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Rated as one of the top dives in British Columbia, Dodd Narrows is
located between Gabriola and Naniamo. It is definitely a dive to mark down on your ‘to dive list’ as long as you are an experienced diver.
Accessible again only by boat which you can charter from Naniamo or join an all inclusive trip organised by Diving Adventures. Dodd Narrows is
teaming with life that is hard to describe even when you have seen it. This is a drift dive that generally has a maximum depth of 70-ft and a top speed of 1 knot. You dive on the high tide slack and, as the tide turns, you get pushed into the Narrows. Back eddies allow you to slow down your dive and take in the view. Rocks and boulders are barely visible behind families of urchins and sponges. Where there is space, white anemones make their home as teams of ling cod and rockfish swim by and puget sound crabs make their way along the bottom of the ocean. Visibility is generally good and winter treats include the arrival of the Stellar Sea Lions.
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Well if you can’t find anything to do down here, you must be the fish out of water. Porlier pass is a channel located between Valdes and Galiano Islands. It can be reached from both Victoria and Naniamo and offers a fantastic range of dives. If Wreck diving is your style, then look no further. Catch the slack tide and head down to the Del Norte wreck sitting at a depth of 12-25 meters. At the Northeast entrance to the pass the Del Norte sank in 1869 and become a Heritage Site in the 1970’s. A second wreck sits in the middle of the pass the upside down shell of the Point Grey tug, at over 30 meters. With a maximum depth of 40 meters the Point Grey is a haven for marine life. Decked out with anemones this wreck is fully penetrable but has to be dived at slack tide. For picturesque marine life a little closer to Galiano Island is the beautiful Alcala Point Wall. Here you can explore the sea life, search for giant pacific octopus, and check out the resident wolf eels hiding in the wall. Alcala Point is also a great place to take out your camera and try out some underwater photography. Corals, anemones and nudibranchs are just some of the walls many
inhabitants.
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Underwater Photography
by Tom Marchant
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Left:
Diving before colour
Photograph by Dylan
Cole | 
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