Plan to visit Vancouver in late October...

[scubajunkee]

Hi there,

I'm planning a trip Vancouver, BC to visit some family in Surrey & Burnaby in late October. I've never dived in Vancouver before but would like to do it during my trip. I'm an avid California diver and plan on bringing all my dive gear except for tanks. Majority of my dives have been in the Monterey Bay area and the North Coast (Northern California). I dive dry & will have a camera in tow. I'm looking for a boat charter or a shore dive site (and some buddies) depending on conditions. Can someone recommend a dive shop where I can rent tanks (preferably steel HP100 or 120s) and or dive operators?

Tanks,
Ericson

 

[mustang_5l]

Let me know. I have a few friends who would love to go diving with you. I'm in Surrey. I have a few dive shops that can rent you tanks or you can probably borrow some from us. We have some great shore diving and some interesting lakes we've been exploring too. You'll have to shore dive Whitcliff park and Porteau cove before you leave.
We've got steel 130's, 100's and aluminum 80's.
We like to dive during the week... to avoid crowds. I'm not sure of any charters in the area... most people go to Vancouver Island for those.
Cheers,
John

 

[DaleC]

Welcome to our little corner of the virtual world Scubajunkee.

As John says, let us know when you firm up some dates and I'm sure a few of us will do some dives (there's a regular SB group that gets together and posts here too). If you want to dive around Nanaimo (wrecks/artificial reefs) "Divers Choice" is a good charter.

If you travel to Victoria you can do one of the most famous (Canadian) westcoast shore dives, Ogden Point. There is a dive shop right at the breakwater.

Whytecliff is the one of the closest dives to Vancouver and one of the first Marine parks in Canada. It offers a sheltered bay, an Islet and "the cut" a 700 ft. drop off.

Farther away Porteau Cove contains 4 wrecks (no penetration) from 40-100 ft in depth and offers a little bit of everything for everyone.

In between, Kelvin Grove is a really nice wall dive and if you are lucky you can become embroiled in some local diver/resident politics .

 

[StuartT]

Hi there,

I'm planning a trip Vancouver, BC to visit some family in Surrey & Burnaby in late October. I've never dived in Vancouver before but would like to do it during my trip. I'm an avid California diver and plan on bringing all my dive gear except for tanks. Majority of my dives have been in the Monterey Bay area and the North Coast (Northern California). I dive dry & will have a camera in tow. I'm looking for a boat charter or a shore dive site (and some buddies) depending on conditions. Can someone recommend a dive shop where I can rent tanks (preferably steel HP100 or 120s) and or dive operators?

Tanks,
Ericson

The sea dragon does charters out of Horseshoe bay to some great sites in Howe sound. I think only Sat and Sunday though. As Dale mentioned Porteau is a great local shore dive with lots of life including several resident Giant Pacific Octopus, Huge ling cod, Lots of rockfish, Anenomies etc. Let us know when you want to dive as there is usually people from the board going out regularly. Also Divers choice in Nanaimo does the Saskatchewan and Cape breton Wrecks just outside the harbour. Great dives too!!!

 

[scubajunkee]

I think shore diving is the way to go. That's what I usually do here in Monterey/carmel & the North Coast. I'm definitely flying out October 25th to Seattle spending a few days there, then driving to Surrey to visit cousins in the latter part of the week. I plan to fly out Nov. 1st. Guys, thanks for the input so far. Diving an HP130 would be awesome! I have 120s myself.

Thanks!

Ericson

 

[cooldives]

It would be so nice if we had some dive sites in the Surrey/White Rock area!! Surrounded by water with nowhere to dive!

As mentioned above, Whytecliffe, Indian Arm and Porteau Cove can be nice dives, with Kelvin Grove and others along the way being possibilities too. They can get busy on the weekends though as many local dive shops use them for their group lessons. We have other sites mentioned on our website, but if you can hook up with any of these Scubaboard regular local divers you will have a great time.

Let us know how it goes, and have a great trip.