Horseshoe Bay & Howe Sound · Canada · Wall
Whytecliff Park
A field of white plumose anemones spilling over a fjord wall's edge
Photo: ~riley · CC BY-SA 4.0
Whytecliff Park is a West Vancouver shore dive near the Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood, and since 1993 Canada's first saltwater marine protected area. A sheltered sandy cove leads out to the lip of a fjord wall hung with white plumose anemones, which makes it the most popular dive site in the greater Vancouver area.
Also known as Whytecliff.
Where it is and how deep
49.3740° N, 123.2888° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The dive starts inside the sheltered cove, over a sandy bottom 5–12 m (15–40 ft) deep where kelp and boulders shelter shrimp, bulgy-eyed flatfish and blackeye gobies. At about 18 m (60 ft) a field of snowy white plumose anemones spills over the edge of the fjord wall. Below that lip the wall plunges some 183 m (600 ft), far beyond recreational range.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Horseshoe Bay & Howe Sound: Dived year-round; the water is clearest in late fall and winter, while spring and summer plankton blooms can cut visibility.
Photos from Whytecliff Park
Riley Huntley · CC BY-SA 4.0
GoToVan · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
WHYTECLIFF PARK, VANCOUVER, BC | A Guide For Divers · Vancouver Diving Locker on YouTube
Sources
- Howe Sound — Divers Alert Network
- Whytecliff Park — Wikipedia
Photo credits
- A technical diver in a drysuit with a side-slung tank swims toward the camera through green water above a rocky bottom by ~riley, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A red surface marker buoy sticks up from calm grey water near a black navigation marker by Riley Huntley, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Rocky granite shore with a windswept tree overlooking a calm cove and a wooded islet by GoToVan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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