.

Options for hiking on Vancouver Island range from day hikes all up and down the island to the West Coast trail a six day trail for experienced backpackers that requires a permit. Spectacular trail. Here is some information. west coast trail preparation guidebook map

There is a ski hill on Vancouver Island where you can go biking/hiking in the mountians in summer. BC Summer Activities | Discover Mount Washington It is easy to dive one day and hike the next. In winter a dive and ski day is easy.

Whistler/Blackcomb is more world class and if I was just going hiking and biking I would probably go there. For skiing Whistler is second to none. However this is not on Vancouver Island and the diving on the Vancouver side is not as nice. Most of Vancouver is on a river delta so diving is more limited. There are a couple of sites but Vancouver Island is significantly better.

Feel free to PM me if you want more detailed options.

 

[Darnold9999]

PS note that Vancouver Island is huge. Almost 300 miles long and 80 miles wide. You can't possibly do everything. Also winter here is not like your winter. It just rains - snow at sea level is a once or twice a year kind of thing. I think we had two weeks of snow this year.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

tmassey, the border is easy from ferry to vancouver island, I know what you mean at around winsdor tunnle and the mack bridge. you get a reservation and now you know what boat you will be on. If your in the olympics you take the blackball from port angeles, and it ports in victoria, dive there, and head to sidney and dive then take washington state ferry to san juan Island in the states dive there, and it will put you in anacortes, then go south and come to whidbey and dive deception pass, drive down the island and dive keystone, then take keystone ferry(now called coupeville ferry) back to port towndsend and back to the olympics. You will see more than your share on the water, the beautiful mountains and Islands.

Your wife will have plenty to do with all the hiking and look out at these places.

 

[Darnold9999]

Realized that I did not answer part of your question. The water temp here is roughly the same year round. Range is from low to mid 40's to mid 50's. Gets a bit colder on the surface in the winter and a bit warmer on the surface in the summer. Past 60 feet or so it remains pretty much the same year round - depending on the site you are diving.

 

[vancouverdiver]

Just to add to other posts, during the winter months the water temp in the shallows can be in the 38 to 42 degree range with cold water run off. I would be concerned that your 13 year old daughter, diving in a wetsuit, may not enjoy the surface interval, or second dive, (if you are thinking of doing 2 dives per day). My daughter is waiting for the warmer weather!
Diving, hiking, sight seeing in Vancouver/Howe Sound is excellent in my opinion. However, I would concede that the vis can be variable, and the vis is always better on the Island.

 

[TSandM]

Puget Sound is a bit warmer . . . we don't get the icy surface layer very often, and it isn't ever very thick. And temperatures in September will be as high as you'll see during the year, usually in the low 50's, sometimes up to 55.

 

[tmassey]

Just to add to other posts, during the winter months the water temp in the shallows can be in the 38 to 42 degree range with cold water run off. I would be concerned that your 13 year old daughter, diving in a wetsuit, may not enjoy the surface interval, or second dive, (if you are thinking of doing 2 dives per day).

Thank you all *very* much for this tremendous information. As we begin to look seriously into this (both scuba and otherwise), we are finding that this is not a "Let's get on an airplane next month!" type of trip. This will be a pretty monumental undertaking. Just the logistics of getting two people's cold water scuba gear to the other side of the continent (plus non-scuba gear) will be a challenge. And it looks like my daughter will also have some scuba training goals to meet on the way.

This summer we plan on getting her Advanced card. It looks like we may want to add in drysuit instruction as well. (And of course, I get to buy her a drysuit, too!) I can't realistically expect her to do any volume of diving wet in 50 degree water. After all, I want her to enjoy it!

What is the possibility of rental gear in the area, especially tanks? Given the amount of shore diving that was mentioned, I'd like to bring all my own gear including tanks, but that means either driving out (which is a 8-12 day round trip if you want to see more than Interstate whizzing by), or shipping everything, probably by freight, and dealing with where will you ship it *to*. If we could at least rent tanks easily, we could at least take our gear on an airplane. Of course, an entire cold-water setup with drysuit is going to consume 80% of *two* checked bags each...

Scuba is a great hobby, but it's not a travel-light hobby...