This is one of of the North Saanich public beach accesses (at the end of Norris Road). It's just North of Pat Bay between Warrior Point and Coal Point in Saanich Inlet. This area is very gently-sloping underwater and I didn't expect much in the way of topography, but today (Nov. 14, 2010) I thought I'd give it a try. The beach access is reasonable for divers, with just a short set of steps to a pebble and sandstone beach. I swam out and to the right, where there is a small point sticking out somewhat. The shallows had eelgrass and a endless plain of bottom kelp-covered pebbles. Visibility was 20-30 feet. When I reached the area off the point, there were some small rocky reefs about 20 feet deep. There were a few octopus dens here. The bottom kelp was spotted with nudibranchs. There were also some plumose and painted anemones, shrimp and longfin sculpins. I swam out deeper, but there was just that barely-there slope of pebbles. At 70 feet, the pebbles ended and there was sand. I noticed quite a few bottles scattered around. These probably came from boats that use this area as an anchorage. I was already a fair distance from shore and the slope seemed to have ended so I swam back up to the shallows. Like most dives, I enjoyed this one at the time, but I don't plan on coming back.
