Today (Nov. 7, 2010) had the highest tide I've seen here (10 feet according to the Sooke tide table). The water was mostly flat except for the usual swell. There was an occasional set of swells that almost made me decide to go somewhere else, but the high tide (easier entry) made me stay. Since the water was so high, I swam through the narrow gap (dry at low tide) near the entry-point to get out to the point quicker. As soon as I swam in, the set of large swells showed up and I used 500 psi of air just to swim the 20 feet to the other end. The water was a blinding mess of bubbles that tumbled me back and forth along the barnacle-covered walls like a ball in a pinball machine. I don't recommend this. Once out at the point, visibility was about 20 feet (the last few times I dove here it was 40'). There was a nasty surge that was stirring things up. I swam out to the channel between the point and the shallow reefs. I timed the dive according to the Race Passage current table since that worked last time. The table showed a change to flood at about noon. I went in an hour early, but the current was already flooding. It was almost too strong to swim against. The Sooke tide table showed slack at about the same time, but it was changing to an ebb. It's hard to believe that the current table and the tide table are the exact opposite here. Anyway, after a few minutes of fighting the current and surge 50-60 feet deep, I swam back to the walls near the entry-point and spent the rest of the dive taking close-up pictures. I can't imagine what diving this place would be like on an actually-rough day.
