Diving a Kelp Forest |

Diving a Kelp Forest

Here’s an interesting vacation for you divers to consider — some tourist destination ideas.

I have written a six-book series that takes place underwater. It features espionage, spycraft, and submarine battles, and with an overall narrative arc about the underwater colony, Trieste, off the coast of Florida, seeking independence for the world’s submarine cities and to cut political ties with their colonizing nations. I spent decades developing the stories and the novels were electrifying to write. But, the worlds I created, the environment I used, the reason humans were developing the ocean floors, and the reason the cities exist, are based on reality and the rationale is grounded in science.

Consider the following:

Mining: there are billions of tonnes of mineral wealth easily accessible on the ocean floors
Fishing: for nations suffering global warming and climate change, it makes sense to farm fish in their natural environment and ship the processed materials back to the mainland
Aquaculture of kelp: the aquatic plant consists of numerous species, and each has its benefits. Kelp can grow a metre a day in optimal conditions. It can be used for food and to mitigate climate change. In The Rise of Oceania, it’s also harvested for further processing into methane. And the key to kelp forests from a tourism perspective: they are massive, living features that can be explored and investigated for profit.

Just a few interior graphics from TSJ’s A Blanket of Steel (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2024). Images by Cheyney Steadman.

These are the foremost factors that make the oceans attractive to developed nations — Pull Factors. But there are other factors in my novels that are motivating people to leave the surface and devote their lives to the exploration and colonization of the seafloors. These include:

The increasing warming on the surface, leading to destruction of cropland and resulting famine
The failure of less developed nations due to rebellion as citizens are unable to secure basic needs such as food, water, medicine
Increasing dictatorships and war
A refugee crisis as rising waters flood shorelines, displacing millions worldwide, especially in low-lying nations (Bangladesh) and islands with very low relief
An economic crisis as cropland fails and as rising ocean water inundates shipping facilities
Natural disasters from extreme weather events caused by warmer oceans. These include hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and increased monsoon rains.

So the above list would be Push Factors, forcing nations to look to the oceans for new resources to provide for their people.

I have written about the vast resources in the ocean, such as polymetallic nodules and kelp, here, here, here, and here.

Kelp is an incredible resource. Some nations make use of it already. In the west, demand is currently minimal at best. But the fact that the crop can grow one metre a day is not lost on me. It could be a major staple in a world suffering from global warming. It featured in my novel, The War Beneath; my protagonist, Truman “Mac” McClusky, is a former espionage agent working the kelp farms to make his living and maintain his residence in Trieste City.

Recently, some readers have sent me information about the kelp-diving tourist industry, which is expanding throughout the world. I wanted to showcase this today at Life After Gateway.

There are a few areas that are focal points to this attraction. To be clear, I am not a diver and I have not experienced these locations, though I would love to. Where possible, I have included videos from the locations and credited the YouTube Channels. Bucket list items here:

British Columbia: Race Rocks, Stubbs Island, Hunt Rock

One of the best features here is that the wildlife is myriad, including whales for watching, and also thousands of sea lions, octopus, eels, hydrocorals, and anemones. The kelp is tall but the temperatures are cool and the currents powerful. These locations are for strong and experienced divers. The visibility can at times be lower here, preventing clear views of the kelp. Visitors can also dive shipwrecks and hike shorelines that feature incredible views.

Here’s a YouTube video from channel Be Sea Adventures:

California: The Channel Islands National Park

Channel Islands National Park consists of Santa Cruz, San Miguel, Anacapa, Santa Barbara, and Santa Rosa; there are coastal views, hiking trails, kayaking, beaches, whale watching, snorkling, SCUBA, and immense kelp forests to dive. There are many videos online of this location. It’s a highly popular site to dive.

Here’s one such YouTube video; credit to channel Calvin Wen:

Norway: Southern and Western Coast

Visibility is twenty meters, and wildlife includes anemones, pollock, jellyfish, and orcas. The water is cool. I have written about Norway’s research and development of kelp to help mitigate climate change HERE.

Here’s a YouTube video from the channel DiveBergen:

South Africa: Capetown

Visibility is lower here, at 5 to 15 meters, but marine life includes seals, octopus, and cow sharks.

Here’s a YouTube video, credit to channel Marcus Mohlin:

New Zealand: Poor Knights Islands

Marine life includes dolphins and orcas, and warmer waters makes for more comfortable diving conditions. The kelp forests here are tall and the water is incredibly clear for easy viewing. The kelp is among the tallest in the world, at fifty meters. Here, it grows one third a meter per day.

Here’s an informational video about kelp off New Zealand; credit to YouTube channel Greenstone TV.

Japan: Hokaido

Visibility is 20 meters or more and the kelp forests are home to plentiful wildlife. Seals, fish, octopus dart through the kelp, along with sea otters.

Tasmania: East and Southern Coast

Wildlife includes fur seals and whales, and visibility exceeds thirty meters, but the water is cool. The kelp here can be twenty metres (sixty feet) tall!

Check out this video from YouTube channel Eaglehawk Dive Centre:

Would you consider a tourist trip of this sort? Exploring a vast kelp forest and the associated marine life within? Add to the bucket list.

I hope you enjoyed this look at an interesting (and growing) type of tourism today. See what I did there?

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 24 February 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007