God's Pocket Resort

The resort does not print a price. Trip weeks are generally reserved by a dive shop, a club or a group of friends, and to get a spot you contact the trip leader in charge of that week, who gives you both availability and the price. To book an entire week yourself, email team@godspocket.com.

What the resort does publish is the shape of the package: six nights, five dive days, three boat dives a day, a night dive, all meals, tank, weights and nitrox, and the boat from Port Hardy. Single occupancy is 20% on top of the package price.

You are picked up at the Quarterdeck Marina fuel dock in Port Hardy at 4 pm on the first day, eat at the lodge that evening, and dive for five full days: three boat dives a day, each typically 45 minutes to an hour to match slack water, plus one night or evening dive in the bay during the week. The first dive is always a shallow check-out in a protected, soft-bottomed bay.

Dives are planned each day by the crew around weather, tide and current rather than a fixed schedule; some sites can only be dived at slack, some are drift dives, and reef hooks are not used. There is no in-water guide: you plan and dive independently after a thorough briefing. A quick breakfast on the last morning, then the boat drops you back in Port Hardy at 9 am. Both times are weather dependent.

A minimum of 100 dives, at least 50 of them in cold water in a drysuit, and comfort with current and independent dive planning. Water is 7 to 9°C. Bring certification cards and your log book, a dive computer (required) and an SMB. Cold-water and drysuit experience is, in the resort's words, an absolute must.

A 40-foot aluminium hull, the Hurst Isle, with twin engines, air banks that fill tanks between dives, a heated cabin you can sit in wearing your suit, tank racks and gear baskets for each diver, hot water for gloves and hoods, a camera rinse tank, a head, oxygen and first aid, hot drinks and snacks, and a hydraulic lift that brings you aboard without taking anything off. A ladder backs it up. A divemaster on board fills tanks and briefs each site.

Rooms are double occupancy by default with ensuite bathrooms, on a bank of buildings along the boardwalk above the bay; the resort does not publish a room count. Towels, linen and pump hand soap are supplied; bring your own shampoo and toiletries. Rooms have 120-volt outlets, but nothing is left charging while everyone is out on the boat, and hair dryers, curlers and heaters are not allowed because of the off-grid batteries.

Fly or drive to Port Hardy and be at the Quarterdeck Marina fuel dock, 6555 Hardy Bay Road, ready to load your gear onto the dive boat by 4 pm on the first day. Weekly pay parking is on both sides of the marina. The crossing is ten nautical miles. If you miss the group boat, a private run is $450 in the Hurst Isle or $350 in the Ratfish, or a local water taxi at market rate.

The resort does not print a weight limit, but you bring all your own dive gear except tank and weights, so pack spares: wrist and neck seals, save-a-dive parts. Buy alcohol and snacks in Port Hardy before 4 pm, and allow time for it.

Three meals a day cooked by the resort's chefs and eaten together in the 1907 cabin that is now the galley and dining hall, with baked snacks, fruit, juice, coffee, tea and hot chocolate between. A meal on arrival day and a quick breakfast on departure day are in the package. Sodas, chips, chocolate bars and alcohol are yours to bring.

Three single and two double kayaks with gear are included, the forest trails on Hurst Island, a covered sundeck, a campfire and the marine species library in the clubhouse. Eagles, herons, mink and coastal wolves share the island; the resort asks that no food be left where animals can reach it. The resort also runs kayak weeks and retreats outside the dive seasons; ask them.

Wifi is free but very limited in speed and data: messages yes, photographs and heavy apps no, because the crew need the bandwidth for weather, food orders and planning. Power is a battery bank charged by generators, wind and solar, so use is managed; water comes from a spring a kilometre away and a desalination unit, and showers and flushes are rationed.

All personal dive gear including a drysuit, computer, SMB, underwater light and spare parts; certification cards and log book; hiking or rain boots, a rain jacket and warm clothing for between dives; a head lamp; sunglasses and sunblock; your own toiletries; and dive and trip insurance. In-water test anything new before you come: the resort fixes things but is not a dive shop.

Open the God's Pocket packing list →

Gratuities are not in the price. The resort says 10% to 20% of the trip cost is the industry norm, that every tip is pooled and split equally among the crew who were with you, and that cash is preferred so nothing goes to the card company.

Mid-March to the end of May, and mid-August to the end of October, every year. The resort does not rank them; the diving pages describe the same current-fed walls in both. Water sits at 7 to 9°C year-round.