I had done a dive earlier in the morning at nearby Whisky Point "End of the Road". I was intending to do a second dive at Moulds Bay on the other side of Quadra Island, but when I drove there, the waves were too big to get in the water so I drove back here in time to take advantage of the second slack of the day (the current exchange today was minimal, which was why I drove up to the Campbell River area. Usually the currents in Discovery Pass are way too strong to risk diving the Whisky Point area from shore). I had only been diving here once before in 2009. The "Middle of the Road" site is accessed from a public right-of-way between houses 795 and 807 on Noble Rd. You can park right next to the water.
I swam straight out from shore. Below the boulders in the shallows, the bottom here was a slope of sand and small rocks. The visibility was well over 50'. I went down to about 50' deep here and didn't see any solid rocky areas straight out from shore in the distance.
Last time I dove here, I turned left (South) along the slope. This time, I wanted to turn right since the marine chart seems to show a steeper (probably rocky) drop in that direction. Unfortunately, I could feel a slight current flowing in that direction and I didn't want to have to swim against it on my way back if it got any stronger. The current in Discovery Pass can be intimidating so I try not to push my luck with it. I turned left like I did last time. I soon came across a solid, rocky, stair-stepping reef that sloped down from shore to about 55' deep. This was the area I dove last time. The deeper part of the reef was covered with all the colourful invertebrate life that I saw earlier today at the "End of the Road" dive site (except there, this abundance didn't start until I was below 70' deep). There were also more strawberry anemones here, with colonies of them as shallow as 30-40' deep.
