Freshwater BC Diving

[ScubaSteve]

I am considering coming out to BC for a week in February or March '09 and have a couple of questions about diving out there. I would hope to dive in the Vancouver area (a couple of dives - love it if they were shore) and then would be visiting family in Penticton. Is there any real diving in South Lake Okanagan or Skaha Lake? I also dive 7mm wet so anything below 50 degrees is less fun for me......am I dreaming to think I will be able to dive?

 

[sschlesi]

There are good shore dives around Vancouver. Whytecliff and Porteau Cove being the most common, and probably best place to start. I'd expect to find ocean water temps in the low 40's that time of year. It's often coldest on the surface and a bit warmer deeper in the winter. I don't know anything about diving around Penticton, but I'd expect the lakes in the area to be bordering on frozen at that time of year.

 

[jeckyll]

I am considering coming out to BC for a week in February or March '09...< snip> ... I also dive 7mm wet so anything below 50 degrees is less fun for me......am I dreaming to think I will be able to dive?

Feb / March?
Above 50 degree water can be found in hot-tubs or hot-springs. Bathtubs too. But anything diving wise is going to be around 45 degrees in the ocean.

I'd also think that the lakes you mentioned would be close to freezing.

 

[nadwidny]

I also dive 7mm wet so anything below 50 degrees is less fun for me......am I dreaming to think I will be able to dive?

If 50F is a limit then, yes.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Well, 50 degrees is not a hard limit however I would do fewer dives at 40-45 than I would at 50+. Maybe I let family visit me in the summer and go to the Caribbean this winter instead of BC.

 

[DRsharky]

... Maybe I let family visit me in the summer and go to the Caribbean this winter instead of BC.

That would be probably the best idea. I remember the cold days with dives in dry suit while I was living in Vancouver and I don't miss it at all. But what I miss sometimes is the different marine life then here in Caribbean. But then I remember again the cold weather and stop complaining :cool2:

 

[Skookumchuck]

If you want to dive around Penticton in Feb, bring a chain saw.