Pt Hardy vs Pt McNeill vs Campbell River?

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cleung

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Messages
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Location
Collingwood, Ontario
# of dives
200 - 499
Would like some input in terms of diving in August/September as far as diving off Pt Hardy vs Pt McNeill vs Campbell River. Specifically looking for opinions on marine life during that time period as well as dive ops in those three areas.
 
Over the past 20 years I have done several trips with Ed at Abyssal out of Campbell River and he's always been great. First time we stayed at the lodge on Quadra Island and that was epic but that's no longer available.


I have no experience with sites further north but Campbell River is more family friendly than God's Pocket etc., and that's high on the list of priorities for my trips.

Can't speak to seasonal life - i was always there in summer. Lots of variety and great currents. I bet vis increases in the fall/winter as in most cold water locations.
 
I would recommend diving in September over August and October over September. The vis gets better sometime around mid September to early October. After October the diving is still excellent, but after that you run the risk of November storms cancelling your trip particularly in Browning Pass. Diving Campbell River is focused on diving the channel between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. Port Hardy is either diving near Port Hardy or diving Browning Pass. I have only dived Browning Pass, not the local area around Port Hardy. Never dived Port McNeill.

Both have some of the best cold water diving in the world. If I were to choose one trip I would go with God's Pocket and dive Browning Pass in mid October. Having said that the Hideaway Resort is another choice in the Pass. I have done Hideaway a few times with a local Vancouver dive store's trips. It is a more rustic "eclectic" resort, while I am told God's Pocket is much more upscale. Browning Pass because the diving is a bit better with more variety than Campbell River, also more chances of encounters with whales, porpoise, sea lions on the surface.

It has been a few years since I have been to Campbell River to dive but the diving I suspect has not changed. Dove with Abyssal and they know the area and will take you to the best sites at the right times. The current through the channel is significant, you need local knowledge to dive there! Many more accommodation options in Campbell River.

Either would be a good choice. The vis in Browning Pass is typically better in general than the vis in Campbell River as you get open ocean water exchanged through the Pass and that water never really makes it down to CR, but in August September it can be anywhere from dive by brail to spectacular in both locations.
 
It's been a lot of years (more than 20), but I've dived Quadra Island, which I thought was good, and God's pocket, which I still remember as the most spectactular diving I've seen (basically my experience is mainly between PNW and Caribbean). The only diving I've done that can compare for density of life with God's pocket is Les Escoumins (another cold spot), but the colour is better Port Hardy.
 
I look forward to diving the sites along the central and southern half of Vancouver Island. I've dived Browning Passage from the Nautilus Swell in 2014 and God's Pocket most years since then. The best visibility is in March/April, followed by the Fall. It's easily the best diving I've done.
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It seems that the further north on the island, the better the dives are from the great input I've received so far. Therefore worth the extra driving time to go as far north as I can and if time is limited, just skip the south half of the island.
 
I so have to hit all those spots before I move back to Europe. One of the things I want to do in my future dive center is to have a monitor playing dive videos nonstop, even at night for people passing by. These two are definitely being added to the list.
 
It seems that the further north on the island, the better the dives are from the great input I've received so far. Therefore worth the extra driving time to go as far north as I can and if time is limited, just skip the south half of the island.
That is actually not really the case. There are spots that provide excellent diving all up and down the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Anywhere that has a chunk of rock that interrupts the flow of current or narrows it in some fashion is a candidate for good diving. Browning Pass is just the first group of islands in the north so it gets first crack at the nutrients delivered by the open ocean water entering the passage and the grouping of islands provides lots of different dive sites in a relatively small area. It is probably the very best location for diving on the Island with lots of life and lots of variety in a relatively small area. Campbell River is special because it is a moderately long narrow channel about half way that gets ferocious currents so again more nutrients and more life and lots of different dive sites in a smallish area. Those two are probably the best two spots, but north and south really don't enter into it. It is far more about currents, nutrient delivery and accessibility than anything else. There are really good dive sites all up and down the Island. Another spot that has really spectacular diving on Vancouver Island is Barclay Sound. Not north or south but west. Fed by currents in and out of the Sound the life there rivals Browning Pass, but it is harder to get to and the dive sites are spread out all over the Sound.
 
I gotta go diving to all these places!! I'll be on the island later this month, hopefully there's some decent diving!
 

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