The following article was submitted by Tourism Vancouver’s resident dive enthusiast, Stephen Pearce, and Vice President, Marketing.
In late September, I had an opportunity to host Ms. Jing Xu, also known as Layla, for her first ever cold-water dive in Canada. Layla is a self-described travel junkie who shares her global adventures on social media in China with 4.5 million passionate fans.
Tourism Vancouver was hosting her in the city when they discovered that she was a certified diver who had always been fascinated with the thought of diving in cold water.
A quick phone call, and three days later in the early morning the staff at Sea Dragon were suiting her up and Kevin and Stephanie were welcoming her on board.
Christie Islet Bird Sanctuary, about 1 km south of Anvil Island, was the perfect choice for the dive. Not only a great opportunity to see seals and seabirds; it also had a mooring line that was securely attached to a reef about 20 meters deep, with the option to go deeper if we wanted.
I was Layla’s dive buddy for the trip and Stephanie provided dive-master support and led the dive. And Howe Sound served up yet another magical experience – plumose anemone, decorator crabs, ling cod, nudibranchs and copper rockfish were all out and on display.
It was a short dive – only 30 minutes – and we maxed at 27 meters. But Layla came out of the water excited, energized… and just a little chilly. Time for Kevin’s signature hot soup!
And the reaction from her fans? Layla’s social media posts on diving and Vancouver have so far generated 14 million impressions and over 17,000 likes.
Sea Dragon may have to get a bigger pot of soup…
Sea Dragon Charters are conveniently located in Horseshoe Bay with a fully stocked shop for scuba, snorkelling and kayaking at all levels of experience from novice to pro.
Contact Info:
Address: 6373 Bruce Street, West Vancouver
Phone: 604.329.3486 | Toll free 1.855.732.3724
Email: info@seadragoncharters.com
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