October trip

[TURTLE696]

We will get into Vancouver around 11:30PM October 5th. and fly home October 8th. We would like to dive on the 6th and 7th. I have my dry suit certification, my wife does not. She is willing to get the certification. Any recomendation? We would like to do 2-4 dives a day depending on cost.

 

[TheWetRookie]

What area of Vancouver will you be staying in. IE, downtown, North Vancouver or ... as there are a number of dive shops scattered around that can be recommended.

One of the easiest and closest shore dive sites to get to is Whytcliff Park that has a lot to offer. Lots of life here. You can stay shallow or go as deep as you want. I think 1,300' is the bottom of the cut, don't quote me on that though as I have not been that deep yet. It is easy access other than for logs on the beach which usually are not too bad. You can dive different areas of it. Lots of parking and a playground to have fun on during your SI . Plus a food stand but I don't know if it is open in October.

Another is Porteau Cove about 40km north of Vancouver. Good site with a couple of small wrecks and old steel bridge. Lots of large lincods to see and plant life. Lots of parking. It can get windy here so bring a jacket. Max depth here is about 65 feet with high tide.

These two site will give you plenty of diving.

 

[TURTLE696]

I have not picked a place to stay yet. What are some of the dive shops in the area?

 

[TheWetRookie]

Edge Dive center in North Vancouver.
Ocean Quest in Burnaby
Dive locker in central Vancouver
Dive and Sea in NewWestminster

and others

 

[Made in Taiwan]

Have either you or your wife done any cold water diving before? Having a dry suit for BC is nice but not a must. It will keep you a lot more comfortable but I have seen people dive in 7mm wetsuits when it was -6 degree celcius so its really up to the individual. If you only have 2 days here in Vancouver, I would just concentrate on having a good time diving and not try to fit in a dry suit specialty course for your wife. To take the dry suit specialty, she would have to do some classroom and hit the pool first, that is going to be at least half a day already.

Best bet would be for her to take the course back home and both of you dive dry suit when you get here. Another thing to consider is that the 6th and the 7th is the weekend, there might be a lot of people at Whytecliff, parking can be difficult is you don't get there early (like 7-8am). Also most OW classes in Vancouver are held at Whytecliff, this doesn't help with the visibility. Personally I prefer Porteau cove, there are loads to do there and for different levels of fitness or skills. The bow of the Nakaya at hightide is easily 100 feet deep, but it is a long surface swim. There are also dives at Porteau that most divers don't know about, like under the pier and stuff.

Some other dive stores to consider are International Diving Centre, Rowand's Reef and BC dive adventure. I don't know their website addresses of the top of my head but you can google them.

 

[TURTLE696]

Have either you or your wife done any cold water diving before? Having a dry suit for BC is nice but not a must.


Thanks for the info.

 

[Darnold9999]

Not to rain on the parade, but I hope you are in Vancouver for some other reason and are adding diving to the trip. If I was just coming just for the diving I would skip Vancouver and go to Vancouver Island or one of the Gulf Islands like Quadra Island. The diving is significantly better. Not to say Porteau or Whytecliff are bad choices - they are two easy to get to spots where most of the open water courses take place, but Vancouver is on a large river delta - you have to get out into the current for the best diving and that is hard around here.

 

[TURTLE696]

Not to rain on the parade, but I hope you are in Vancouver for some other reason and are adding diving to the trip.

I am going to Prince George for a work related meeting then back to Vancouver. So I figured since I was there we should dive. There is not enough time to stay on the island. Our flight leaves at 7:45 am Monday morning.

 

[Darnold9999]

Then Vancouver is what you can do. I prefer Porteau Cove, but Whitecliff is a good dive as well.