Porteau Cove

Level: beginner to advanced

How to get there: Follow Hwy 99 north towards Britannia Beach. Watch for Porteau Cove, turn left when you see it.

Facilities: Washrooms, diver showers, gear rinse, telephone by washrooms. Campground.

Hazards: Current & the wrecks.

How to dive this site: Gear up at your car and go down the stairs to the water. There are yellow buoys marking the location of 2 wrecks, a diver float, and a diver float with flag marking the Nakaya. You can swim out to the diver float (a wood wharf), descend the chain there and follow the *jungle gym* of tires, or you can take a bearing and navigate out underwater. Once out there, you will find the Granthall, which is an old tug hull and quite impressive, and a couple of other wrecks - one is a barge, the other is an old sailboat. There is also *the Leaning Tower of Porteau* and some cement pipes and such. Depths to approximately 70 feet at the deep end of the Granthall. To dive the Nakaya, swim out to the float with the dive flag on it and descend down the chain. The Nakaya lies on 90-100 feet of water. Take a light - it is dark. Penetration is NOT advised as the wreck is wood and starting to decay. Alternatively, you could park just off the highway and scramble down the rocks to lessen the swim to the Nakaya. At the far end of the campsites is a short wall dropping to approximately 100 feet. Hard to reach in the summertime due to the number of people using the campground, but worth checking out.

What to see: The wrecks. Octopus, anemones, crabs of all sorts, gobies, rockfish, lingcod (be careful in March/April/May when they are on eggs and aggressive). Urchins. Flounders. Shrimp on the Nakaya. Seastars. Lots of little things in the tire reef if you stop and look for them!

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