A short five kilometers from the picturesque town of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, the island of Gabriola has a land mass of about 57.6 square kilometers and is linked to neighboring islands by ferry. Situated in the Strait of Georgia, it is part of the Gulf Islands and has only a small population. With forested parks and public beaches, plus a mild climate typical of this part of British Columbia, the island offers year round diving. Here are just five of the best sites this little piece of northwestern paradise has to offer.
Dragon’s Lane
The chart for Dragon’s Lane, which is situated near the southern tip of Gabriola Island on the Strait of Georgia side shows a steep drop to 200 feet, but there is plenty to see here in much shallower water, making this a fantastic shore dive for intermediate divers and up. While you can dive the site from a boat, it’s easy to access from shore, thanks to a public access trail at the end of Dragon’s Lane that leads to a set of sandstone rocks you’ve got to clamber down to get onto the beach. After that, you can finish kitting up and get into the water, where a slope covered with enormous bus-sized boulders leads out into the deep, where sandstone walls rise up in dramatic fashion, some containing deep cracks where giant pacific octopus have claimed their territory. As with many other dive sites in British Columbia, this one features fairly poor visibility in the shallows, but as you get into deeper areas, visibility improves markedly, by 40-50 feet.
The boulders are like little planets buzzing with life; even if you stay in the shallowest areas, you’ll encounter quite a bit. Beautiful anemones in different shapes, sizes, and colors, from white all the way to reddish pink, plus fantastic purple sea stars, orange sun stars, and delicate feather stars create a pulsating backdrop for the many crustaceans and fish that make their homes here. You’ll find quillback and copper rockfish and large lingcod as you explore, and if you peek inside some of the boot sponges, you’ll find juvenile rockfish here and there.
This is a huge site, with shallow reefs in the bay close to shore, patches of kelp where greenlings, sculpins, and schooling perch can be found in abundance, and colorful colonies of zoanthids, cup corals, and tunicates add even more color to what is already a completely magical place.
Gabriola Passage
A narrow channel that cuts a path between Valdes Island and the southeast tip of Gabriola Island, Gabriola passage is often offered by dive charters out of Nanaimo, but is easily accessible from shore too, so long as the current is cooperating. To get there, drive to the end of Stalker Road, and just park in the little lot. If you hear rushing water or see whirlpools, come back another day when conditions are calm; check tides first since the best time to enjoy a safe dive is at slack tide. Once you’re in the water, you’ll find a fantastic series of walls and ledges that eventually lead to a fairly flat bottom punctuated with huge boulders at a depth of about 70 feet, where a carpet of plumose anemones, cup corals, and orange hydroids blends with an incredible wealth of invertebrate life to create a colorful tapestry that is best viewed during the months when algal bloom is not affecting visibility. Sculpins and warbonnets, gunnels, quillbacks and copper rockfish rub fins with kelp greenlings and a few lingcod, while a variety of different crabs can be seen among the purple sea stars and larger sun stars. Octopus can sometimes be seen peering from the protection of their lairs, and the occasional squid can be seen as well. Keep an eye out for wolf eels, and if the salmon are running, don’t be surprised if you encounter seals and sea lions hunting them.
Orlebar Point
Accessible by boat, this site is also a fantastic shore dive. Located on the extreme northern tip of Gabriola Island, Orlebar Point is sometimes called Berry Point and some maps even have the site marked that way. To get here, drive to the end of Berry Point Road, and cross your fingers in hopes of getting one of the few parking spots up on the beach overlook. After a short climb down a gently sloping series of sandstone formations, you’ll find yourself on the beach, hopefully at slack tide when the site is less subject to current. Don’t pester the sea lions if they are hauled out on the beach, and if you’re lucky, they might join you in the water a bit later. A few lucky souls have seen whales near shore, and it is not uncommon to hear their songs reverberating through the water around you.
Once you’ve made your way into the water, you can simply explore the sandstone reefs in the shallows, or you can make your way to a wall that drops to meet the ocean floor 150 feet below. The wall is located toward Entrance Island, where more California Sea Lions can be heard barking in the distance. While some areas are fairly devoid of life, other portions of the site are swathed in a colorful blanket of life that includes enormous clusters of rarely seen crimson anemones, hydroids, huge sea pens, zoanthids, and even pink branching hydrocoral. Lingcod and different varieties of rockfish are here in abundance, however sculpins can be hard to find. Keep a close eye on your air; this site is both massive and mesmerizing. You could make several dives here and still feel as though there were more to see. As with other sites, visibility varies seasonally.
Roger’s Reef
A great second dive site, and sometimes calm enough even for novices to explore, Roger’s Reef is well protected from winds and is excellent for diving even when other sites are blown out. To get here, you’ll need to find a spot in the parking area at Drumbeg Provincial Park, then walk along the waterfront trail that leads to the bay. The entry point is across from the reef itself, which appears as a small island topped with a light, just about 200 meters from shore. It takes a bit of a surface swim to access, but once you’re there, prepare to be amazed. There is a fantastic sandstone wall with heaps of boulders and dramatic ledges covered in boot sponges and zoanthids, encrusting sponges and heaps of tubeworms cemented together in colonies. Anemones in fantastic shades of red and orange cling to the rocks, and sea cucumbers, nudibranchs, and sea stars create motion and add to the overall color that makes this reef such a fantastic place to explore. You’ll see quite a few rockfish, some greenlings, and plenty of crabs here too. Maximum depth is about 50 feet and visibility varies dramatically from season to season – it can be as little as 10 feet or as much as more than 50 feet.
Taylor Bay
To get to Taylor Bay, you’ll need to find a parking spot on Decourcey Drive, then walk along one of the public access trails between the houses that line the shore. A fantastically easy site to get into, thanks to a long stretch of flat sandstone slabs leading from the beach to the water, the bay features a wonderful wall that drops away to meet the seabed from a depth of about 60 feet to more than 150 feet below. The top of the wall is at 25 feet, and when visibility is good, you can see the drop off as soon as you’re beneath the surface. While the topography is absolutely magnificent here, there is less invertebrate life than at some other nearby sites, possibly due to the fact that currents tend to be light. You’ll find quite a few tiger rockfish and a few wolf eels, plus octopus, schooling perch, kelp crabs, and many other creatures, including the occasional seal.
If you decide to stay on Gabriola Island, you’ll find that the pace is relaxed. Accommodations and meals tend to be fairly inexpensive, and local festivals celebrating art, culture, music, and the sea itself take place throughout the year. Great for a day trip and nice for a longer holiday, this little island is truly captivating, both above and below the surface.