Tuwanek is a small community on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia. A short drive from the town of Sechelt, Tuwanek is a little paradise along the Sechelt Inlet. The name is derived from one of the original four "septs" - division of the Sechelt Nation, located around Narrows Arm.
A handful of cottages sprinkle the coastline here (including a great one to rent), and a small but perfectly formed beach is the gateway to some of our favourite diving. The area is a designated marine park which means no fishing, and lots for divers and even snorkellers to experience. A sandy bay lays between a right and a left dive site. The left offers some fantastic topography, gorgeous kelp forest and moon jelly smacks. Whilst the right is home to wolf eels, boulder fields, octopus and schools of perch. Orange plumose anemones are aplenty, and tunicates cover a high percentage of surfaces at certain times of the year. A tunicate is a invertebrate animal and live in budding colonies, with each unit being known as a zooid. They are filter feeds with a water filled sac like body and tubular openings through which they draw and expel water. They can be commonly referred to as sea squirts, but these little guys shouldn't be overlooked, they've been knocking around for over 500 million years! There are over 2150 species of tunicate around the world, mostly living in shallow water. Tuwanek is often blanketed in them, making the harshest of boulders look soft and fluffy! Tuwanek is also a fantastic place to go for a swim, kayak, or snorkel. It's an incredible place to discover the beauty of British Columbia's oceans. |