Trip Report - Browning Pass Hideaway

[Stoo]

After about a decade of "yes, it's going to be this year", I finally made it.

The Hideaway (Browning Pass Hideaway Home) is owned by John de Boeck, who used to own the liveabord MV Clavella. Over the years, I had many pleasant trips on that boat, but hadn't ever found the time to get to John's latest venture.

The Hideaway can best be described as "rustic". It's a hodge-podge of quaint buildings floating on an assortment or rafts, tied together and floating in Clam Cove, about two hours NW of Pt. Hardy, BC. It is surrounded by what is advertised as "the best temperate diving in the world". I won't dispute that. In fact on one occasion, I commented to John that he lived in the pages of a National Geographic... orcas, sea lions, sea otters, seals, eagles, wolves, giant octopus, wolf eels, wolves... And that was on our first day...

The diving lived up to it's promise... walls that are really quite indescribable, amazing amounts of "stuff" cover everything. The water is chilly (46/47 when we were there in early October) and four dives a day is hard work, but worth every bit of effort.

The accommodations are basic... the rooms were part of a floating logging camp originally. Hot water is limited, heat and light is limited to hours when the generator runs, and there are at least a dozen ways to break your leg, and/or drown between your room and breakfast, but oddly, that's part of the charm. John and his crew are an affable bunch who are very knowledgeable about the area, and fun to spend time with. I travelled there with a fellow I met for the first time on the way there, and then met three other guys a day into our trip, so in total, we were 5 divers, one writer, and 4 staff!

The one real challenge of this place is the tough communications when trying to plan a trip. As NWGratefulDiver described in his thread, there is much room for miscommunication. John needs to fix this if he expects to have a full house. There are no phones, no Internet, no cell service so only the occasional text message from the odd dive site, makes it through. It's truly "off the grid". Much like Bob, I had to change my flight twice to accommodate the pick-up schedule which added to cost and frustration. John either needs to get an agent to handle bookings or somehow "connect" to potential guests. In my case, the pickup went smoothly and on time, but that alone was a bit of a surprise.

Having said that, the diving is amazing. The staff were great, as was the food. The accommodations were ok, although I don't know that Mrs. Stoo would have enjoyed them.

Travelling from eastern Canada makes this trip comparable price-wise to a trip to the Caribbean, with (in my case) two full days of travel to get there. (Fly to Van, rent a car, take a ferry, drive, take a boat...).

Perhaps it's best to say I will return, and let the pics speak from themselves...

 

[TSandM]

It's some of the best diving in the world, for sure! And it's a long way from anywhere.

I just wanted to mention that, for those who aren't into rustic, there is another resort up there, which is God's Pocket. It's about half again as expensive, so you pay for what you get, but it's another option.

 

[Darnold9999]

Don't think that the communication problems are technical. More John's style.

Even with him on site communication between him and the divers is marginal at best and IMHO he values his time far more than his guests.

Do agree that the diving is spectacular. Good thing there are other options.

 

[Stoo]

Don't think that the communication problems are technical. More John's style.

Even with him on site communication between him and the divers is marginal at best and IMHO he values his time far more than his guests.

Do agree that the diving is spectacular. Good thing there are other options.

Really? John spent all of his time pretty much with us, and was on the boat on every dive except one I think...

 

[Darnold9999]

Really.

In the three times I have been to the lodge John showed up late to pick up divers all three times. We were there at the dock at the time agreed on - he was not.

I gather from others that this is "normal".

On one occassion the plan was to get picked up in the early afternoon and do two dives. One part of our group did this - the other part waited at the fuel dock while John filled a boat full of jerry cans of fuel for the weekend. We did manage to get the second dive in.

The last straw for me was a planned two tank trip to the bay with hooded nudi's - quite a way from the lodge so the plan was to take two tanks each. Do a dive before lunch then have lunch on the boat and do a second dive. Something went wrong and it took several hours to fill enough tanks for everyone so we had lunch at the lodge and did the two dives later in the afternoon. Now I have no issue with something going wrong and plans changing. Things happen at a remote site. What I can't abide is being kept in the dark about it. We - none of us - were told that there was a problem and that the dive would be significantly later than planned. All questions to John about when we were leaving were met with "soon" and in retrospect evasion. So we all waited around for a couple of hours after the planned dive time expecting to go out at any minute. Didn't even find out there was a problem until weeks later and the nature of the problem meant that John knew that we would not be doing the dive as planned as soon as he started filling tanks. Telling us that would have allowed us to revise plans rather than waiting expecting to go out at any minute.

Just some examples. There are more, and the experience related by NWGratefulDiver re not getting picked up at the agreed time just reinforces my opinion.

So yes communication is an issue, and IMHO John values his own time more than his guests.

Having said that he is a great storyteller, and knows the waters and the dive sites in the area as well or better than anyone. I have just lost interest in the kind of "dive camping" and low level of service and communication offered at the lodge and am very glad there are other options.

 

[rob1967]

Really.

In the three times I have been to the lodge John showed up late to pick up divers all three times. We were there at the dock at the time agreed on - he was not.

I gather from others that this is "normal".

On one occassion the plan was to get picked up in the early afternoon and do two dives. One part of our group did this - the other part waited at the fuel dock while John filled a boat full of jerry cans of fuel for the weekend. We did manage to get the second dive in.

