Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
A boat dive about 15 min south of Nanaimo.
Above Water:
A VERY narrow passage, you could throw a baseball across it with no trouble.
Underwater:
GREAT, a wall of colour. The wall is covered with telia anemones of many varieties: painted, pink-Tipped and brooding just to name a few. There are also many species of hydroids (I especially like the orange hydroids), limpets, hydrocorals, chitons, barnacles and crabs. On my dive there I found a BIG decorator warbonnet hiding in the crevices. A great drift dive with lots to see.
Warnings:
Current and boat traffic go with a good charter operator (I went with Coastal Explorer Dive Excursions).
Type:
Boat dive.
Location:
An offshore reef 15 min boat ride north of Nanaimo.
Above Water:
Like I said its offshore so more water.
Underwater:
On a very low tide the reef top might get to within 4 fathoms of the surface but it is more like 6 (36 feet). The key sight here is swimming scallops, lots of them. It was fun to watch the other divers swimming through a hail of orange "false teeth". I also found a good sized octopus, several Longfin gunnels, and some interesting jellyfish with epifidic anemones in them.
Warnings:
The site is exposed to wind and boat traffic.