Weather
and Currents
The waters off
the north end of Vancouver Island offer some of the densest and
most
diverse sealife in the world. Two of the biggest factors in producing
the abundant food that feeds the underwater life are cold water
up-wellings
and intense currents.
Currents require divers to use extra caution, for while they provide
spectacular life, they can be challenging, and in some cases, dangerous.
Most of the diving at God's Pocket is what we call "current and
weather dependent." Weather is an obvious factor in diving: if
the wind is blowing the boat all over the place at a particular site,
we'll dive somewhere else!
Currents
and Tides
Unless you know the area (as we do!), currents can be much harder
to see and predict. Since the currents are linked to the tidal
exchanges, timing when we get in the water is very important. Unless
we're doing a drift dive (or certain sites where current is not
an issue), we put you in the water at what is called "slack".
“Slack” is a time window that falls between tidal exchanges,
where the water flow will slow, stop, and then reverse direction.
This reversal can take several minutes or more than an hour. Diving
in these "slack windows" is usually much more relaxing
and enjoyable than fighting the current on a running tide!
Conversely, sometimes using
the currents as part of the dive can add another dimension.
For
example, diving Lucan Channel on a slight current and flying over
the channel bottom with the running current can be great fun.
Each dive site has an exchange unique to its location, weather,
and tidal action. God's Pocket Resort has been taking divers in
this area for over 18 years and we pride ourselves on our knowledge
of every single site in our area. No matter what the conditions
are, we know of a place that will provide a safe dive.
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