This is another one of those places that I've never heard anything about, but looks good on a chart. It's in the Brentwood Bay area of Saanich Inlet next to the Tsartlip Reserve. Go all the way to the end of Stelly's Crossroad. Just before you drive into the water, push the brake pedal, and you're at the dive site. The problem with this place is that you can't park anywhere near the end of the road (If you can't read the swarm of no parking signs, the locals will helpfully translate). I came here in mid-March/2005. I drove down to the end of the lane, dropped off my gear, drove back up to the nearby Tsartlip Band Office, asked permission to park in their lot and walked back down to the water (not a long walk). I walked down some steps to the beach and swam out around the point on the right. Just offshore, there's a tiny island. On the chart, there's a steep area going down to 100 feet or so on the other side of it. I swam around to the other side (a longer swim at low tide because there are shallow, exposed reefs blocking your way) and descended down to a silty bottom with a few small reefs at around 15 feet deep. Visibility was really bad here (around 5 feet) so I didn't see much. As I went deeper, the visibility improved to 50 feet or so. There was a small wall dropping from 40-60 feet and at the base of this wall was a wide ledge covered with piles of rubble and boulders. I could have spent the whole dive here peeking into the holes between the rocks. Almost every crevice had a rockfish in it. They weren't copper, quillback, yellowtail, or any other kind I usually see diving. Maybe they were brown rockfish? I don't have an I.D. guide on me. Burrowing cucumbers were everywhere (white and orange) and the rocks looked like they were covered with strawberry icing (pink coraline algae). I saw a wolfeel pair in a hole and when I looked closer, I saw 4 wolfeels (2 males, 2 females) mashed together in the same den. I've never seen two males get that close without fighting. At the edge of this rubble area, another wall fell down to 110 feet deep. I didn't see any sponges or other large invertebrates. At the base of the wall was a barren, grey slope of rocks and an occasional boulder. I didn't follow it out. On the chart, it doesn't get much deeper. As with many Saanich Inlet dives, I felt like I was diving in a lake because of the silty, nearly bare rock walls. I went back up to the rubble ledge and saw a pair of strange fish peeking out from a crack. Their heads were about the size of rockfish heads, but with smaller eyes. They were bright red and had two "feelers" hanging down under their chins. I think they might be red brotulas, but I don't know if they have the "feelers". I think if it wasn't for the access/parking issues, this would be a popular Inlet dive, right up there with Henderson Point and Willis Point.
I came back on Feb. 15, 2008. I drove down to the end of the road, dropped off my stuff and drove back up to the intersection which was the closest place to park. It's not that far (maybe 300 meters), but I was lazy. Visibility underwater was around 40 feet. I wanted to try and reach the "underwater bay" area that I usually access from Tsartlip. I swam underwater at around 80 feet (passing a wolfeel) until the rocky area ended and there was a gentle slope of silt and small rocks. I swam until my air gauge told me to turn around, but I didn't reach the area I was looking for. I went back to the rocky wall area and poked around the boulders until it was time to leave. I still think this is quite a nice dive.
