Porteau Cove Rocks!

[sambolino44]

Just got back from Memorial Day weekend at Porteau Cove, B.C. What a great dive destination! I'll go back any time. Only got to do 3 dives, and the pictures didn't come out very good. The viz was terrible until about 20 ft, then opened up to about 20 or 30 ft. The wrecks and other artificial reefs were great. The campsites were a little close to the highway, but still pleasant. The divers' shower, the boat ramp, and the divers' restrooms made it a great trip. Plenty of hiking and other activities in the area; we made it to the top of the Chief on Monday. FYI, the dive shop in Squamish is no longer open, so I guess the closest fills are West Vancouver. Any time anybody wants to go to Porteau Cove, PM me!

 

[gcbryan]

I'm not sure what campsites you are referring to but the ones we used were right on the water (the train track however is nearby).

In case you didn't find it there is a nice wall dive there as well. It makes a good night dive. It's at the end of the park opposite the day area (wreck dives).

On the way back toward Vancouver there are much better dives as well at Whytecliff Park and at Ansell Place. I like camping at Porteau Cove but diving at those other sites...something to check out next time!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Definitely close to the train tracks ... seems like every time I camp there we're awakened around 2 AM by a train that sounds like it's trying to get into our tent with us ... :11:

Our group usually shows up with one or two small boats ... which opens up site access considerably. Just a few minutes boat ride south of the park is a place we call "Thunder Wall", which runs directly underneath the train tracks. When you're diving it you can always tell when a train's approaching ... first your ribs start vibrating ... then you hear the rumble ... then pebbles, crabs, and starfish start tumbling down the wall from above.

Good times!

How's the Nakaya looking these days? It was getting a little crumpled last time I dived it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[gcbryan]

The first time that train went by in the middle of the night (screeching on misaligned tracks it sounds like) I couldn't tell if I was having a bad dream or if I was awake and the train from hell was going by!

 

[sambolino44]

I don't remember hearing the train at night, maybe it doesn't go by every day. We met a guy from Alberta who had just been to Whytecliff, and he also said it's a good spot. We'll have to check that out next time.

This (the Nakiah) was the first sizeable wreck I've ever been to. I would say it's still intact, but deteriorating. The tower was off to one side down on the bottom. There are huge holes everywhere, but I didn't go in. I was pretty disappointed with my photo efforts this time, so I can't show you anything useful.

We talked about going to the wall you mentioned, but I never found out why that didn't turn out.

 

[danclem]

BC is a great place to dive. Here is a link to a site some folks at Edge Diving in North Vancouver shared with me a while back: scuBagod .

Cheers,

Dan

 

[walrus2]

I guess this should be in Western Canada, but since this is a recent thread on Porteau Cove ...

Visibility June 11th was the best by far I've seen it in the past two months. Probably 20-30 ft at least at 20 ft depth and significantly more at 30ft-40ft at low water. Easy to follow the tire reef, you could actually see concrete piles at the first anchor buoy, could see white plumose anemones on larger structures from quite far away, and so on. My standards may be low as the past few dives there visibility was a few ft at best, but still

 

[guitarded27]

Hi, I've been looking into a trip to Porteau Cove but I've heard that it's really noisy there with construction and trains and whatnot making it near impossible to sleep at night (especially at the walk-in campsites which I would probably be camping at).

Anyone care to share their experiences with the noise? How bad is it?

 

[sambolino44]

We camped at the walk-in sites, the last one on the end, and I didn't have any problem with noise. I didn't hear any construction going on near the campground while we were there, but I'm sure that changes from day to day. There are also other campgrounds nearby, but I don't know if the noise is any better at them. We took several trips up to Squamish while we were there; even climbed the big Chief on the last day. I heard stories about the noise from the trains and from construction, but did not experience any of it myself.