Location: Wreck of the State of California, Admiralty Island, southeast Alaska It’s been a funny start to this trip. The last trip was absolutely smashing with flat calm seas, gorgeous weather, loads of animals and superb visibility on the Alaska portion of our travels. This trip got off to a tougher start with wind and rain and […]
Read MoreLocation: Inian Islands, Icy Strait, southeast Alaska. There is a potential dive site at Inian Island that I have been super keen to check out for a couple of years. It feels right. It looks right with a sheer wall plunging to 220 feet. And it is current swept. So today we kitted up and jumped in the water […]
Read MoreYYAAAYYYYYHHHHH. Excellent diving and thoroughly enjoyed it. That’s it for right now. Michelle Many anemones, king crabs, coral – I love bull kelp – it’s all great so far. 7 Tree is my favourite so far. Urs. Excursion trips were great. Saw 2 black bears from up close today. First Nations burial caves in Browning Pass were amazing. Ruth […]
Read MoreLocation: Solander Island, Brooks Peninsula, west coast Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada So who in their right mind would dive Solander Island? Following is the description of Solander in the British Columbia south coast sailing directions – shores are rocky and mountains rise abruptly to elevations in excess of 2000 feet. The continential shelf lies only 4 miles SW where […]
Read MoreLocation: Browning Pass, Port Hardy, British Columbia Well, it’s the start of our British Columbia and Alaska season and we are very happy to be back in our home waters. Scuba diving in Mexico with great white sharks, giant pacific manta rays, dolphins and lots of other sharks is awesome. But it’s also nice to be home. First dives of this […]
Read MoreI am always up for trying 2 or 3 exploratory new dives on a trip if our guests are “up” for it. The folks on this trip are terrific sports and up for exploratory diving. We lucked out today with the discovery of a beautiful, albeit current-sensitive, pinnacle loaded with invertebrate life including corals, sponges and anemones as well as a giant pacific octopus and wolf eels.
Read MoreThere is a large population of stellar sea lions around Inian Island that are always interested in scuba divers and the Nautilus Explorer – to the point that they hang around between dives and sometimes come half out of the water to try and look in the portholes of the ship! Fish life is great. Humpback whales and sea otters swim back and forth past the boat all day long. The scenery is absolutely spectacular although that is a pretty lame description compared to the reality of the vista across the strait. It would be more accurate to describe the mountains to the north as imagining what it would look like if a scaled down version of the Himalayas extended to the water’s edge!! There are even rumours of salmon sharks (ie. imagine a 10 foot scaled down version of a great white shark) in the area and you can bet that we are keeping our eyes open for those guys. It’s an amazing place and unquestionably worth diving and continuing our explorations.
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