Rockfish Divers Dive Site Difficulty Ranking System

Rockfish Divers may accommodate a wide experience range with divers, from novice students to the most experience instructors.   The extensive experience of the professional dive staff at Rockfish Divers and local diving experts agree that the degree of difficulty of local dive sites should match the experience level of divers.   There are many factors that change the suggested difficulty ranking of a dive site based on visibility, weather, tides and more.   Although the outlines below for the dive site difficulty rankings are suggested by Rockfish Divers, for your safety we will discuss your level of experience in advance of any charter or shore dive to ensure your experience aligns with the potential degree of difficulty for any dive site that we will be visiting.   There are three main factors that we consider when aligning customers to the most suitable dive charters:
  • Highest level of certification;
  • Recent dive experience; and
  • Experience in cold water and current.
Rockfish Divers understands that there are always exceptions to the suggestions made below and will always make the best recommendations based on local knowledge and current conditions.   However, this ranking system is a guideline only.   Participants who personally assume the risks of any dive site, whether foreseen or unforeseen, that may befall them while involved in any diving, skin diving, or snorkeling capacity, shall not hold Rockfish Divers liable.

GREEN CIRCLE

Site Description:
  • Easily accessed by shore or dive boat;
  • Sheltered from weather (wind);
  • Little to no current;
  • ≤18m/60ft max depth.

​Minimum Recommended Diver Experience:
  • Certified for Open Water and Above
  • Great for (but not limited to) novice divers;
  • Ideal for use as an open water training site;
  • Recommended site for divers at any experience level that are new to using drysuits.

BLUE SQUARE

Site Description:
  • Access to the site may be slightly challenging by boat or by shore;
  • Limited protection from weather (wind);
  • Depths may extend beyond the 18m/60ft maximum depth of Green Circle sites;
  • Site may include steep wall dives with a bottom that is deeper than recreational dive limits (40m/130ft) but have intermediate depth plateaus on the way down;
  • May experience light to moderate current;
  • Tides and currents are predictable based on tables and local experience.

​Minimum Recommended Diver Experience
  • Certified for Open Water (Advanced Open Water Recommended) or Above
  • Appropriate for divers with advanced training suitable to the dive site (deep, drift, etc.) and good buoyancy;
  • Divers should have experience within the last 6 months when descending beyond 18m/60ft;
  • It is recommended that divers have experience from multiple dives down to 30m/100ft before diving to deeper recreational depths;
  • Experienced drysuit divers that have had successful drysuit dives at green sites should be comfortable here if other recommendations for experience are met.

BLACK DIAMOND

Site Description
  • Access to the site may be difficult, may require a dive boat or has a difficult transition between shore and water;
  • May not be sheltered from weather (wind);
  • Site may include steep wall dives with a bottom that is deeper than recreational dive depth limits (40m/130ft); 
  • Site can experience moderate to strong current;
  • Tides and currents are usually predictable based on tables and local experience;
  • These sites should be dived at slack based on nearest applicable tables and experience.
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​Minimum Recommended Diver Experience
  • Certified for Advanced Open Water Diving or Above
  • Advanced divers with proven experience, including drift dives;
  • Divers must have good buoyancy while diving in current;
  • Divers should have experience within the last 2-3 months;
  • Divers should have experience from multiple dives down to 30m/100ft before diving to deeper recreational depths;
  • Experienced drysuit divers that have had successful drysuit dives at blue square sites should be comfortable here if other recommendations for experience have been met;
  • Solo divers should have surface support;
  • Introduction dive to site should be carried out alongside a Divemaster or sufficiently qualified diver with extensive knowledge of the site.
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DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND

Site Description
  • Access to the site will require a dive boat for safe, reliable entry;
  • May not sheltered from weather (wind) and is prone to swells;
  • Site may include steep wall dives with a bottom that is deeper than recreational dive limits (40m/130ft); 
  • Site can be subjected to extremely strong and unpredictable current including up-wellings, down-wellings and back eddies;
  • Tides, currents, up-wellings, down-wellings and back eddies can be unpredictable despite tables and local experience;
  • These sites should be dived at slack based on nearest applicable table and experience.

​Minimum Recommended Diver Experience
  • Sufficiently Advanced divers with proven experience, including drift dives within the last 2-3 months;
  • Experience deployin a surface marker buoy (SMB) is highly recommended;
  • Rescue Diver training highly recommended;
  • Divers should have exceptional buoyancy while diving in current and be able to react appropriately in up and down wellings;
  • Divers should have a minimum of 25 dives in the last year or 100 dives in the last 5 years;
  • Divers should have experience from multiple dives down to 30m/100ft before diving to deeper recreational depths;
  • Experienced drysuit divers that have had successful drysuit dives at Black Diamond sites should be comfortable here if other recommendations for experience have been met;
  • Solo diving is not recommended even with surface support