Diving around Canada’s British Columbia is a simply unforgettable experience. One of the most magnificent areas near Victoria and Vancouver is the Pender Islands, with a fantastic sub-Mediterranean climate, woods and wildflowers, and beautiful little bays and coves you can explore to your heart’s content. There are more than twenty well-marked public beach access points, and it’s easy to get from North Pender to South Pender, thanks to a bridge that connects the two. Let’s take a look at the caves and cliffs that the area is most famous for.
Tilly Point Caves
The most popular and most famous of all Pender Islands dive sites, Tilly Point Caves is a shore dive, with parking at the end of Craddock Road on the southern point of South Pender. To get to the site, make your way down the steps to the beach, then head toward your right. You’ll see a little peninsula that looks like a small island when the tide is in, and the cave itself is situated right under the small overhang that juts out above the surface, on the outside edge of the “island”.
As you enter, you’ll find a small kelp forest situated on a lovely white sand bottom, where sunlight-dappled perch swim among the stalks. Continue around the point, and look for the tunnel; it has one entrance at a depth of 15 feet and one at about 50 feet. Some people like to swim up and out, while others prefer to swim down and out into deeper water. There are several little grottoes here that go back for just about six feet, all along the wall.
Here, you’ll find white and yellow plumose anemones, purple sea urchins, and lots of starfish and ascidians. At the base of the wall, a forest of orange and yellow sea pens have staked their claim, and schooling yellow rockfish add a magical touch. Inside the cave itself, you’ll find more ascidians and plumose anemones, along with a wealth of beautiful nudibranchs. The inside of the large room inside the tunnel is well lit via a series of cracks in the ceiling, and there are lots of crustaceans and other critters inside. Use caution at the lower exit; it is just 3 to 4 feet wide and is covered in spiny purple sea urchins. The current can be strong here, meaning they pose a real hazard to anyone not prepared to pop straight out against the force of the water.
Visibility is extremely variable here, at its best between July and October when it can be about 30 feet or so. If visibility is poor, you may not even be able to find the cavern. Topside, watch for deer, seals, and bald eagles; don’t leave anything shiny on the beach or you might return to find it gone, courtesy of the big chatty ravens that live in the trees nearby.
Pender Island Cliffs
A fantastic boat dive along the cliffs that mark the southwest side of North Pender Island, this site offers plenty of room for exploration as the cliffs themselves are about three kilometers long. Maximum depth here is about sixty feet, and while there is plenty of colorful life to admire, the underwater walls themselves are the main attraction.
You get a sense of how fantastic they are as you approach; above water, the cliff faces are amazingly sculpted almost as though someone had at them with a chisel. Below the surface, the walls are no less amazing. With walls and overhangs, tunnels, and steep canyons, almost all of which are covered in a tapestry of zoanthids and orange burrowing sea cucumbers, yellow sulphur sponge, cup corals, basket stars, large sea pens, and plenty of tunicates and different types of anemones. There are all sorts of rockfish and sculpins, warbonnets and red Irish lords, octopus, and crustaceans. Visibility tends to be quite good at about 30 feet in mid-July with lower visibility during the winter months. Current can be strong at times, but if you dive at slack tide you’ll find the going is easier.
Drummond Bay
Easily accessed from shore, Drummond Bay is located at the end of Higgs road on the southern end of South Pender, a little to the east of Tilly Point. A short trail leads from the parking area down to a boulder-strewn beach. The bay itself is to your left when you’re facing the water, and while there are fantastic walls with huge cracks and sheer overhangs all along the island’s face here, there is also a huge rock jutting up from the middle of the bay, which is not hard to access when tides are cooperative. Sometimes, the rip is so bad that diving is impossible; at other times, the site is calm and lovely. A colorful carpet of tunicates and anemones, sea pens, and sponge covers the rocks, and yellowtail rockfish lurk inside little caverns. One highlight of the site are the clusters of yellow sea lily sponges, and like Pender Island Cliffs, the site is so big that it takes several dives to explore fully.
Just as the current can be variable, so can visibility. Usually better in summer and poor during the winter months, it will determine whether you are able to enjoy the absolute vastness of the site to its full potential. At about 50 feet you’ll find a sandy ledge on which huge boulders perch, and at about 60 feet, the bottom drops away sharply, leaving a stunning wall that drops away to beyond 110 feet; well beyond recreational limits. Topside, watch for eagles and seals, plus, if you’re lucky, you may encounter river otters both above and below the surface.
Getting to the Pender Islands is simple, thanks to the BC Ferry System. Once you get there, you’ll find that the residents are friendly and the small businesses do all they can to make visitors feel comfortable. Be sure to plan your trip in advance; if you plan to stay on the island you should be aware that accommodations are simple and limited. As the sites around the islands can be challenging, they are best suited for experienced divers who are physically fit; work in some dives in current before you come, and you’ll be better prepared for some excellent and exhilarating dives.