Diving British Columbia’s Browning Pass and God’s Pocket Provincial Marine Park

“The Best Cold Water Diving in the World” Strong words. True? Probably. I recently spent a week diving in and around Browning Pass, a spectacular underwater ecosystem at the very north tip of Vancouver Island on the West Coast of British Columbia. The area is home to many islands, islets, passages and narrow straights. Extreme daily tides mean a lot of water is moving, continually with the exception of a few slack tide moments each day, producing strong currents that are amplified in the narrow waterways. Such currents bring a steady supply of nutrients to the carpets of invertebrate life that cover the area’s undersea reefs. While I was with Richard Salas last year photographing Steller sea lions — marine mammals being a big interest of mine — he showed me lot of spectacular images from a place called “God’s Pocket”. The images convinced me to join Richard at God’s Pocket for a week and check it out myself. I’m generally not a critter guy nor a macro photographer, but I figured what the hell. British Columbia is said to be some of the best diving in the world. I reasoned I should see it once in my diving career at least.

Hurst Island and Gods Pocket Provincial Park, aerial photo.
Image ID: 34464
Location: Gods Pocket Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Giant Plumose Anemones cover underwater reef, Browning Pass, northern Vancouver Island, Canada
Image ID: 34326
Species: Giant Plumose Anemone, Metridium farcimen
Location: British Columbia, Canada

The Fish Eating Anemone Urticina piscivora, a large colorful anemone found on the rocky underwater reefs of Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Image ID: 34327
Species: Fish-eating Anemone, Urticina piscivora
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Alabaster Nudibranch, white-lined dirona, Dirona albolineata, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34329
Species: Alabaster Nudibranch, White-Lined Dirona, Dirona albolineata
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Fleshy Sea Pen, Ptilosarcus gurneyi, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34334
Species: Fleshy Sea Pen, Ptilosarcus gurneyi
Location: British Columbia, Canada

In mid March I made my way from big-city Seattle to small-town Port Hardy. Port Hardy is at the far northern end of Vancouver Island, meaning my dive trip was also a road trip. The ferry rides and winding empty highways are a driver’s delight. The landscapes — rugged coastline, snow-capped mountains and dense forests — are beautiful. I had forgotten how much I love Vancouver Island. I met up with others in Richard’s group, we loaded up our gear on the boat “Hurst Isle” and made our way to rustic, comfortable, colorful God’s Pocket Resort on Hurst Island, in God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park. Tucked away in a quiet cove, the resort sits on sturdy pilings over the rocky shoreline at the edge of a dense stand of cedar trees. It could not be more scenic. Bill Weeks and Annie Ceschi run God’s Pocket Resort and took fantastic care of us for a week. We ate superb food, relaxed thoroughly, took in the sublime beauty of the islands at all times, and three times each day we shared in the spectacular diving the area has to offer.

Pink Soft Coral (Gersemia Rubiformis), and Plumose Anemones (Metridium senile) cover the ocean reef, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34330
Species: Pink Soft Coral, Plumose Anemone, Gersemia rubiformis, Metridium senile
Location: British Columbia, Canada

The Fish Eating Anemone Urticina piscivora, a large colorful anemone found on the rocky underwater reefs of Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Image ID: 34331
Species: Fish-eating Anemone, Urticina piscivora
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Spotted Leopard Dorid, Diaulula odonoghuei, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34338
Species: Spotted Leopard Dorid, Diaulula odonoghuei
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Beautiful Anemone on Rocky Reef near Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Strait, Browning Pass, Canada
Image ID: 34340
Location: British Columbia, Canada

White plumose anemones Metridium senile with purple sponge and barnacle, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34341
Location: British Columbia, Canada

The Fish Eating Anemone Urticina piscivora, a large colorful anemone found on the rocky underwater reefs of Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Image ID: 34346
Species: Fish-eating Anemone, Urticina piscivora
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Browning Pass and Balaklava Island, location of the best cold water diving in the world, aerial panoramic photo.
Image ID: 34472
Location: British Columbia, Canada

