Note: If you are going to dive Barkley Sound do it with a good charter operator, I suggest Rendezvous Dive Ventures.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
A boat dive in the middle of the channel.
Underwater:
Renate's Reef (named after Renate Christie) is a pinnacle that comes to with in 45 feet of the surface in the middle of
Imperial Eagle Channel. This is without a doubt one of my favourite dives in Barkley Sound. The masses of life found here are
truly outstanding..
The reef top is covered with staghorn bryozoans, and as you go deeper there are channels and large crevices. My most recent find is a large and still growing patch of strawberry anemones on one of the rock faces. All types of nudibranchs live
here, rockfish of school near the drop offs. The life here is
thick, just about anything can be found here. If you go deep where you will start to find sand channels you never know what might appear, a ratfish, dogfish or maybe even a sixgill shark. I love this dive there are great canyons and lots of places for animals to hide. I like riding the surge and watching the reef go by below.
Warnings:
Don't get lost. The surge can be un-nerving if you are not use to it.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
A boat dive not far from Rendezvous base.
Underwater:
A pinnacle with great fish life, lots of invertebrates, but the real
reason people dive here is sixgill sharks. They can get to 15 feet and are
usually VERY deep, but in summer especially, you can find them shallow
here. The reef top is covered with plumose anemones and it drops to sand at maybe 90 ft the sand then slopes off to the depths. I've always seen interesting fish here, never a sixgill however. the last dive I did here I saw several ratfish, large schools of rockfish, including canary and yellow tail and several large jellyfish. Even without the sixgills this dive is most
defiantly worth doing.
Warnings:
There is almost always a surface current at Tyler Rock.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
A boat dive just around the corner from Rendezvous lodge.
Underwater:
A great little dive that has special significance for me since it is the
first place I saw a sixgill shark. A 12 footer, at night, something that
really gets your attention. I've also seen octopus out at night. The dive is a reef that you could swim around depending on how deep you go. There are sand channels that hold seapens and tube dwelling anemones and the nudibranchs that feed on them. This is one of those site where it is possible to see just about anything! I've had buddies see windmill tube worms and bicoloured nudibranchs here, so I have to go back to find those for myself. Just an all round good dive. Rendezvous often does this spot as a night dive since it is just around the corner from their lodge
Warnings:
None that I can think of right now.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
A boat dive on a wall not far from Rendezvous lodge.
Underwater:
One of the few Barkley Sound sites that is not a pinnacle. Lots of life on
the wall. I often find Puget Sound king crabs here. The nice thing about diving this site is you do not have to do your safety stop on the anchor line, you can just go shallow on the wall. Even shallow there is still lots to see. The wall is covered with anemones and zoanthids, which in turn hide a lot of small critters so look carefully. The shallows have great green surf anemones and
coralline algae. This is also a spot where you can dive with California sealions, some people are nervous about diving with these guys but so far I have not been bothered by them.
Warnings:
Surge in the shallows.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
Way out in the mouth of Barkley Sound, next stop Japan.
Underwater:
Outstanding!!! This IS the best dive I've done in Barkley Sound, too bad the weather has to be PERFECT to get to this VERY exposed site. The bottom is covered with bright orange Brooding
anemones, and when I say covered I means covered, I went a bit photo crazy here. In addition to the anemones any spare space is taken up by bryazoan and sponge. Lots of invertebrates, lots of fish. A
truly outstanding dive. On the one dive I've done here as we dropped down the shot line we almost landed on a large wolfeel later on we saw a great little wolfeel here too. This site has a wild feel to it. The bottom is awash in colour. The reef top is only about 20 feet from the surface so you even have a spot to do your safety stop. It is also fun to ride the surge at this site, on the very calm day that we dove there you could travel 20 feet back and forth in the surge at the reef top. I pry for good weather so I can get to dive this site again.
Warnings:
Take you seasick pills you get the big ocean swells here.
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
Just east of the true start of the Broken Group islands, several hundred yards off the actual point.
Underwater:
A great dive consisting of two pinnacles of rock with a sand channel between then. Last dive I did there I saw a great school of rockfish. I often see a few of the more interesting types of rockfish here like
vermilion and blues. There are lots of great anemones and a few seapens in the sand channel. The tops of both pinnacles are covered in woody kelp and various types of bryozoans. Also on the last dive I did there I saw lots of clown nudibranchs and orange peel nudibranchs. All in all this is a great dive with the chance of seeing some different animals and even if you don't lots of good things to look at
Warnings:
Not too much to worry about here just swells now and then.