Diving in Canada??

[AquaTec]

Hello
If you want any information about Whistler let me know.
I have lived in Whistler for 13 years. It's a great place to holiday.

the altitude is 2200 feet, the lake diving is very safe, I have dove in all the lakes summer and winter. there is no concern of avalanche in any of the lakes even in winter.

The ocean is abour 1-1/2 hrs from Whistler.

If you are looking for lake diving i can give you a run down on any of them, but I wouldn't say any of them are spectacular enough to do a special trip here. If you are comming here anyways then deffinetly do a dive while here. some of the ocean diving here is the best in the world.
but you can't just go anywhere. I would suggest diving somewhere on Vancouver Island say Nanaimo or north of it.
that is where the diving is spectacular. again i have dove in many of those spots as well so if youn have any questions on diving other areas just ask

here's my web site giving you a little more details of BC, and Whistler diving www.scubadivingbc.com

 

[redseal]

Aquatec, Thank you sooooo much for the link to your website. I really appreciate the info and will check it out. We aren't specifically coming to BC just to dive; I may attend a conference in Whistler and IF we had the opportunity to dive would like to do so.

Did AOW this weekend; 50F at 60 feet is cold!! Not sure we'd fare well in 45-48F in BC!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Your closest location for coastal diving near Whistler is Porteau Cove ... a dive park located just off the main highway about an hour south of Whistler. The park is built specifically for divers, with several sunken boats and other structures (old bridge parts, etc) provided for both fish habitat and to provide divers with an interesting variety of stuff to see. Most of the park is reasonably shallow, although there is one wreck, the Nakaya, sunk at the north end of the park in nearly 100 fsw. Currents are negligible, and it would provide you with some comfortable, yet interesting, diving experiences.

For boat diving, I recommend BC Dive Adventures (someone already mentioned them earlier in this thread). They have a small boat (accommodates 6 - 8 divers) and have taken me and my wife to some excellent sites around Bowyer Island, just north of Lion's Bay (1-1/2 hours from Whistler). We even had an excellent adventure with a harbor seal on one dive (literally had the thing hanging onto my dive buddy's arm at one point).

Visibility can be quite variable during summer months ... but I've yet to have a poor dive in any of these places.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[radagalf]

I would just like to mention that you should probably choose your exposure suit based on 6 factors:

water temp
weather
depth
activity level
duration
you thermal characteristics

It has been my experience that weather and depth are the main factors for me to consider around here. The water is pretty much the same temp year round, and thus I dive differently in the seasons.

In the summer I wear a 7mm farmer john and 6.5mm jacket, and I find that I am sufficiently warm as long as I am moving quite a bit, and do NOT descend below 60 ft. (approximately). I also have to have beautiful sunny conditions in between the dives so that what ever heat I am losing to evaporative cooling, I am also regaining from the sun.

In winter and any summer dives that involve either lousy weather or depths below 60 ft, I use a dry suit. Once you descend quite deep, your wet suit compresses, and is equivalent to wearing nothing (well, thats what it feels like... ). It is also nice to just jump out your dry suit and jump in yoru vehicle, or under a tarp someone has set up if the weather is not so good (such as when it is raining, which it does often in the winter... although its better than snow.. we'll leave that in the mountains!!!)

Just telling you what I feel about the exposure protection out here, this is the way I dive. Hope you can make it up here!!!

As a side note, as mentioned before by Danicus: "I would definately recommend the area for marine life though. There's a massive amount of life in these waters...", this is totally correct.

The Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest octopus in the world (and there are oh so many around), we have the largest starfish (the Sunstar), the greatest diversity of starfish in the world, and not to mention quite a few places where the Sixgill shark come close enough to the surface to be seen by recreational divers. (Yes, I hope this lures you up here!!)

 

[wolf eel]

Hello redseal

I am just wondering did you come and dive here in Canada ?. As for avalanches no worries the ice pack should have melted by now and the igloos are getting wet but if you come in the winter it will be frozen so it will be OK.

No worries ever of lake diving with snow falling in on you. There is however no real diving in Whistler you would most likley dive on the coast our water temps in the spring run between 53 to 56 degrees so not all that bad. If you are ever coming back up this way you can send me a quick e-mail and I can give real time information. I live and guide north of that area a bit but I have dove all over that area. In Powell River our viss is almost allways around 50' so not that bad it gets as good as 120+ in the winter temps at that point can be as low as 48 but that is at depth 60+ surface temps are much better. We also have the bronze Mermaid sculptor. You really want to talk with people who have knowledge of the areas. Rock slides are not that common and it could happen anywhere.

Cheers
Wolf eel