Vancouver and Howe Sound

Before Entering

• Check current Howe Sound marine forecast, tide tables, posted park advisories and entry/exit conditions in person. Do not rely on month labels.
• Set a buddy plan, turnaround criteria, navigation route, depth/air limits, maximum surface swim and shore emergency contact. Assess local visibility and currents.
• Wear appropriate cold-water insulation and use a cold-water-rated regulator. Check drysuit training and the exact charter's certification conditions before paying.
• Use the parking-area steps, never the boat launch as a scuba entry, and never dive from a boat within the Porteau park boundary. Keep off the controlled rail crossing except where directed.
• Do not penetrate Porteau wrecks, disturb the bottom unnecessarily, collect animals or damage glass sponge habitat elsewhere in Howe Sound. Deep/technical/overhead profiles require dedicated training and emergency capacity.
• Freedivers require a trained one-up/one-down buddy with active rescue readiness. Snorkelers should remain in conditions and depths suitable for their competence. Never go alone.

Emergency Readiness

A practical plan includes oxygen available through trained responders, first-aid capability, location-specific contact instructions, evacuation by road or marine rescue and a record of dives. For suspected decompression sickness, arterial gas embolism, hypothermia or serious trauma, call 911, follow dispatcher instructions and do not attempt independent chamber transport. BC Emergency Health Services directs patients to medical assessment and specialist coordination. DAN is supplementary advice after emergency activation, not a substitute for local EMS.

Squamish General Hospital (38140 Behrner Drive, Squamish) and Lions Gate Hospital (231 East 15th Street, North Vancouver) are listed community hospitals, not promised recompression sites. HealthLink BC lists a 24-hour hyperbaric service at Vancouver General Hospital, Leon Judah Blackmore Pavilion, 855 West 12th Avenue, with physician referral. Provincial paramedic guidance states VGH has BC's civilian recompression chamber and transfer must be coordinated in advance; patients should normally be assessed through emergency services and an appropriate receiving hospital. Squamish hospital; Lions Gate; BC diving injury pathway. No specific ambulance or boat-evacuation time is guaranteed.

At Porteau Cove, BC Parks prohibits harvesting or harassment of marine life in the park foreshore, states that animals and intertidal features should be left as found, prohibits anchoring in the park and forbids boat diving in the boundary. Respect the natural and artificial-reef habitat, use neutral buoyancy, never feed wildlife and avoid unattended or damaging equipment. At Halkett Bay Marine Park, BC Parks identifies vulnerable glass sponge reef habitat and prohibitions on bottom-contact fishing. Wildlife watching from a vessel is regulated: DFO's 2026 rules require substantial distance from killer whales, including an enhanced Southern Resident minimum in designated southern BC coastal waters. Never claim that a whale encounter, whale swim or an approach is part of a dive. Follow current federal rules and all site/Indigenous access restrictions. Porteau rules; Halkett rules; DFO 2026 measures.