Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of Abyssal Dive Charters/N/A in
Canada/British Columbia

Abyssal Dive Charters/N/A, Jul, 2007,

by Douglas Hansen, CA, USA (Contributor Contributor 15 reports). Report 3662.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 2 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 2 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments We only had a couple of days to dive while we were in the Campbell River area, so we went with Abyssal Dive Charters. They promptly responded to e-mails, and were willing to go out with only my wife and I as passengers. They were also kind enough to lend me a wetsuit at no charge since I did not bring my drysuit to save luggage weight and space (my wife dove in her drysuit). Due to the strong currents in Discovery Passage, diving is only done during the slack tide. These are drift dives: the boat follows your bubbles and picks you up at the end of the dive. They provide 80 cubic foot aluminum cylinders and weights. They did ask to see our C-cards, but there was no safety briefing, and I had to request a dive site briefing. They seemed perfectly happy to let us jump off the boat without telling us what to look for, which direction to go in, etc. I also had to request specifics on how they wanted us to dive from the boat, for example how to exit the boat and how to re-board. We found the water temperature to be warmer than what we are used to in northern California, and the visibility was quite good on a couple of the dives. We could feel the current picking up near the end of the last dives. One dive site in particular was stellar. Copper Cliffs is a wall dive that was alive with nudibranchs, anemones and other macro critters. Some areas were covered with white Metridium anemones, other areas had orange Metridium anemones, there were Metridium senile anemones, and we found an area with very large northern feather duster worms. Large ling cods were not uncommon. The other sites were not as good. A couple were actually rather poor, with muddy bottoms, poor visibility and limited macro life, although we did manage to find a couple of nudibranchs we hadn't seen before. If you intend to dive with this outfit, I would recommend doing your homework and present them with a list of the sites you would like to dive, and then insist on them taking you there.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving California, Bonaire, Curacao, Indonesia, Philippines, Palau, Florida, Mexico
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 54-57°F / 12-14°C Wetsuit Thickness 7
Water Visibility 20-40 Ft/ 6-12 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Return with 500 psi
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 1 stars Tropical Fish 1 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Bucket on board for cameras.
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 81 dive reviews of Canada and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 
Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?
Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest
Reef & Rainforest, Dive & Adventure Travel
A full service dive travel agency that specializes in exotic destinations (South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Africa, South & Central America).

Want to assemble your own collection of Canada reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.08 seconds