"Row and Be Damned" is rated one of Scuba Diving magazine's top 10 dive sites in all of British Columbia. It's also a favourite of divers no matter where they enter the current that carries them through a wealth of Pacific sealife. Without a doubt, Row and Be Damned is among the very best scenic, drift-diving experiences on the Canadian west coast.

Marine life here is truly abundant. Expect to see thousands of colourful corals, strawberry anemones, octopus, sponges, Puget sound king crabs, fish, and more fish.

Cormorants, mule deer, and bald eagles can be seen atop and along the sheer wall of Copper Cliff which falls 300 feet into the Strait of Georgia. A hundred feet below the surface you'll find a series of ledges that ultimately drop off to the ocean floor.

Everything underwater is huge because of tidal exchanges, Puget Sound king crabs, schools of black rockfish, dogfish sharks, tiger and copper rockfish, red snapper, wolf eels, mosshead warbonnets, giant plumose anemones, orange cup corals, cloud sponges, feather duster tube worms, nudibranchs of many kinds, sea squirts, and curious seals.

Our largest wreck, HMCS Columbia is a 2800-tonne, decommissioned, non-modified Restigouche class destroyer escort that was scuttled and sunk here on June 22, 1996 after more than a year of preparation.

This spectacular 366-foot vessel sits at a 35° list to port with the bow at a maximum depth of 120 feet, which was crumpled like an accordion when it hit the rocky ocean floor. The superstructure and wheelhouse reach approximately 60 feet to the water's surface. This allows divers to match skill and comfort level to the elevation of the ship's components.

More than 10 years later, HMCS Columbia has become a thriving artificial reef. Access holes had been cut to open up most of the interior's six decks to properly trained and equipped wreck divers, but we do not recommend penetration. Although the interior may seem sufficiently lit when divers arrive, sediment soon lifts and reduces visibility to zero, a common oversight of novice and experienced divers alike.

This might be one of the largest, most intact underwater wrecks you'll ever see. Unlike other current-swept sites in our area, this area is sheltered from the main current, allowing access at any time of day.

A dive full of colour and life, with clean-swept rocks tiered from 30 to 90 feet, Whiskey Point is another favourite and one that shouldn't be missed.

Strawberry anemones, purple algae, tennis sponges, yellow encrusting sponges, snakelock anemones, giant barnacles, abalone, scallops, ling cod, red Irish lords, kelp greenlings, hairy cancer crabs, octopus and even visiting seals can all be seen here.

Steep is a popular dive for visitors and locals alike. Here you'll dive among the "feather dusters", purple tube worms, an experience too fantastic to describe. Some are over three feet in diameter. On this dive you can reach depths of 120 to 130 feet.

Orange, yellow, and white sponges add a rainbow of colour to the dive. Cloud nipple and trumpet sponges are few of the sponges you'll see, rock scallops, swimming scallops, cabezon, ling cod, octopus, kelp greenlings, yellow-eyed rockfish (known as red snappers), and scally head sculpins are all denizens of Steep.

You can also find spiny dogfish sharks here, just as you will at several of our dives in the Quadra Island area. These have never been known to be man-biters, but their appearance can still be formidable, growing up to five feet in length at maturity.

April Point is a terrific wall dive where you'll see tealia anemones, basket stars, funnel and cloud sponges, soft and hard coral, abalone, Puget sound king crabs, giant nudibranchs, and ling cod. Like any popular dive site in our area, April Point is highly picturesque and typifies the marine environment of the Pacific Northwest.

The underwater "garden" at Argonaut Wharf is a haven for the giant Pacific plumose anemone, featured in National Geographic and numerous other publications over the years. The landscape here is covered with clouds of these beautiful plants, a site simply never experienced by non-divers and one that represents the beauty of fragile ocean plants that can reach hundreds of years in age when undisturbed.

The area also makes great night dive. At Argonaut Wharf it's easy to see decorator crabs, red or pink dahlia, and numerous fish including flounder, red Irish lords, and cabezon.

This is a great dive no matter where you enter the water around the island's circumference. Look for wolf eels, octopus, Puget Sound king crabs, decorator crabs, colourful cup corals, sponges, plum anemones, sea lemon nudibranchs, abalone, crabs, scallops, shrimp, and yellow-eyed rockfish.

Located off May Island, the ferry wreck is a nice, easy dive to end the day. Octopus live here around the wreck and along the shallow wall with brightly coloured cup corals, sponges, kelp greenlings, ling cod — and the odd golf ball you might collect as a souvenir from someone who apparently likes to practise his swing from topside.

The highly planned removal of Ripple Rock in this area decades ago was the largest non-nuclear explosion in the world — and the riddance of one of the deadliest marine hazards in British Columbia.

Today tidal currents up to 16 knots race through this spot, so dives always take place on the slack tides. Rounded ledges start at 20 to 30 feet and then descend well below recreational dive limits. Among them, crevices and crannies abound to hide sealife from the current.

Lots of colour can be seen on this dive including white, Christmas, red snakelock, mauve and pink brooding anemones. You'll also see an abundance of yellow staghorn bryozoans, trumpet and orange ball sponges, chitons, giant red and green urchins, abalone, swimming scallops, kelp greenlings, and lingcod, all which benefit from the nutrients of the fast-moving tides.