A wonderful little town just a short distance from Victoria, Sidney by the Sea is renowned for its bookstores and other cultural opportunities as well as for its fantastic dive sites, many of which are suitable for all levels. While there are quite a few wrecks just off Sidney and in the surrounding area as well, some are more popular than others. Here are three top sites to whet your appetite for adventure.
GB Church - Sidney Dive Sites
Rusty, tired, and an old eyesore prior to her sinking in 1991, when she was deployed to act as an artificial reef at the Princess Margaret Provincial Marine Park, the GB Church was once a busy WWII supply ship that kept troops battle-ready. 53 meters long and with a typical coastal freighter profile, this fantastic little ship now rests beneath 27 meters of water, with her mast accessible at a depth of just 5 meters. Properly called the “George Bennett Church,” the ship was originally called the Cerium and was tasked with hauling explosives all over Canada’s Pacific coastline once the war had come to an end.
Today, after more than twenty years beneath the emerald green water, the wreck is covered in a lush tapestry of sponges, ascidians, plumose anemones, and encrusting algae. Instead of sailors, the ship is now home to large lingcod, a few different species of rockfish, and some very large Pacific Giant Octopus, which can be hard to spot as they blend in so well with the rusted metal where they build their lairs. With very little current and visibility that averages about 15 meters most of the time, this site is excellent for all certified divers, even those with only a few dives logged. Experienced wreck divers can penetrate the ship via several entryways that have been cut at different levels, as it is still in very good condition; those with less experience will find plenty to see on the main deck, which is at a depth of only nine meters.
HMCS MacKenzie - Sidney Dive Sites
The wreck of HMCS MacKenzie is another artificial reef; the 112 meter long Canadian anti-submarine destroyer was deployed to her final resting place on September 16th of 1995. Built in 1958, the ship was assigned to Canada’s Pacific Fleet and mostly carried out training missions. The ship’s other claim to fame is that several babies were baptized onboard between 1963 and 1980. Decommissioned in 1993, she is still fitted with guns, a radar mast, and many other features which offer exceptional photo opps.
Sitting on the sandy bottom with her keel firmly planted at a depth of 30 meters, the ship is upright with a twenty degree list to port. Her radar tower can be accessed at a depth of 10 meters, while her upper deck is at a depth of 18 meters. Mooring buoys mark the bridge, stern, and bow, making for an easy descent to the wreck, which is large enough to take several dives to thoroughly explore. Having been cleared of hazardous materials and carefully prepared for divers prior to being sunk by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, the HMCS MacKenzie features several different penetration points that make it a top site for experienced wreck divers, with five different decks to explore. Divers who choose to stay outside the wreck will enjoy the colorful blanket of life that covers her, and will find themselves face to face with a number of different rockfish species, nudibranchs, crustaceans, lingcod, greenlings, and octopus. Use caution as current can be strong and swirling silt can cause visibility to worsen quickly; even on days when topside conditions seem ideal, conditions can change rapidly.
Sidney Pier Wrecks - Sidney Dive Sites
Sidney Pier is located at the end of Bevan Avenue, and is a very popular place for fishing and diving. There are some reef balls at the end of the pier, mostly covered in lacy red seaweed to entice passing fish, and the pier’s pilings themselves can be fun to explore so long as you’re very careful to watch out for fishing tackle. Watch for Dungeness crabs and other crustaceans beneath the pier; oddly, they will fight with one another for the opportunity to climb into baited crab traps hung by the fishermen above. A rope leads to a second set of reef balls a bit further out, which are covered in kelp during the summer, and which have attracted quite a few copper rockfish as well as plenty of invertebrates.
Here, you’ll also find some small wrecks, including one located halfway between the end of the public pier and the fish market dock at a depth of about 10 meters. This little fishing boat burned in 1928 and there’s not much of the structure left, however the amount of marine life that now populates the artificial reef habitat formed by its hull is fantastic – much more filled out than the relatively new reef balls are.
The second wreck is that of a cement-hulled sailboat, about 40 feet long, lying on her port side in just 7 meters of water. Covered in anemones and teeming with invertebrates, it is colorful. A hole in the boat’s starboard side lets you peek in for a look; there are sculpins and a few perch living in the area, along with some crustaceans. In addition, there are red Irish lords, buffalo sculpins, more copper rockfish, and some other fish inside, with more to see during the summer months than during the winter.
You can dive at Sidney all year, with the best visibility being during the cooler months. Local dive operators from Sidney and Victoria provide trips to these wrecks as well as a variety of different dive sites all around the many islands that surround the peninsula, and there are a number of different places to stay, including a fantastic resort built with divers in mind. If you’re planning to dive in British Columbia, consider adding at least one of these sites to your itinerary; you’ll be glad you did.