I guess anyplace is a shore dive if you don't mind swimming. This place doesn't have a name on the chart so I called it "Esquimalt Reef" because it's a rocky reef and it's off Esquimalt. It's about half-way between the tip of Saxe Point and Brother's Islands. It's about 300 meters offshore from the Denniston Park (Grafton St.) ocean access trail. I came on a calm, sunny day at the beginning of June, 2007. I could see the patch of kelp on the surface marking the reef (the top of the reef is about 10 feet deep at low tide). In the winter, obviously you wouldn't see this. I swam out from the concrete trail that runs along the water and swam South on the surface. I stared at the sun for a bit, then had a nap and about 15 minutes later (I guess that's not that bad of a swim) I reached the kelp. The visibility was pretty bad (that seems to be the theme lately). I could see maybe 10 feet in the shallows and 6 feet deeper down. The rock near the surface was covered with bottom kelp so I went down to where the rock met the sand (more like mud) about 45 feet deep. The rocks were mostly bare except for a generous coating of silt. I saw a small quillback rockfish, a small lingcod and a few seastars. That's about it. I didn't see a single anemone, which is weird for this area. I swam all the way around the reef and it was all the same: A suprising lack of life and lots of silt. I went back up to the shallows where there was a bit more life (the occasional surge takes the place of current). There were a few patches of colour (yellow sponge, zoanthids, etc.) on the small overhangs. I saw a great sculpin, which was a first for me. This area off Saxe point was recently declared a Rockfish Conservation Area  which I thought was kind of funny since I hardly ever see any adult rockfish around here (it's not really deep enough). Up in the kelp, I did see a decent-sized school of juvenile yellow-tail and black rockfish. Hopefully they'll survive after the kelp is gone (there's not really any piles of boulders here for them to hide in). There were a few urchins, kelp greenlings and a large cabezon that darted off as soon as I saw it. I checked my compass and started the swim back underwater (the bottom between the reef and shore is about 40-50 feet deep). There wasn't much on the mud, but I did come across another large cabezon out in the middle of nowhere half-way to shore. I don't think I'll come again unless somebody pays me and takes me there in a boat.