Barkley Sound Trip Report

[jimisurf]

Barkley Sound April 25 - 27, 2003

Location:
About 25 miles south west of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island BC.

Diving:

Spent the weekend diving with Rendezvous Dive Ventures in Barkley Sound. Completed 5 dives (4 daytime and 1 night dive). An abundance of marine life can be found in this area. Interacted with Octopus and Wolf Eels. Many many fish in the area (Rock, Ling Cod, Perch, Rat Fish, etc). Most of the dive sites we visited in the area were faily shallow dives at about 40 - 70 fsw. Water temperature was a balmy 50 degrees. I interacted with an octopus for the first time. Took off my glove and placed my hand next to the octopus, he slowly wraped 2 of his tenticles around my hand (really neat!!).

All the dives are very easy from the boat. Just jump off and up/down the anchor line. Dave the captian was excellent at getting us the the right spot on all of the reefs. The dives are mostly "pinnicle" dives where the 600 - 800 foot depths raise to 30 - 40 feet in depth. It is reported that 6 gill sharks frequent this area however, we were not lucky enough to see one.

The Resort:

The Rendezvous is perched at the bottom of a cliff on the water's eadge. It is very remote (a 2.5 hour boat ride from Port Alberni). The resort has 5 rooms with 2 beds each (most are bunk beds with a double on the bottom and sigle up top). The accomodations are comfortable and clean. The only thing missing here is enough water pressure for good showers. There is a hot tub, which was very nice to slip into after a day of diving. The food is excellent!! You sure won't go hungry, but best to pack your favourite beverages.

Overall the resort and diving make for an unforgetable dive weekend. This operation is definately one of Vancouver Island's best!!


Charter/Resort:
Rendezvous Dive Ventures Ltd. .
All inclusive dive and kayaking packages to Barkley Sound. Guests stay at our secluded lodge which is located in Rainy Bay.
Tel: 1 250 720-9306 Toll Free: 1-877-777-9994 (North America)
Fax: 1 250 720-9306
Address: Box 135 Port Alberni B.C. V9Y 7M6

Jimi

 

[Uncle Pug]

Good report Jimi... Barkley Sound is a beautiful place... and I have been meaning to go back. A long time ago a buddy and I camped on the islands and dove out of his 19' ski boat. Sounds like you had more luxurious accomodations!

 

[diverkim]

Barkeley Sound is excellent. Although I haven't seen them yet, the better place to see sixgill sharks is on the east side of Vancouver Island near Hornby Island.

 

[ColdH20diving]

We dove with Rendezvous a couple years ago. The diving in Barkley Sound was great, however, I thought the accomodations were less than desireable. Don't get me wrong the food was very good, Dave and his wife were very nice. Basically we were discouraged from using fresh water to rinse off our gear after diving. There was only the one bathroom downstairs which didn't have a shower, which was shared by 7 adults. I did manage to get a quick 2 minute shower in the upstairs bathroom, heaven help you if someone flushed the downstairs toilet when you were in the shower. And your right, bring your own snacks and pop.

 

[ddub23]

I spent a week and a half in Barkely Sound/Broken Islands for our grade 12 trip. At the time, it was canoeing and camping. Now that i'm certified, i've been itching to dive back home since I moved south a couple of years ago. Thanks for the report. There seems to be a lot of good info on the boards about diving around Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Now, if i could just tie in a business trip up north...

 

[jimisurf]

Your right about the accomodations, they are not luxury. The dive shop that booked this weekend was explicit about what to expect. For a weekend I think they are just fine. Any longer and I would have been in great need of a shower. I don't know of too many dive operators in this area. Maybe some out of Bamfield. The overall experience at this place was really good. The food was good, diving experience (Boat, service, etc) was great and the accomodations were what I was lead to expect.

Jimi

 

[RSdiver]

We went with Rendezvous several years back and enjoyed the wreck of the Van Leen several times.

 

[ColdH20diving]

jimisurf once bubbled...
Your right about the accomodations, they are not luxury. The dive shop that booked this weekend was explicit about what to expect. For a weekend I think they are just fine. Any longer and I would have been in great need of a shower. I don't know of too many dive operators in this area. Maybe some out of Bamfield. The overall experience at this place was really good. The food was good, diving experience (Boat, service, etc) was great and the accomodations were what I was lead to expect.

Jimi

At least you had a heads up from your dive shop on what to expect. We didn't really know what to expect and were a little surpised once there. None the less we had a good time and the diving was excellent.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'll be heading back to Barkley Sound (and Rendezvous Dive Ventures) on Friday ... and am looking forward to it immensely. This is my second trip ... my first was in January.

You are quite right about the accommodations being far from luxurious ... that's not what this particular experience is all about. The lodge is in the middle of nowhere ... all power is from a propane generator ... water is from a spring at the top of the mountain, and comes to the lodge via simple gravity feed. It's important that you are aware of this going in or you may be disappointed due simply to expectations.

But the diving's first-rate. Dave is a knowledgeable skipper, and Renate is an incredible hostess and cook. I'd recommend this place to anyone ... but you DO have to know what to expect. If you go into it with a sense of adventure, you'll get out of it an unforgettable diving experience.

... and don't forget to bring your own towels ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[My-way]

Hi,

What can you expect in terms of pricing. I am on Vancouver Island right now and interested in divnig out that way as well as from Bamfield.

Cheers.