scubish.com: Scuba diving Calgary - Canada

Understand

City Layout and Navigation
Calgary is divided into four quadrants, NE, NW, SE, SW. The dividing line between east and west is Centre Street in the north and roughly Macleod Trail in the south (although in a couple spots it deviates: through downtown and near Chinook Centre, where an actual Centre Street exists, albeit as a collector or local road). The dividing line between north and south is generally the Bow River in the west, and Centre Avenue (north of Memorial Drive) in the east. Addresses proceed outwards from the center of the city; for example, 219 16th Avenue NE is located on 16th Avenue N, between 1st and 2nd Street E.

Deerfoot Trail (Highway 2) running north-south is the only true freeway in Calgary, although certain other roads have sections that alternate between being a true freeway and an at-grade expressway, with plans to become full freeways. Other major roads in the city are often given the street suffix Trail, such as Glenmore Trail, Crowchild Trail and Bow Trail; many of these roads are expressways for most or all of its length and planned to become freeways. Roads with the suffixes Boulevard or Drive are generally the next most major classification. Roads with the suffix Avenue run east-west, and roads with the suffix Street run north-south. Note that the names of small suburban roads usually incorporate the community name; this means that Taralake Garden, Taralea Place, Taralea Mews, Taralea Court, Taralean Grove, Taralea Avenue, Taralea Road, Taralea Blvd, Taralea Heath, and Taralea Green are all separate roads, all in the same community - Taradale. It can be very confusing for tourists and locals alike to navigate an area where the only differences in street names are the abbreviations. If travelling in the suburban communities, have a map or directions and pay attention to exact name.

Calgary has a fairly dense downtown, ringed by inner city neighborhoods laid out on a grid pattern for roughly 30-40 blocks. These inner city districts often have unique characteristics and are worth wandering through, for the visitor with some time to spend in the city. The outer suburbs are a typical sprawl of uniform housing and, except for major shopping, parks and other facilities scattered around, have little interest for the typical visitor.

Eat

Calgary offers a wide variety of dining options. While Calgary doesn't have a single signature dish, residents are very proud of Alberta Beef, and Calgarians are discerning clients of steakhouses. Speaking of beef, the popular Chinese-Canadian dish of ginger beef was invented in Calgary in the 1970s. Calgary is also home to a very culturally diverse population, with a very wide selection of international restaurants, especially from East and Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean from Italy through Lebanon. Calgary is, however, generally lacking in decent Mexican food, and the inland location means that a good meal of seafood is sometimes hard to find.

Restaurants in the downtown area are very busy between noon and 1 PM on weekdays due to the lunch crowd of...