Advice... wolf eels and giant octopus

I'm based in Florida. And would like to go to the Pacific Northwest and film wolf eels and giant octopus. I have a free place to stay in Friday Harbor, but am open to other locations if better opportunities. Anyone know of a good dive operation that I could work with? All recommendations welcome -thanks!

Not sure if there's any operations out of Friday Harbor, but I've done a couple of day trips with Phil Jensen of Lu-Jack-s Quest from Anacortes:

http://www.lujacsquest.com/

...he does a nice job, and he'll put you on to some great sites.

+1 for LuJac. Phil runs a good charter.

You should also check out Bandito Charters. They don't do the SanJauns every weekend, but they do 1 or 2 weekends a month starting in May. The rest of the time they are in the South Sound out of Tacoma.

http://www.banditocharters.com/

Don't forget to shore dive, there are tons of great dive sites and you can see Octo's and Wolfeels almost anywhere. (Luck of the draw of course)

+1 for Lujac

You can also look at oceanquest

Or if you want to go a little further north, you can hit Nanaimo Dive Outfitters on Vancouver Island

Do not know the operations in Washington State but hear good things about Rendevous in Barkely Sound on west coast of Vancouver Island, and have greatly enjoyed my outings with Pacific Pro Dive in Campbell River.

If you enjoy your first trip and want to head somewhere a little more remote and wild I highly recommend Port Hardy area at the north end of Vancouver Island. It may take you an extra day of travel from the Seattle area but trust me, it is worth it.

Google Gods Pocket and you will see what I mean. The owners of the resort are retiring and they will not be accepting new bookings until the new owners get set up. Was there a couple weeks ago and while the underwater life was amazing, seeing multiple whales, dolpins, sea lions etc from the boat kept the short boat rides interesting. As did the rafts of sea otters, and the lone wolf we saw swimming between islands.

Enjoy your hunt for Wolfies and GPO

Adam

I'm not sure you're open to doing a dive without a charter, but there is some great diving in the Neah Bay area. I'm a Florida resident, but dive that area about 6 times a year. Just find a pulloff with kelp, and hop in the water. Generally many rockfish, lingcod, all manner of crabs, and yes, even the cute and cuddly wolf eel. As a bonus, the drive out is incredibly beautiful. I'm always freediving out there, so I imagine you would have a much better chance of seeing eels and GPO with more time on the bottom. Depth is around 15-35 ft, vis is best on the higher tide.

On the way out, you'll drive over the Sol Duc river, and there is a pulloff that is a great place to shoot pictures of trout.

Enjoy it out there!

Ian