Vancouver Island Diving

[csrempert]

Does anyone know if a drysuit is absolutely necessary if you're diving in the Vancouver Island area? Or could I just use a 7mm wetsuit? Also, does anyone know of good dive shops with good boat charters in that area?
Thanks

 

[jeckyll]

Part one: You could do it in a wetsuit. But how much experience do you have in a wetsuit in 43F water?

Second, Vancouver Island is a big place. So you may want to be more specific

Best of luck.

Bjorn

 

[csrempert]

Sorry. I meant on the Southern half of the bay side of the island. Basically anywhere north of the Victoria side of the island. I was thinking about layering wetsuits. That sounds a little weird, but I'm not sure if a dive shop will let me rent a drysuit if I have never had experience with one before.

 

[jeckyll]

csrempert: I guess Namaimo is north of Victoria....

Layering wetsuits seems like a bad idea. It is not too cold to dive in wetsuits here. A 7mm farmer john would be recommended. Note that a number of dives in Nanaimo are quite deep and you didn't mention if you had experience diving in coder waters or in a 7mm wetsuit. Some people find that Narcosis is worse in the colder waters... There are good dives right in Victora as well though some of which are not nearly as deep and the temp right now is upwards of 50F when shallow.

Note that there is a Canadian forum on Scubaboard which has a Western Canada sub forum, in which you may get a more detailed response.

Good luck.

Bjorn

 

[csrempert]

Thanks for your help. And I don't have anny experience diving in colder waters or in a 7mm wetsuit. I hope that won't be a problem.

 

[jeckyll]

csrempert: I'd advise doing a couple of easy dives to start, to ensure you get used to the different conditions. Just like any time you change parts of your gear / setup.



Bjorn

 

[ron_cooper]

I was there last fall and we dove with Ocean Explorers in Nanaimo, they are a smaller shop but I was very pleased with the service that I got. There are a couple others but haven't used or spoken to anyone that has used them. As far as the diving goes, on one of our dives we had three people from Spokane up who were using wetsuits and the four of us had drysuits. After the dives we felt fine but the Americans felt a little hypothemic so they didn't make any more dives. The water can be cold, but the wrecks and sea live that you can see is INCREDIBLE.
How you have a great time there.

Ron

 

[sunnyboy]

The 7mm wetsuit is standard kit for open water training. Works just fine, although divers can get a bit blue on the surface from Nov-Feb. ;-)

Not everyone out here dives dry. I've met several divers who have been diving wet for years.

Cheers,

-S