SUND ROCK seattle, tacoma and puget sound

WHY GO SHORE DIVE or map of underwater features and direc- gate and ramp: space for 10 to 12 vehi- KAYAK DIVE Easy access, no to consider, fasci- Boats and silt. Listen for boats through- tions to the ramp. Then go south for cles to park. Swim 30 yards (50 meters) nating at night – excellent flora and fauna. out your dive; surface up the wall or in the Ì mile (1 kilometer); around a bend on to the right toward Sund Rock. Shortly SKILL All divers Orange and white plumose anemones, shallows – and look up when ascending. the left and immediately past a guard before you reach the wall that is above sea stars and sea cucumbers are on the Establish good neutral in each rail, turn sharply left down hill to the water, descend to the boulder garden. TABLE Seattle rocks. Red rock crabs scurry from their depth to stay off the bottom and reduce silt. cracks. Tube-dwelling anemones blossom from the sandy bottom, pull in when we TELEPHONE pass, and we see peach-colored frilly At roadside, in front of dive shop and resort things. Blackeye gobies, shiner perch, Ì mile (1 kilometer) north of Sund Rock. copper rockfish and totally tame lingcod swim around us. Moon jellies drift through FACILITIES the open water; a videographer in our Chemical toilet at the privately owned group recorded a red rock crab nibbling ramp entry to Sund Rock. Air fills at Shel- around the periphery of one, gradually, ton, Hoodsport and Lilliwaup. Accommo- tidily consuming the moon jelly – we all dations in the vicinity include bunkhouses, saw the video after the dive. Sund Rock RV parks, motels and campgrounds. is locally considered a marine protected area, thus the lingcod population. No ACCESS taking of marine life. Sund Rock is on the west side of the Many different dives are at this location. Hood Canal beside Highway 101 between At Sund Rock privately In addition to the popular option of paying Olympia and Port Angeles. It is 37 miles owned access, divers a nominal fee to cross privately owned (60 kilometers) north of Olympia; 83 gear up property to gain easy shore access, which miles (134 kilometers) south of Port I did, there is free public access from shore Angeles and 22 miles (35 kilometers) with a longer swim. Or divers can paddle south of Brinnon. dive-kayaks to their chosen location. Vari- To select a date with high go to ous dives available at Sund Rock: boulder Water Level Tidal Predictions web site at NOTES garden and wall, a deep wall at the south end, www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides 07 a wreck, the fish bowl and the North Wall. (the year changes annually). Click Washing- Best season for visibility is October ton in the left-hand column, Hood Canal, through March. And, best to dive Sund with then Union Predictions. higher tides – at least 10 feet (3 meters); • Public access to Sund Rock is 2 miles these occur in daytime in winter – you can (3È kilometers) north of Hoodsport. A plan it. We did a night dive in summer with small lay-by with a Sund Rock signpost a greater than 12 foot (3É meter) tide. is there, with space for 3 or 4 cars to park. So much to see, I did not want to come Walk 170 paces down a steep, curving up. I was still diving in 4 feet (1 meter) of trail to the water, and swim 220 yards water when my buddy tapped my shoulder (200 meters) to the left to Sund Rock. to tell me we'd passed the entry/exit point. • Privately owned access to Sund Rock is 2È miles (3É kilometers) north of BOTTOM AND DEPTHS Hoodsport, 1È miles (4 kilometers) A boulder garden in 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 south of Lilliwaup bridge. But first go to meters). A stark rock wall bottoms out to Hood Sport 'n Dive. It is 2Ê miles silty sand at 55 to 65 feet (17 to 19 meters), (4É kilometers) north of Hoodsport, depending on tide height. Bottom kelps 1É miles (2É kilometers) south of Lil- are rich in summer; we saw Turkish towel, liwaup. For a nominal fee you will obtain not to be used for navigation: See page 456 for information on obtaining navigational charts; use NOAA chart #18448. 2 NAUTICAL MILES tall with berries, and eelgrass. a key to the gated road to the ramp, a Soundings are in fathoms.

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