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Calm blue channel between forested shores with a pale rock point on the right and layered mountains in the distance under a clear sky — Discovery Passage & Campbell River

Discovery Passage & Campbell River · Canada · Wall

Steep Island

A cliff decorated with giant northern tube worms between 18 and 30 m

Area photo: D-Stanley · CC BY 2.0

Steep Island is a boat-only wall dive in Discovery Passage, where a cliff drops to over 40 m close to the rugged shore. It is one of the few places in British Columbia where tube worms flourish, and giant northern tube worms cover a large part of the wall among sponges and anemones. Divers go at slack water for the tube worm colony.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Steep Island: typical dive 18–30 m (60–100 ft), deepest point 40 m (130 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit18 m30 m40 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 50 m (164 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

50.0794° N, 125.2525° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The dive is made only at slack. Tube worms decorate the submerged cliff from 18 m (60 ft) down to around 30 m (100 ft), clustered among sponges and anemones. Below the worms the cliff continues past 40 m, and at the bottom of the wall large rocks form small caverns where fish swim and hide.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Steep Island
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
PrimePrimeGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodFairGoodGoodGoodPrime

Season follows Discovery Passage & Campbell River: Winter brings the clearest water, at times beyond 30 m; August visibility can turn murky, and September trades calmer seas for clearer water.

Know before you go

  • Current through the passage: the wall is dived only at slack water.

Dive videos

Dive Campbell River - Steep Island · Roger McDonell on YouTube

Diving Discovery Passage: Northern Feather Duster Worms at Steep Island | Campbell River BC · Be Sea Adventures on YouTube

Sources

  1. Tourism Campbell River: Diving — Tourism Campbell River
  2. The Wonder of BC's Discovery Passage — DIVER magazine
  3. The Emerald Sea — Divers Alert Network
  4. Beaver Aquatics / OceanFix — Beaver Aquatics
  5. Discovery Passage, BC: September 2015 — Emerald Diving
  6. OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap

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