Browning Pass

Verified2026-09-30 checkedWallDrift

A wall so completely covered in life that there is no rock visible on it, in 9 °C water.

Depth: 10–30 m33–98 ft
Difficulty: Advanced
Entry: Boat
Typical current: Strong
Coordinates: 50°52.164′N 127°40.818′W
Activities: Scuba · Technical

Browning Pass is a narrow channel off northern Vancouver Island where tidal current pushes food past a vertical wall four times a day, and the result is a surface with no bare rock on it at all — soft corals, anemones, tunicates and sponges layered over each other from 10 m down. Jacques Cousteau is said to have rated it second only to the Red Sea. Wolf eels hold dens here for years and a face in a hole is the resident. It is 8–10 °C, it is a drysuit dive, and the timing is everything: the wall is dived at slack, and winter is the clear season because the plankton is gone.

Liveaboard or lodge out of Port Hardy, at the north end of Vancouver Island.

Best season

ExcellentDec–Feb
GoodMar
GoodNov
FairApr–Oct

Before you get in

A wall. There is no bottom in sight to judge against, so depth is kept by the gauge alone — and it is easy to end up deeper than intended.
Recorded as a site with strong current. Settle your gas reserve, when you would call the dive, and your surface signal before you get in.
A drift dive: you do not come back to where you went in, so boat pickup and an SMB are part of the plan rather than extras.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 12.9°C55°F
Wave height: 0.7 m2 ft
Air temperature: 12.3°C54°F
Wind speed: 4.5 km/h2.8 mph

Updated 2026-10-07 16:15 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

High10:531.62 m
Low16:56-1.21 m
High22:551.67 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

Wolf eelAnarrhichthys ocellatusCommon
Lion's mane jellyfishCyanea capillataJun–SepSeasonal
Harbour sealPhoca vitulinaSeasonal
Bluntnose sixgill sharkHexanchus griseusRare

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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