Kevin R.'s Dive Log

This is a great little site that, in my opinion, is overlooked and ignored as everyone just drives past and heads to Whytecliff. Copper Cove is a nice relaxing dive where I can almost guarantee you that will be all on your own. If you head to the right it is shallow (10 meters/30 feet) and doesn't get much deeper but there are a ton of large rocks to poke around and find all sorts of life hiding. There are typically a ton of sea cucumbers with their feeding arms out, a plethora of crabs bombing about, a few Greenlings and Lingcod lounging on the rocks and, of course, the usual monster-size stars. If you venture further out to the right there are a few overhangs and small caverns to checkout. The right of the cove isn't the most exciting at first glance but if you look close you can find some jewels. In the sand, in about the middle-to-right of the cove, we found an old abandoned crab trap covered in a few anemones and some longhorn decorator crabs. We had a friendly seal show up at the beginning of the dive to come check us out as well. If you head out to the left of the cove to the rocks and the head straight out over the sand you will find yourself in a surprisingly large anemone field. There were a couple of large boulders absolutely covered in plumose anemones and some of the biggest urchins I have ever seen. A definite surprise. Brittle and feather stars abound and the odd sea pen here and there. The bottom slopes steeply beginning around 15 meters with most of the life between 15 and 25 meters. We spotted a few cloud sponges around 25 meters. A plethora of fish and crabs to be found hanging around. The shallow rocks to the left of the cove (2 to 6 meters deep) provide a colourful and lively area to hang out for safety stops. Be careful when putting in, some of the logs that may be in the way are mighty slippery and the rocks are just that perfect size to make walking awkward. Being fully exposed to ferry traffic, this site does get the brunt of the ferry wake. Give this site a go and really explore the area as there are a bunch of man made objects and natural formation that yield some pretty impressive life. Happy diving!