I've only been diving at the Pender Island Cliffs (some maps call it "Oak Bluffs") once before, almost 20 years ago. I came back on a SEA Dive charter on April 15, 2023. Last time, I remember a wall that dropped to about 60' deep and then a sandy slope covered with big boulders going down below 100' deep. The wall reminded me of the wall at 10-Mile Point since it was covered with plumose anemones and colourful tunicates. This time, I didn't recognize it at all. It seemed like a completely different dive. Instead of a colourful wall, there was a slope of huge boulders and rocky areas with sandy areas in between. The rocks seemed much more bare and almost gray and silty. There were lots of red urchins, orange burrowing cucumbers, cemented tube worms and sea pens. I went down to just over 90' deep and below 60' deep or so, there were lots of red slipper cucumbers. Visibility was only 10-15'. I wonder if the area I dove last time was closer to the point and therefore exposed to more current (I didn't feel much today). I didn't see any basket stars this time, but some of the other divers saw one between 90-100' deep.
I was kind of disappointed by this dive compared to how I remembered it from 20 years ago, although for an "off-slack" dive it's really not that bad. My criteria for a good dive site around here is one that is covered with a variety of current-loving invertebrates. I think there are many more much better sites in that regard that I would go to before coming back to this spot.
