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Lingcod in Porteau Cove Provincial Parkspacer

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Diving

Diving at Whytecliff Marine Park
Diving at Whytecliff Marine Park, Susan Rybar photo
The Vancouver, Coast & Mountains region is home to some of the most spectacular dive sites in North America thanks to exceptionally clear waters populated by abundant marine life. Plumose anemones, wolf eels, giant Pacific Ocean octopi, urchins and starfish all live here and many ships and vessels have been scuttled to create awe-inspiring artificial reefs, and steep drop-offs provide the perfect environment to explore underwater walls.

Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast in particular offer a diversity of unique diving opportunities.

Several dive stores as well as charter dive boats and tours are available in this area.

Insider Tips
Scuba divers are encouraged to explore the wreck of the HMCS Chaudière, a sunken warship in Sechelt Inlets Marine Provincial Park.

Diving Safety Tips:
  • Always go with a guide when diving in unknown waters.
  • Be prepared for the temperature of British Columbia's waters - wear a dry suit or thick wet suit with hood, gloves and booties.
  • Average underwater dive temperatures are 8-12°C (46.4-53.6°F).

Howe Sound

Porteau Cove Provincial Park
  • Explore shore-accessible dive sites within easy reach of Vancouver or Squamish
  • Look for telltale piles of clamshells that litter the opening of octopus shelters in Whytecliff Marine Park
  • Admire the rocky pinnacles of the three sites on Passage Island: South Islet, the Reefs and the North Island
  • Check for seals at Pam Rocks. Some join divers underwater, swimming with amazing speed and grace despite their bulky appearanc.
  • Play among the four sunken ships and barges at Porteau Cove Provincial Park. Features include a 90' wall dive, the Nayaka - a 38m/125ft wreck and Grant Hall - a 28m/92ft tugboat
  • Visibility is best from late summer through winter, as the increase of sunlight in the springtime brings thick algae blooms.

Sunshine Coast

Saltery Bay Provincial Park
  • Choose from over 100 dive sites and experience incredible visibility along this sunny coast between Gibsons and Powell River. In summer it averages 15.2m/50ft, extending to over 30m in the winter.
  • Famous divemaster, Jacques Cousteau - once travelled to the Sunshine Coast to study its octopi and wolf eels. He observed that the habitat was one of the most productive marine sites in the world .
  • Explore the 67 rooms of the wreck of the HMCS Chaudière, a huge, sunken warship in Sechelt Inlets Marine Provincial Park
  • Experienced divers can tackle Skookumchuck Rapids on a charter dive—the tidal exchange and oxygen of the narrows creates optimum conditions for all kinds of marine life
  • When diving in Powell River, look for the Emerald Princess—a 2.7m/9ft bronze mermaid sculpture sunk 18m/60ft off the shores of Saltery Bay Provincial Park
  • Check out Tuwanek Point - a popular shore dive with a reef, wrecks, islands, octopus dens, and a great mix of sea life
  • Enjoy deep vertical wall diving at Agamememnon Channel and look out for hard and sof corals, and cloud sponges
  • Off Savary Island, boat dive to Gulfstream, a steam yacht sunk 52m/170ft down
  • Tour the Malahat, a 5-masted wooden schooner that sank in 1946.
 


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