We would typically leave Hurst Island, round Balaklava Island and dive Browning Pass between Balaklava and Nigei Island. About half the time we would be diving on walls, and virtually every dive had a variety of terrain if not actual walls. Water temps were in the low 40s, something I am not accustomed to, but I made do with my dry suit. I am a sluggish cold water diver and mainly settle down on the bottom and try to find cool stuff that doesn’t move to photograph while ignoring how painfully frostbitten my fingers are. I don’t move around much when I am frozen. But there is no need to go far on these Browning Pass dives — everywhere is an explosion of life. Sure, some walls have more colors than others, some are pure white, some are covered in bull kelp, etc, but rarely can a spot be found where one can put one’s hand down without touching animal life. I was stunned at the density of invertebrates. Fish — they were nice but I’m not too interested in rockfish and rockfish-looking species. But the inverts — holy anemones were they over the top! So overwhelming was the underwater sight-seeing that I did a poor job of actually taking photographs. I often did not know which way to point my camera, there were lush and exotic subjects in every direction. With the limited underwater time that we man-fish have while SCUBA diving I was a little frantic in my photography, wanting to get a record of every thing and consequently doing well at very little. I have been doing this long enough and have experienced so much let down in underwater photography over the years that I knew going into the trip I would likely do a poor job and thus had lowered my photographic expectations way way down. So when I returned home and found I had a few keepers, I was able to declare success! Such is the skewed mindset of the underwater photographer.

Purple sponge with white and orange metridium anemones, below bull kelp forest, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34347
Species: Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Lopholithodes mandtii Puget Sound King Crab amid a field of plumose anemones and red kelp, Queen Charlotte Strait, Canada
Image ID: 34348
Species: Puget Sound King Crab, Lopholithodes mandtii
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Hooded Nudibranch Melibe leonina on kelp and rocky reef, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island, Canada
Image ID: 34353
Species: Hooded Nudibranch, Melibe leonina
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Clown Nudibranch, Triopha catalinae, Browning Passage, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34354
Species: Clown nudibranch, Triopha catalinae
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Anemones cling to Bull Kelp Stalk, Browning Pass, British Columbia
Image ID: 34357
Species: Bull Kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Beautiful Anemone on Rocky Reef near Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Strait, Browning Pass, Canada
Image ID: 34361
Location: British Columbia, Canada

White Plumose anemones Metridium senile and Yellow Sulphur Sponge, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34366
Species: Plumose Anemone, Metridium senile
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Colorful starfish and anemones cling to submarine rocks, on the subtidal reef, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34370
Species: Plumose Anemone, Metridium senile
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Colorful anemones cover the rocky reef in a kelp forest near Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Strait. Strong currents bring nutrients to the invertebrate life clinging to the rocks.
Image ID: 34379
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Giant Plumose Anemones cover underwater reef, Browning Pass, northern Vancouver Island, Canada
Image ID: 34389
Species: Giant Plumose Anemone, Metridium farcimen
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Red Irish Lord resting amid Plumose Metridium Anemones, Browning Pass, British Columbia
Image ID: 34391
Species: Giant Plumose Anemone, Metridium farcimen
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Plumose anemones cover the ocean reef, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island, Canada
Image ID: 34395
Species: Plumose Anemone, Bull Kelp, Metridium senile, Nereocystis luetkeana
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Pink Soft Coral and Barnacle, Gersemia Rubiformis, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island
Image ID: 34425
Species: Pink Soft Coral, Gersemia rubiformis
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Colorful anemones and soft corals, bryozoans and kelp cover the rocky reef in a kelp forest near Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Strait. Strong currents bring nutrients to the invertebrate life clinging to the rocks.
Image ID: 34429
Species: Plumose Anemone, Metridium senile
Location: British Columbia, Canada