October 2016 Club Trip to Hornby Report

Pictures Here.

Oregon Scuba Club had a great time in Canada last weekend! Despite the storm we got the majority of our planned dives in. The resort on Hornby Island was so much fun to stay in with everyone and the food was excellent. Our dive sites were Toby Island Wall, Maude Reef, Barney's Reef + Deep Wall, and Norris Rocks (for sea lions).

Vizibility didn't seam to be affected to much by the storm so we were able to enjoy 30-50 ft of visibility across the dives.Toby Island Wall was a very nice deep wall with Tiger Rockfish, juvy Yellowye, and multiple Giant Rainbow Dendronotid. The sea lion dive at Norris Rocks was perfect. Just the right amount of sea lions! They were in a friendly, curious mood which was great.

Waking up every morning with fresh coffee and warm undergarments with a 3 minute walk to the dive boat was a real pleasure. Besides diving, we were able to get in a hike at Helliwell Provincial Park to do some storm watching. We also visited the local Meaderey where everyone stocked up on at least 1 bottle of mead. It was also many of our's first trip to downtown Hornby (at the only 4-way stop on the island). We also got several dive movies in each evening plus a special viewing of the classic Canadian movie 'Strange Brew'. Definitely watch Rob's copy that he keeps in the resort house if you are planning on heading to Hornby.

A few other things to consider. We took the 10:15 ferry from Tsawwassen and learned that is is impossible to make the 1:15 p.m. ferry from Buckly Bay, so don't even try. Also, a Nexus pass may be the way to go for the US/Canada border. It took close to 1 hour to cross the border on the way home.

Looking forward to the next trip!