Danger Reef, just north of Ewing Island in the San Juan’s is a spectacular dive site and is also one of my favorite places to view wildlife. It is a protected marine mammal and bird sanctuary, which requires boaters to stay at least 200 yards away, but putzing along slowly in the dingy always provides entertainment.
The reef is a rookery for Harbor Seals and on this visit was full of hundreds of Seals and their pups, sunning themselves at low tide. It also supports a wide variety of birds including some beautiful Harlequin Ducks!
Be sure to pay attention to the weather, since the Straits of Georgia can get nasty if the wind is blowing out of the North onto Danger Reef! Divers looking for an alternate dive site in adverse weather should consider the wreck of the Lady Alyce located at the entrance to Ewing Cove.
Danger Reef earned it’s name for grounding many an unwary Mariner. Boats heading north from the northernmost San Juan islands see nothing but hundreds of miles of open water that make up the Straits of Georgia. Then half a mile later they find themselves high and dry on Danger Reef. Oops!