Article & photos by Barb Roy

Excerpt from Vancouver Island West Coast Diving
Article & photos by Barb Roy

One of the main points of entry into Nootka Sound is from Tahsis. When traveling by car I have always enjoyed the beautiful drive from Campbell River. Although the road between Gold River and Tahsis is mostly gravel, the wildlife can be spectacular during the almost three hour drive.

Once in Tahsis, I joined up with Jude and Scott Scooner, owners of Tahtsa Dive Charters. They work with several B&B’s but I was treated to a stay at Barnacle Beach B&B. Tahtsa Dive Charters has a dive store with equipment rentals, dive instruction, air fills and local dive charters.

Mazino Point is about 15 minutes from the dock where Tahsis Inlet meets Tahsis Narrows causing a nutrient rich feeding ground for invertebrates of all sizes. Currents can be very strong here and a drift may be felt. Each side of the navigational light is very different. Divers can descended down a steep slope to 24m/80ft, seeing lingcod, greenlings, rockfish and decorator crabs. Fair sized red gorgonian sea fans can be seen from this depth on down, increasing in size with depth.

The sea fans remind me of the gorgonians I have seen and photographed in Agamemnon Channel, on the BC’s Sunshine Coast. Black, quillback and copper rockfish are more prominent at this depth, with the occasional China rockfish under and around rock ledges. Huge boulders are covered with a lavender hydrocoral and light pink coralline algae, creating great wide-angle possibilities. Orange cup coral and small clusters of red sea strawberry soft coral give the site a vivid rainbow of color. Rock scallops with hydroids growing on them like hair, curious painted greenling, crinoids (feather stars) and colorful nudibranchs are just a few of the critters seen in the shallows.

When back on the boat Scott told me about a friend who uses doubles to cross from one side of the channel to the other and sees the huge sea fans all across the channel.

Between dives the boat returns to the dock for lunch and a toilet break. I really enjoyed the soup, coffee and sandwiches at the Cook Shack, a local favorite. Everything is homemade and delicious.

On the other side of Mazino Point divers will find a population of white cloud sponges around 21m/70ft. Small rockfish like to hide in the sponge openings for protection. Strawberry anemones seem to cover just about everything else at this site. Because the sponges are delicate and slow growing, proper buoyancy control is needed. In the shallow water, an array of other invertebrate life, crabs, shrimp and more colorful fish can be found.

“We have so many great locations to choose from, all within 30 minutes from town, Scott said. “I’m sure we can also find countless other sites to explore if we get an adventurous group.”

Visiting divers will be pleased with both of these sites, especially if underwater photography is a hobby. Naturalists will enjoy the abundant variation of life found at all depths. For the extended range diver, there are numerous deep walls to explore throughout Nootka’s yawning glacier carved fjords. Scott even knows where to find a shipwreck or two.

Visitors might want to drive or hike up an old logging road in town for a view of the inlet and surrounding coastal mountains. The view is superb but the road requires a high-clearance, 4-wheel-drive vehicle. Another area to visit nearby is Moutcha Bay, offering excellent kayaking, salmon fishing and black bear viewing from kayaks.

Just as I was about to leave, I met a local caver who told me a bit about a series of nearby caves. It won’t be long before I return for more diving and some cave exploring.

Although diving is done in British Columbia year round, October through March can yield great underwater visibility around most coastal places on Vancouver Island. Summer months are also nice but due to high volumes of tourists, reservations are highly recommended and should be made well in advance.