Uh-oh, you got Wedivebc started on VW's....(I'd insert a smiley here, but I don't do them).
1) Shore dives: If you're going to be in Victoria
Ogden Point is good (the farther out you go on the Breakwater, the better in my opinion).
Ten Mile Point probably has the most invertebrate life in town, but is very current-sensitive (the current table correction is Race Passage minus 15 minutes). I don't know what time of year you'll be here, but if it's any time other than Spring, Saanich Inlet can have fantastic visibility (50-100 feet). I like
McKenzie Bight for a shore dive.
There is also some great shore diving in the Nanaimo area. I like
Neck Point and
Jesse Island.
Just North of Nanimo in the Nanoose/Parksville area are some more popular shore dive sites. I like
Madrona Point and
Dolphin Beach.
Blueback Park (also known as Tyee) is good too. The
Nanaimo Dive Outfitter's Forum Has some good info and maps for the local shore dives.
If you take a short ferry from Nanimo to Gabriola Island, there are some great shore dives there as well.
Orlebar Point is the most well known.
Wedivebc mentioned China Creek in Alberni Inlet near the town of Port Alberni. It's sort-of on the way to Tofino. I've camped and dove there before, but it was years ago. The two main dives there are
China Creek Wall and the
Migrant Wreck.
I've never done any diving in Tofino yet, but I intend to this year. There are spots to get in the water, but they can be very weather-dependent (this is the open ocean). You can get in the water more easily in the protected Tofino and Ucluelet harbours, but there might be issues with all the marinas, boat and seaplane traffic. When I was there recently, the water in the harbours looked pretty murky, but there was a storm going on. There's also a dive shop in Tofino that runs boat charters.
2) Other than dive shops running classes, I've never seen a dive flag/float being used by recreational shore divers. I sure as heck wouldn't use one. I can't imagine dragging one of those things through a kelp bed against a current. They make great boat magnets too. By law, recreational divers don't need one. Commercial dive boats and dive charter boats I think are required to fly them.
3) There are several dive shops that do air fills all over the Island. In Victoria there's the Ogden Point dive shop (right at the Breakwater dive site). There are also at least 4 other dive shops in the Victoria area.
Nanaimo has Nanimo Dive Outfitters and Sundown Diving (there might be more, but I don't know of them).
Port Alberni apparently has a new dive shop and I'm assuming they do air fills.
Tofino has Ocean Planet Adventures.
4) I'm not big on camping myself (people invented houses so they could stop camping) so I'm no expert on Island campsites. If you do a Google seach for British Columbia Provincial Parks, most of them have camping. The only one I know of that's right on the water near a dive site in this area is the China Creek campground near Port Alberni (If you don't mind driving on a gravel road).
My website on the link below has lots of other photos and reports from many other dives in those areas.
I will check it out, thanks!
