Scuba diving at British Columbia’s notorious Nakwakto Rapids is a race against Mother Nature.  The dive plan calls for getting in and getting out fast, before the treacherous tidal currents turn and all hell breaks loose!

By Jett & Kathryn Britnell

Bubble, bubble, roil and trouble fittingly describes the raging torrents of seawater that surges daily through Nakwakto Rapids.  We had timed our arrival to witness the liquid maelstrom of a maximum tidal exchange in Nakwakto’s diminutive 300-metre wide channel.  A steep-sided island named Turret Rock stands defiant against the standing waves that routinely assail its undersea perimeter.  Local legend suggests this tiny islet actually vibrates in the fast flowing currents, giving rise to its more common nickname “Tremble Island!”  More likely, this ominous epithet refers to the involuntary cold shivers that run up and down a scuba divers spine as they are preparing to make a descent there.

Nakwakto Rapids is located approximately 200 miles northwest of Vancouver in a remote section of British Columbia’s coastal mainland, just opposite the north end of Vancouver Island. The prestigious Guinness Book of World Records has acknowledged Nakwakto Rapids as having “the fastest navigable tidal currents in the world!”  – up to 20 miles per hour during its largest tidal exchanges!  These formidable currents arise because Nakwakto’s narrow channel is the only avenue of escape for the tidal water that flows between Queen Charlotte Strait and several adjoining deep glacier-carved fjords.  In fact, the tidal range inside nearby Seymour and Belize inlets never has a chance to fluctuate more than four feet before the outside tide--more than 14 feet in range--comes roaring back in.  However, approximately every five or six hours the tumultuous water movement swirling around Turret Rock diminishes to a dead calm before reversing its tidal course.  This “slack water” period can last anywhere from a few minutes to just over one half-hour.  It is during this transitory window of time that “experienced divers” are able to obtain a fleeting glimpse of Turret Rock’s current-swept seascape.

Slack water was approaching as we systematically dressed into my dive gear.  Nakwakto’s menacing whirlpools and foaming eddies had ebbed to a relative calm.  Skillfully steering the dive skiff closer to Turret Rock, the divemaster gave us the thumbs up to plunge.  One by one, ten divers splashed into the somber sea. What appeared on the surface to be gloomy and foreboding quickly transformed into an emerald colored sea of kaleidoscopic colors.  Underwater visibility was an exceptional 80 feet or more. 

“Life in the fast lane” aptly describes the scenic wonder of Nakawkto’s ocean environ.  Swaying rope-sized strands of bull kelp brandished their amber fronds toward the surface.  Dense thickets of pillow-sized feather duster tube worms, their robust shrub-like stalks freckled with pink brooding anemones, punctuated the rocky substrate.  Fist-sized clumps of day-glow pink soft corals, flame tipped sea slugs, ochre sea stars, mustard-yellow sponge, decorated warbonnets along with several different fish species and sea anemones are just a snippet of the vast assortment of stalwart reef dwellers one can see here.

Stretching out before us a marine life species whose discovery at sub tidal depths here during the late seventies totally baffled marine biologists.  Bordering Turret Rock’s underwater perimeter is an immense population of crimson-lipped gooseneck barnacles.  Once thought to be exclusive residents of the intertidal zone on exposed surf-pounded coasts, these vibrantly coloured relatives of the common acorn barnacle are flourishing at unheard of depths of 50 feet and beyond.  Firmly cemented to the sea bottom, these gooseneck barnacles are growing in such large numbers that they merge to form large ridges.  Each clump of these pearly-shelled barnacles contain hundreds of individuals that filter-feed nutrients from the plankton-rich waters.

Nearing the end of our dive, we tucked in behind the island to snap off a few more pictures in the calm respite of the current’s back eddy.  The current had reversed and was now accelerating in the opposite direction.  Our exhaust bubbles were now percolating through the water column at a much sharper angle to the surface.  The sensation of the current’s pull is not unlike the air pressure wave one feels when you waive their hand outside the window of a car moving at highway speeds.  After 32 minutes of bottom time, we ascended and upon surfacing we were greeted by a jubilant chorus of whoops and hollers.  Clearly, our intrepid dive buddies were just as thrilled as we were with Nakwakto Rapid’s breath-taking subsea terrain.

Sport divers have been making exploratory descents at Nakwakto Rapids for well over three decades.  Thus far, every diver has made it safely back to the dive boat.  While it is true that a few divers have misjudged Nakwakto’s trembling tides and tried to remain on the sea floor for too long, the Guinness Book of World Records has thus far chosen not to establish an award for “the longest surface distance a scuba diver has nervously floated down a tidal channel!” ■

Jett & Kathryn Britnell (jettbritnell.com) are an internationally published husband & wife diving photojournalist team who pursue their mutual interest in traveling on assignment off the beaten path to far flung corners of the globe to capture images and magazine editorial about diving destinations and the magnificent creatures that inhabit the ocean realm.