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[canoe man]

well this is the weekend i take my open water dive ticket
we did the classroom stuff and closed water stuff last weekend
man that was a killer, now we head out to the ocean 
ballcara on sat, and white cliff on sunday
my question is what the crap should i be lookin for lol
is it worth trying to bag a few crab yummy
i will keep my eyes open for anything that looks like a salmon lol
give them a few directions 
any info would be great thanks
cnm

[Randog]

Good luck Ray, I did my first open water dive in 1982 in Balcara, cool, literally COOL
 
I did a couple of dives on Vancouver island, a couple around Anacortez Washington and a couple at Porteau cove. had a blast on every one.

    BBBRRRRRRRR....

[FishOn]

Ray, I've never dove around Belcara but I supect crab may be the highlite of your dives at that location. I've caught the odd crab by dropping a trap in that area. The first couple of dives you'll be busy practising various skills so you may not have that much time for sight seeing. Get ready for that cold water to hit your face when they make you remove your mask. I remember it vividly as I discovered the mamalian reflex first hand and stopped breathing for several seconds during my first open water dive. Its a wee bit colder than the heated pool you are accustomed to from your classes .

At Whytecilff keep an eye out for rockfish, octopus, seals and wolfeels. On the invertebrate side you should see plenty of starfish, anemones and the odd nudibranch. You may have a tough time spotting a salmon. I've never seen one in over 100 dives.

Have Fun !!!

[lucky]

never know what you could see around there, lots of crabs im sure, maybe some prawn or shrimp as well, I was fishing a little farther up last weekend and my gf caught and release a 10lb lingcod, we kept a couple of rock cod that were a pretty nice size, as well as a bunch of really big prawns.

[canoe man]

thanks for the info
man am i nervous
you see theres a reason i build boats,sail boats, run power boats
love paddlin my canoe around
just trustin that regulator in a pool senario was bad enough
but ohwell tomo is the day
hopefully i post tomo night 
cnm

[Spudcote]

It's gonna be cold, but you shoudl see a few crabs...don't they come in shallower during the spring to breed ?

By bro dived near there and loved it, saw a bunch of rock-fish, and a few big ling-cod. Also a few wolf-eels. Not sure about any octopus, but they're aparently in the area...

[leadbelly]

let me know if you find any bettys
or veronicas

[kellya]

If you like diving and need a wetsuit i have a good deal on one. Good luck on your dive your first ones always the most memerable.

[aquaboy24]

Congrats..as a long time Instructor, I remember my first dives with fondness...its a great sport. Be safe, and learn your skills before you go trying to catch anything. You can easily get into trouble....on my 50th or so dive, I tailed a 14 foot six gill shark of Flora Islet on Hornby, trying to get a picture...it went deep.....I wanted the picture....I realised things were odd when I was swimming hard straight down, and my computer told me I was at 180 ft......opps.....

stuff like that.

You shoud also know that Whytecliff Park is a protected marine area..so you can't remove any crabs or shrimp etc...

try to convince your intructor to take you over the Plumose Garden area....awesome sight.


Good luck and enjoy...and for all other members interested, I can do your open water course during the summer months, all inclusive for around $300 - and in 1 week.

Vince

[Addicted To Steel]

canoe man;
 
 I know you probably won't have time for this, as it's your first dive, but if you do find yourself exploring.......
 
 In 1982 I was casting Buzzbombs off the point at Balcara. I lost 2- 4inchers. One red and white, and one blue and white. Their about 35 ft off shore. If the hooks have not rusted off, they may still be there for you to collect. I do not need them back, so if you find them, you may keep them and shine them up for re-use.

 Also, I heard it's not a good idea to be into the Ganga before a dive, if you know what I mean. I had a buddy tell me it's just not the right time for it.

 Good luck!

[fishinfever]

Never forget my open water test. I had a rented wetsuit on and discovered that it had holes in both armpits and the 36 F water was running accross my chest.  When the instructor signaled me to do something  iwas already blue from the cold and had to do a emergency assent from 40 feet.  No problem going up but couldn't get out of the water and had to be helped. Took the rest of the day to get warm again. Passed test no problem the next day.Sure learned to check my wet suit over though. Got my own after that.
  last dive off Vancouver island had a harbour seal play tag with me. He tap me on the shoulder and i'd turn around and nothing there. Happened three times. had me kind of freaked out. Never did see the seal but another diver watched the hole thing and had a good laugh at my expense.
Been awhile but i would like to go for a dive again sometime.
Enjoy your dive and no worries.

[canoe man]

well i passed the test yeah lol
it was definitley evrything youve all said and then some
wish i had an underwater camera 
ballcarra was kinda muddy but lots of crabs around
whyte cliff was veryclear but also very cold
and if you turned your head the wrong way you got a super cold stab of water down your neck brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
our classes were very large in #s we were running a group of twenty cadets through
but the folks from the dive shack were very patient
and that was a real big help
guess i should start to pick up the odd piece of gear
as i definately want and will go again sometime

180ft vince  isnt that just a weee bit of the chart lol
sorry addicted to steel we stayed away from the dock
to many flyin crab traps
funny they wernt catchin any but we were lookin at lots

until next time cnm out

[Addicted To Steel]

Congrats on the passing Canoe Man! I can only imagine how awesome things look down there. It's gotta be better than up here with all these buildings, and pavement everywhere.