The last straw for me was a planned two tank trip to the bay with hooded nudi's - quite a way from the lodge so the plan was to take two tanks each. Do a dive before lunch then have lunch on the boat and do a second dive. Something went wrong and it took several hours to fill enough tanks for everyone so we had lunch at the lodge and did the two dives later in the afternoon. Now I have no issue with something going wrong and plans changing. Things happen at a remote site. What I can't abide is being kept in the dark about it. We - none of us - were told that there was a problem and that the dive would be significantly later than planned. All questions to John about when we were leaving were met with "soon" and in retrospect evasion. So we all waited around for a couple of hours after the planned dive time expecting to go out at any minute. Didn't even find out there was a problem until weeks later and the nature of the problem meant that John knew that we would not be doing the dive as planned as soon as he started filling tanks. Telling us that would have allowed us to revise plans rather than waiting expecting to go out at any minute.

Just some examples. There are more, and the experience related by NWGratefulDiver re not getting picked up at the agreed time just reinforces my opinion.

So yes communication is an issue, and IMHO John values his own time more than his guests.

Having said that he is a great storyteller, and knows the waters and the dive sites in the area as well or better than anyone. I have just lost interest in the kind of "dive camping" and low level of service and communication offered at the lodge and am very glad there are other options.

Well, I've just come back form my 4th trip there in the past year, and 6th in total, so, hmmm, I guess I like it there, so I feel obliged to maybe come to John's defence here. I was there that day when tanks could not be filled fast enough, and do agree that John does tend to clam up when things are going wrong. It turned out that the employees who should have been filling the Nitrox bank while we were out on the first dive neglected to do so, resulting in an inordinate delay in getting out for the next dive. Those employees were dismissed. Things have turned around, and the most recent trip went quite smoothly. The place was clean, the food was great. His new accommodations are quite comfortable.

I do agree it is somewhat like "dive camping". The diving is absolutely fabulous, and pretty much identical at both places. John's place is more suited to local hard-core divers who just want to max out their bottom-time. Heck, he will take you out for 5 boat dives a day if you want! Bill and Annie run a wonderful operation, and their place is more of a proper dive resort, and more suited to someone travelling from further afield, and doesn't mind spending a bit more for a higher level of service. Hey, you get what you pay for, and I think both are great options. I am totally happy with both, but a lot of my dive buddies prefer John's place because it is so cheap. We did 13 dives in 4 days, which worked out to only $66 per dive, and that includes food and accommodation (Nitrox was about another $12 per dive). Pretty amazing deal for world class diving!

Anyways, I have just finished editing all my photos and videos, and all I can think is, ok, when can I go back? The photography there is so unbelievably good! I think as good or better than pretty much anywhere in the world. I'll try to post some links up here soon.

 

[TSandM]

I have to say that, although I wouldn't go back to the Hideaway, John did do a great job for us in terms of diving -- sites and timing, and getting us out in some pretty challenging conditions. I liked him personally very much.

I did not like an open boat with no ability to shelter from the wind. We were there in bad weather, and getting out of the water at the end of a 60 minute dive in 43 degree water, to sit in the wind and ocean spray for a half hour waiting for the rest of the divers, was not pleasant. There was not even a big thermos jug of hot water on the boat to warm your hands. The boat also had a very low bench for divers -- something John even mentioned to us, that it was too low and he needed to get around to fixing that -- and although I take full responsibility for deciding to deal with it, I did blow out my knee trying to get down to it on one of the last diving days.

I understand the lodging has been improved. We had no heat at all in our cabin the first night, and there was one shower for the nine of us. Heat in the main cabin was only by log stove, so the temperature varied with how well the wood was burning.

At the time we were there, the various rafts were connected only by 1x12 planks that were not secured in any way, and there were no handrails. This bothered me a lot, because in the mornings, everything was covered in ice. I break when I fall down, so I'm pretty paranoid about handrailings and the like. Other people might not worry to the same degree.

I didn't mind the mattresses on the floor, or the wind whistling through the cracks around the windows. It was annoying that there was no place to sit except the dining table, but that was only because we got weathered in for two days and had to just hang out -- otherwise, nobody would have been sitting around all that much.

Overall, I think John is a nice man with a really impressive knowledge of the area and the dive sites. But I think he is stuck a bit in a cycle I know from other businesses -- he put it together with minimal capital, so it's kind of low-end, so he can't charge enough to make enough money to make a lot of major improvements, and without those improvements, the place has to stay inexpensive.

I agree that it's good there are choices, but people should be aware of all the differences between the two places. Having a warm boat cabin to get into after diving (and the other place's boat has an ELEVATOR!) was a big deal for me, as were hot showers on demand.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I'm a big fan of the Hideaway just for pure diving. I don't need any extra perks or anything. Hideaway provides some comfy housing (much improved, I've heard) and very hearty food. But most importantly, it provides 4-5 great dives every full day.

I've heard excellent things about God's Pocket. Pretty luxurious housing, very nice boat, very good food. Good vacation when you're not diving. But I can't justify paying over two times more for fewer dives (I think they do max 2-3/day).

There are problems with Hideaway, e.g., the unreliable pick-up time initially, but once you get there, the timing is reasonable. There also are some organization problems (e.g., tank-filling), but nothing too bad. Hideaway is actually much closer to the best dive sites than God's Pocket (often around 5min away). Sure, the actual dive boat's bare-bones, but I don't mind. Even on a really rainy/cold day, I just kept my hood on. I can see problems if you're in a wetsuit, though.

It's really a personal preference which one you prefer, and I'd say you'd get your money's worth either place.

 

[divad]

. The boat also had a very low bench of divers -- something John even mentioned to us, that it was too low and he needed to get around to fixing that -- and although I take full responsibility for deciding to deal with it, I did blow out my knee trying to get down to it on one of the last diving days.
.

You seem like a remarkably strong person.....who really likes scuba diving.

 

[TSandM]

Anybody who can do 5 full hour or more dives in North Vancouver Island water has my sincere respect. We have been very happy with three dives, averaging a full 60 to 70 minutes.