Franklyhooked
Registered
A bit north of where we usually dive -- seven of us met up at Porteau Cove (British Columbia) Sunday, May 24 after a day of working on the decommissioned destroyer Annapolis with the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia. Our first dive was to the Nakaya, the furthest structure. It's a 40 m. wood-hulled WWII era minesweeper scuttled in the late 80's. A long surface swim out (over 200 yards and we had the advantage of low tide). The buoy chain took us right down to the stern. Poor vis for the first 30 feet (fresh water and silt from the Squamish River) and then it opens up to about 25 feet of visibility; water temp about 45 degr F. The wreck is upright, bow sloping down to about 92 fsw (at low tide). The hull is deteriorating badly but very interesting. Lots of rockfish, anemones, flounder, brittle stars. I'm still too wow'd just to be diving to keep track of it all.
Our second dive started out on the Granthall, a 28 m. steel-hulled tugboat sunk in 1992 after its superstructure was removed. Easier swim (about a hundred yards); somewhat less visibility (15-20 ft). The Granthall is at about 45 fsw. Two large Lionsmane Jellies stuck in the plumose anemones was the most interesting sight. Several Decorator Crabs, hyoids and nudibranchs. A short way west of the Granthall is the "Jungle Gym", a set of steel girders. My buddy and I turned back for shore (heavy breathers) while the rest of the group went on around the tire reef. There is plenty more we didn't explore -- Centennial III is a steel dredge tender and a ferrocement sailboat hull are nearby plus an extensive tire and concrete reef system.
About 45 km north of Vancouver, Porteau Cove is a diver's park, not as extensive as Bruce Higgins, but still very nice. There are 4 wrecks, several artificial structures and reefs and lots of interesting life. The park is well marked with buoys and an excellent dive map online (Google "Porteau Cove BC"). The park has lots of parking ($3 for all day parking), restrooms, picnic tables and diver shower. Concrete steps lead down to the beach, which has a shallow slope. There was minimal current on Sunday. From what we heard visibility is highly variable we were lucky and got better than average.
This is definitely a place to come back to several times again - given the distance I'd plan a two day trip and overnight near Vancouver.
A few photos
Our second dive started out on the Granthall, a 28 m. steel-hulled tugboat sunk in 1992 after its superstructure was removed. Easier swim (about a hundred yards); somewhat less visibility (15-20 ft). The Granthall is at about 45 fsw. Two large Lionsmane Jellies stuck in the plumose anemones was the most interesting sight. Several Decorator Crabs, hyoids and nudibranchs. A short way west of the Granthall is the "Jungle Gym", a set of steel girders. My buddy and I turned back for shore (heavy breathers) while the rest of the group went on around the tire reef. There is plenty more we didn't explore -- Centennial III is a steel dredge tender and a ferrocement sailboat hull are nearby plus an extensive tire and concrete reef system.
About 45 km north of Vancouver, Porteau Cove is a diver's park, not as extensive as Bruce Higgins, but still very nice. There are 4 wrecks, several artificial structures and reefs and lots of interesting life. The park is well marked with buoys and an excellent dive map online (Google "Porteau Cove BC"). The park has lots of parking ($3 for all day parking), restrooms, picnic tables and diver shower. Concrete steps lead down to the beach, which has a shallow slope. There was minimal current on Sunday. From what we heard visibility is highly variable we were lucky and got better than average.
This is definitely a place to come back to several times again - given the distance I'd plan a two day trip and overnight near Vancouver.
A few photos
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