After diving in Gabriola Passage (April 14, 2009), I wanted do do a second dive somewhere on the island, but most of my usual spots were stirred-up from the waves. It was a windy day on the Strait of Georgia side of the island, but here in the Gabriola Pass area, it was nice and calm. According to the current software there can be a few knots of current in this whole area between Gabriola Pass and Breakwater Island. Even though it was past slack, the currents didn't look too bad so I figured I'd try for it. Other than Gabriola Passage, the most interesting-looking (on a marine chart), shore-accessible spot to dive in this area was Roger's Reef. I drove down a dirt road to the parking area in Drumbeg Provincial Park. When looking out from shore, Roger's Reef is the small light-topped island that's a bit less than 200 meters off the left-hand point. I walked down a waterfront trail along the bay to the point and swam across to the reef. On the chart, the bottom drops down to about 50 feet on the South-West side of the island below the light. Sure enough, there was a sandstone wall with ledges and piles of boulders going down to about 50 feet deep. I didn't feel any current. Visibility was only 6-10 feet (just like at Gabriola Passage earlier in the day), but I could see that the rocks were covered with cup corals, encrusting sponge and large masses of cemented tube worms. This worried me a bit since this kind of stuff grows in areas that are washed by current. I still didn't feel any though so I continued along the slope. The cemented tube worms seemed to be spitting out bits into the water that probably didn't do much for the visibility. There were lots of copper and quillback rockfish and kelp greenlings. I saw a Puget Sound king crab and a painted greenling. I was surprised by the variety of colourful species (anemones, burrowing cucumbers, nudibranchs, etc.). I wasn't expecting this much in the Strait of Georgia. Next time I'll be more aware of the potential for current. On a day with good visibility, this would definitely be a place worth coming back to.
