Tuwanek Beach

Looking out toward the point, this is the roadside trail. You may enter here by the road, or carry your gear out to the point. The island is an easy swim from shore with plenty of rocky bottom to explore in-between.

3/28/10- Did two shore dives; first out to the island to the west, and the second out toward the island to the south of the small point. Long surface swim to the west island. I preferred the dive at the south island where we followed a buoy line down to about 80' and followed the black rock wall around the island. There were big Chimney sponges, lots of crinoids, a cool grunt sculpin, a juvenile Yelloweye Rockfish, Copper Rockfish, rose stars, grey brittle stars, various sculpins, tiny red flabellina slugs, and lots of evidence of octopuses, but didn't see one. Very dark at depth due to tannin layer at surface. Honey Bucket is still there, but no other facilities. Not a bad current but viz was bad to west (<7') and better at south (20'+).

Super easy entry. There is one of those plastic outhouses near the road now. You can dive around the island to the left or the island to the right as mentioned below. We found wolf eels around the back of the island to the right ~55-60ft down. We also saw a seal on the surface. The creek was running pretty strong when we were there, so the top 10ft or so was tea colored and COLD, and barely tasted of salt. Below that vis was at least 50ft. And decidedly warmer (that 48F, sort of warm).

Loved this spot. Took my certification dive here because the instructors love it so much we took the trip from Vancouver just to see this. I've been back twice since. Yes there are wolf eels. We saw one out of its den on our cert dive. I thought is was an old tire until the instructor tickled it and it swam away. No one had a camera with them. Damn! Very quiet residential cottage area. No facilities but lots of bushes for the boys. I didn't find the creek to be as cold as noted by one reviewer, and I am a wet suit guy. Loads of tube squirts in the cracks of the rocks looks like it snowed in some areas. Awesome Dive spot!!

Dove here twice in January. Excellent vis. 80+ feet. Creek dumps in at entry site. 48 deg F at depth. But the temp of the creek water was 42 F. Wished I had dry gloves. Exiting through that fresh water again was a painful way to end a dive! But I will definitely dive it again. Bottom was a bit bare but lots of stuff to see on the rocks around the island. Easy dive, no current, dive anytime.

I had 2 great dives. During the first, one a seal came along for the whole dive -- very cool! Very nice place, but no washrooms, so plan ahead.

I had 2 great dives. During the first, one a seal came along for the whole dive -- very cool! Very nice place, but no washrooms, so plan ahead.

This is an excellent site for all levels of divers. But don't follow the instructions on this page - you'll miss out on the best part if you stick to the area described in the description! There are essentially two dives at this site - one around the backside of the island on the right, the second around the backside of the island on the left (as seen when standing on the beach looking out-to-sea). Both of these dives are on walls, with the right island bottoming out at ~70', the left island bottoming out at ~120'. The wall on the right island is the best for beginners, as it is not completely vertical. As such depth control is a little easier as you're not suspended over blue water. The left wall is a little more challenging, but can be easily dived by any intermediate divers. Both walls are covered in life including boot sponges, anenomies, nudibrancs (some as big as footballs!), starfish, octopi, and I've heard that wolf eels can be found by the island on the left. Lots of rockfish, perch, and what may have been schools of herring. Three seals make their home in this area, and are quite friendly to divers. No services to mention, although there is a fresh-water creek where you can rinse your gear. A good way to do both dives is to surface swim to the outer edge of either island and drop down. Do the wall, and then make your way back to shore along the bottom. This way you get the see the walls, as well as the 'site' as it is listed here.

Great for beginner all the way up to advanced divers, many different types of diving as well.

A beautiful dive with easy entry and a good intermediate dive if you go all the way around the inland.

Tuwanek is a great easy dive. Lots of my friends do it as a night dive, but I have always done it during the day. Lots of invertebrate life (tunicates, sponges, alabaster nudibranches, etc...)and fish life. In fall, tons of lion's mane jellyfish. Long surface swim and no facilities there, but no current and fairly good viz.

Great site! There is no Facilities at all. :-( Tons of life here.

An excellent dive site for the beginner to the pro!