Type:
Boat drift dive.
Location:
North of the town of Campbell River on the Quadra Island side.
Above Water:
Vertical cliffs that allow space only for nesting seabirds.
Underwater:
The cliffs you see above water continue below and drop quickly to the 100 foot range where the incline lessens and you enter a boulder strewn slope. Down at these depths are some impressive cloud sponges several feet across. The wall is also covered with other sponges and invertebrates. Be sure to look in and around the sponges to see what is hiding there. rockfish school off the wall and lingcod or Puget Sound king crab hide in crevices. While the entire Campbell River area is known for its currents at Copper Cliffs I have experiences some very strange ones. Things like currents changing direction by 180 degrees as you ascend 20 feet. On the last dive I did there we drifted along in one direction and watch as another buddy team drifted by in the opposite direction only 20 feet below us! Still I love this dive, (if by now you have not figures it out I love diving WALLS).
Warnings:
Current!!! go with someone who knows the area and knows what they are doing. Depth I do not normally warn about depth since I consider this a common sense thing, but here I have gotten a bit preoccupied with sponge photography and lost track of time at depth (momentarily).
Type:
Boat drift dive.
Above Water:
Just a non-descript island.
Underwater:
Great!! This dive is another wall so you know I like it. I suggest diving the North end of Steep Island since at that end the wall is covered with huge clumps of parchment tubeworms. They extend from near the surface to the bottom at around 100 feet.
These large clumps are a photographic challenge since their dark colour is had to light correctly. They also provide a hiding spot for all manner of life. Look for crabs, and several of the smaller fish, like gunnels and warbonnets hiding here. Again lots of rockfish hovering off the wall and maybe on octopus or a wolfeel. As you drift south you leave the tubeworms the wall shallows somewhat and kelp starts to appear. It is great to look up on a sunny day wand watch the kelp
streaming in the current against and emerald green ocean. Of course don't forget to look down and see all the small animals that hide in the kelp holdfasts.
Warnings:
Again current, trust your boat operator.
Type:
Boat drift dive.
Above Water:
A small point is all that marks this site.
Underwater:
The bottom is covered with large boulders which hide all manner of creatures. This is also a great spot for the signature species of Campbell River the strawberry anemone. This small anemone literally
carpets the bottom turning it a deep red colour. Add to thet the Yellow of sponge and the white of plumose anemones and you have a beautiful underwater landscape. The sponge and anemones almost totally cover other residents like the giant barnicales so that all you can see are the
barnacles feeding tree sweeping the water for nutrients. Row and Be Damned is a great place to find octopus and all
manner of other invertebrates. A friend of mine has gotten some great photos of octopus here, made even better by the beautiful backdrop of colour. Here also get high marks for one of the best dive site names along the coast, the name of course comes from the days when row boats were a common means of transportation.
Warnings:
With a name like Row and Be Damned you knows there's current here.
Type:
Boat drift dive.
Above water:
The dive is a short distance off the actual point.
Underwater:
One of the main reasons people dove here are the wolfeels, last dive I did we found 4 without really looking! wolfeels are great animals and are really more like big underwater puppies than fish. They are of course wild but I have never heard of anyone being injured by a wolfeel. Wolfeels that are around divers are very friendly and will swim out to greet you, which if you are not familiar with them can be a bit un-nerving. My advice to people is to treat a wolfeel as you would a stray dog on the street and you should have no trouble. There is however much more to see. Again the strawberry anemone covers the bottom and rockfish abound. There are also octopus and many interesting nudibranchs to be found here. On this dive you need not go very deep to find a profusion of life.
Warnings:
At the risk of sounding like a broken record ... current.