|
|
Willis Point
|
|
Submitted By:
Submitter Comments:
Diving here is great! When you finally climb down the rocks using the tree on the right for help. Swim about 100ft from shore then descend. If you swim to the left and out a bit you will come to a sheer wall that drops to 110ft! It is covered in life and in the deeper depths you may find some Cloud sponges. I usually swim on the surface past the 3rd house(left if you are facing away from shore) descend to the wall then to 100ft. I work my way up the wall while going back to the entry point for my safety stop in the kelp beds.(it gives my something to look at) - Geoff
Directions:
Head north on the Pat Bay Highway (#17) turn off, then left at the Royal Oak Dr. overpass (look for the sign) follow Royal Oak Dr. till you get to West Saanich Road. Follow north 6.5km , turn left onto Wallace a Dr. then when you see Willis Point Rd. turn left (the only way to go) Follow all the way to the end (8.2km) where you will find Mark Lane. Turn right and drive down about 0.6km to a fire lane on the left. Do not park right in the lane and be careful not to block peoples driveways. I believe the address of the last house before the fire lane is 7442. - Geoff
|
Diver
Reviews: (Please share your
own experiences by clicking
here!)
09/05/2004 Bryan Heit (Avg: 3.89 Review) - Willis point is a great wall dive, and can have great vis. From the entry point (fire road, next to house 7442), swim directly out form shore until you are parallel with the docks at the adjacent homes. Drop down - water should be 30' or 40' deep at this point. Follow the bottom down to the top of the cliff. Descend to your desired depth and head left (south) along the cliff. Like most sights in the Saanich area this dive site tends to have a 'ceiling' of good vis. This year (early Sept 2004) vis was about 2' until 30' in depth, then vis opened up to at least 50'. Because the water here can be quite clear divers should take care to monitor their depth - at high tide the bottom of this cliff can be at over 130' in depth. In terms of life there is a lot to see, but it's mostly small stuff (photographers, bring your macro lens). Many types of sponges, including boot and cloud sponges can be found here. This is one of Victoria's 6-gill shark 'hot spots', so keep your eye's peeled. Unfortunately, there are a few hazards here. No current or waves to speak of, but there are a lot of boats (bring your flag) and large jellyfish here. Lastly, don't park on the fire road, and try to keep quiet. Local residents have already shut off easy shore access to one site in this area (McKenzie Bight), so lets not give them a reason to shut this one down as well.
06/08/2003 Anonymous (Avg: 3.02 Review) - Great for technical divers who want to go deep. At the base of the wall, the boulder-covered bottom slopes down as deep as you want to go. Not much life on the wall itself. Near the bottom of the wall there are some chimney sponges. Some have decorated warbonnets living inside. DON'T TOUCH! If you touch the sponges, they will break and die. These aren't normal "spongy" sponges, but fragile, slow-growing "glass" sponges. A diver who has been diving here a while says that there used to be one of the biggest Cloud sponges in the area here, but curious divers kept poking at it and it crumbled away. Be aware of where your fins are kicking.
ShoreDiving Resources:
Additional Resources:
Dive Site Links: (If you have a
relevant link for Willis Point, please write us
here.)
No external links have been submitted.
Dive Site Pictures: (If you have pictures
for Willis Point, please send them
here.)
We have no diver-submitted pictures at this time.
Diver
Averages for Willis Point (1=worst,
5=best) |
Number of reviews for this site: 2
659-3-3-24
|
4.00
4.50
3.50
3.00
1.50
2.00
2.50