We love having new divers join our trips and start exploring the wonders of scuba diving, however, some of the dive sites we visit will require an Advanced Open Water certification. The dive details can be found in the trip description and will let you know the minimum qualification required.

If you want to get more out of your diving and open up more possibilities then we encourage you to take the Advanced Open Water Course with us. You can take this course as soon as you have your Open Water Diver qualification and it’s the perfect way to broaden your skills as a diver.

For more information on our Advanced Open Water Diver Course please click here

Although during the summer months you can dive local waters in a wetsuit, we highly recommend that you use a drysuit if diving locally in an around British Columbia. For some of our trips the use of a drysuit may be compulsory to ensure all divers get the most out of their experience and aren’t limited by the cold.

A drysuit will keep you nice and warm, increasing comfort and enjoyment of dives. At Rowand's Reef, we carry the Aqua Lung Fusion range of drysuits. These suits contain the latest in drysuit technology and allow for a customized fit with added flexibility and buoyancy control in the water.

To rent a drysuit from us you will need to have a Drysuit Specialty certification. If you don’t have one of these and are interested in gaining one then we encourage you to take the PADI Drysuit Specialty course with us. More details on this can be found here.

For those who don’t have a drysuit certification, you can still dive in a thick wetsuit. We have warm 14/7mm wetsuits available for hire that will keep you nice and warm during the summer months.

Aquatic life will vary at each dive site, especially if you are travelling further afield.

If you join one of our more local trips you will likely see rockfish, crabs, flatfish, sunflower sea stars, and jellyfish. Across the rocks are fields of anemones, soft corals, and ancient sponges. Seals and sea lions often drop by to say hello, especially at Hornby Island, and you may be lucky enough to find a giant Pacific octopus or wolf eel, hiding under rocks during the day or out hunting at night. There are also loads of great wreck dives on offer, particularly off Nanaimo which is famous for its assortment of wrecks.