Vancouver/Vancouver Island recommendations for late November

[Diver0001]

So assuming we do Race Rocks, that leaves from Victoria, right?

What's a good backup plan if the weather sucks?

R..

 

[TSandM]

Oh, Agamemnon Channel is WAY up on my bucket list of PNW dives! But I think you have to do that on very low exchange days, no?

Sorry about the Saanich/Sechelt confusion. I guess I don't know my Vancouver Island geography as well as I ought.

 

[Slamfire]

Oh, Agamemnon Channel is WAY up on my bucket list of PNW dives! But I think you have to do that on very low exchange days, no?

Not particularly. You might be confusing this with Skookumchuck Rapids, which are around the corner from the Agamemnon Channel. If you're doing Skookumchuck and the Agamemnon channel on the same trip, then yes, you would need to target low exchange day(s).

I organized the trip and I can tell you we picked the date based on our convenience, not tides. Yes we did try to structure our dives around slack, but we did have some current. It was nothing unmanageable. There is a mooring line going off from a tree to a cement block. Our boat tied up to the mooring line and then the skipper shut off engines for the entirety of the dives and surface intervals.

Before the dives I asked the skipper about dsmb deployment in case he wanted extra visibility when following us from the surface. He said that if we didn't need to, we should not deploy. It would just become a sail for the current. There was no live boat and no drifting deco on an smb. And we had no problem getting back to the boat. You can also see that the 2010 video shows no bag deployment either. In other words, current is manageble enough to do deco on the wall and get back to the boat without much exertion.

Here's a chart of the tides on the week that we dove (Sept 29):

 

[Darnold9999]

My recollection is that Agamemnon Channel is not particularly current sensitive. Nothing like Skookumchuck Rapids which is extremely sensitive and would be a good combination to do with Agamemnon on a Sunshine coast trip.

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So assuming we do Race Rocks, that leaves from Victoria, right?

What's a good backup plan if the weather sucks?

R..

It is going to depend on how badly the weather sucks and which direction the wind is coming from. Could move the trip to the Gulf Islands - Poilier Pass, Active Pass etc. Naniamo, shore diving in Finlayson Arm or a tour of the local brew pubs. Hard to plan that one. I think I would plan Race and be prepared to be flexible if weather turns. Finlayson Arm is extremely protected so you can dive there in pretty much any weather. Same with some of the locations in Naniamo.

 

[rob1967]

Yes, if the weather is bad, you can always divert to a protected inlet, like Saanich inlet (i.e., Rockfish Divers, which you know) if you are in the Victoria area, or if you can, divert to Sechelt inlet, which is a different (shorter) ferry from Vancouver, and you could do Agamemnon (boat dive) and/ or Tuwanek. One good thing about Tuwanek is dependable viz, and not current or weather dependent (and not boat-operator dependent!). Very protected site.

Cheers and happy diving!

 

[Greg_Vic_Diver]

Nanoose bay is excellent for sea lions at this time of year if Race Rocks doesn't pan out. If you're adventurous - Quadra Island is excellent for wrecks.

If you're in Victoria, and can time the currents, 10 Mile Point is tough to beat for a shore dive (it's my favorite Victoria site).

Greg

 

[Vidar]

I agree with Ten Mile, I've had dives there that rival Browning Passage in terms of variety, though not as densely populated. My dive there a few weeks ago my dive buddies (with 2 or 3 thousand dives each) said it was in the top ten dives they've ever done.

The slack in the morning on the 24th and 25th look decent too. 07:35 on Saturday, 08:35 Sunday.

Also, Race Rocks still has tons of sea lions last I checked.

 

[TSandM]

Super information here! Anybody have a recommendation for a reasonably priced place to stay while we're in Victoria, that's diver-friendly?