Greater Vancouver
Belcarra Regional
Park is the place to head for underwater exploration in Indian
Arm. As well as wading in from the beach beside Belcarra's pier, there's
a small street-end park at Whiskey Cove on Coombe Road where
divers also put in, located a 5-minute walk east of the picnic area.
Other popular dive sites include nearby Racoon and Twin
Islands, which make up Indian
Arm Marine Provincial Park. These are among the very few islands
that dot Indian Arm. If you'd like to spend the night, there are wilderness
campsites on Big Twin Island. Farther up Indian Arm, Croker Island,
a proposed regional park, is yet another dive site.
The North Shore
As you make your way along the beach at Whytecliff
Marine Park, you'll probably see wet-suited figures emerge from
the embankment and make their way towards the ocean. After a day at
the office, scuba divers come to experience a little weightlessness
as they float off into the nether world just offshore, where temperatures
matter little year-round, provided you dress appropriately.
Although the majority of park visitors prefer gum boots over wet suits,
Whytecliff Marine Park has become a magnet for local divers. A
list of rules of conduct, prominently displayed in the parking lot,
are directed primarily at the divers, who are encouraged to change
in the washrooms and to keep their language clean!
Interpretive signs
explain in words and pictures the variety of marine life to be found
beneath the waves. The setting here at the mouth of Howe Sound is
dramatic, with the vastness of the Strait of Georgia spead out to
the west.
Whytecliff Marine Park's rugged shoreline and cobble beach lie in
West Vancouver's Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood. To find your way to
the park, take the Upper Levels Hwy west to Horseshoe
Bay. Turn west onto Marine Dr, just before the BC Ferries toll
booth. Signs point the way to Whytecliff at all major intersections
from here. The entrance to the park is at the western end of Marine
Dr. If you're in no hurry, enjoy the scenic route by taking Marine
Dr through West Vancouver
rather than the Upper Levels Hwy. |
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