San Juan Islands

The San Juan archipelago sits at the confluence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, where tidal exchanges push nutrient-dense water through narrow passes at up to 8 knots. Resident and transient orca pods hunt these channels. Below the surface, giant Pacific octopus, wolf eels, and tube-dwelling anemones carpet rocky walls. Kelp canopies shelter copper rockfish and lingcod. This is cold-water Pacific Northwest diving at its most dramatic — drysuits mandatory, rewards extraordinary.