There are so many good reasons to Dive The Sunshine Coast:

• Crystal clean waters and incredible visibility year-round.
• Colourful and abundant marine life.
• All-weather diving with sheltered waters.
• A variety of dive sites for all experience levels.
• Access to the HMCS Chaudiere Artificial Reef Site.
• Safety-oriented, friendly dive operators offering both shore & boat dives.

The most popular dive spot on the Sunshine Coast is the Skookumchuck Rapids. “Skookum” means strong, and “chuck” means waters. This is a trip for experienced divers only.

The dive is popular due to the amount of growth from the tidal exchange and oxygen content – the marine life includes anemones, rose stars, rock fish, kelp greenlings and, sometimes, Puget Sound king crabs. The best way to dive the rapids is on a charter – most local operators have hundreds of hours of experience diving the Skookumchuck.

Less experienced divers might want to take a crack at the Tzoonie Narrows. The tidal stream here is only three to four knots. Marine life includes sea lemons, ling cod, kelp greenlings, silvery pile perch, wolf eels and even decorated warbonnets with spikes on their heads. Tzoonie is also a popular night-diving spot.

The 366′ foot HMCS Chaudiere was scuttled on December 5 1992 by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia to make a habitat for marine life and a place for divers to play on an otherwise featureless bottom. Commissioned as a destroyer escort and submarine hunter in 1959, the Chaudiere now lays on her port side with the top of the ship 60-90 feet deep.

Although wreck “penetration” requires extra training and experience, the ship has been cleaned and prepared with the safety of divers in mind. Volunteers marked directions on the inside walls of the Chaudiere prior to its sinking in order to aid future divers in navigating through its interior.

Close to Kunechin Point on the north end of the Sechelt Inlet, one of the best dives you’ll ever have in the northwest is diving on the Chaudiere in the winter. After descending a few feet below the surface on one of the ship’s three mooring lines, the entire ship comes into view. One can only stop and admire in awe at the unbelievable winter visibility and their ability to view the entire ship, from one end to another, before continuing down to it.