Scuba Diving Locations in North Puget Sound
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Beneath Scuba Diving Locations in North Puget Sound Bellingham G Emerald 26 Waters 27 Sucia Island Scuba Diving Orcas Island Locations in Sucia Island: Sucia is a divers’ paradise 26 of rock walls, protruding ledges, reef systems and 33 nearby islands to enjoy. The north side of the island offers at least 31 Puget Sound two great wall dives; under Lawson Bluff and off Ewing Island at the NE corner of Echo Bay. All divers can find a comfortable depth along 30 32 Scaly Sculpin the boulder-strewn walls and kelp forests to enjoy large schools of rockfish, (including rare tiger rockfish), kelp greenlings, lingcod, San Juan many varieties of nudibranchs, scallops, starfish, barnacles and Island much more. Visibility in the bays can be poor, beware of boat traffic For More Information 28 Washington Visitor Information: and fishing gear. Friday Harbor 35 experiencewashingtion.com Turn Point Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: 29 wdfw.wa.gov/viewing 27(Stuart Island): Anacortes Cabazon 34 wdfw.wa.gov/viewing/diving Another great island wall dive, Turn J Washington Scuba Alliance: Point actually offers two distinct dive environ- Lopez Island wascuba.org/index.htm ments. The south side of the wall offers a Divers Alert Network (DAN): Rosario Beach: A beautiful beach within stun- nearly vertical descent to 300’, with small diversalertnetwork.org 37 ning Deception Pass State Park, Rosario Beach offers several caves in its depths for adventurous divers to 20 NOAA Tides & Currents: options for all levels of divers. There’s a long pebble beach entry to the find. The north side of the point is a gently slop- 36 tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov large cove, or small islands and rocky bluffs on either end. ing boulder garden to investigate macro life. Cur- 37 A premier site with rents are strong, plan your dive at slack tide with a small exchange. Grunt Sculpin Deception Pass: 38 38 steep, spectacular walls covered with invertebrates and home San Juan County Park: A great to large fish. It should only be dove by advanced divers with local knowl- 28 place to camp and dive with a variety of sites. SmallPox edge, as extremely strong currents make this site dangerous. Bay at its south perimeter is sandy and fairly protected. North Bay is also sandy and gives access to the park’s north Fort Worden State Park: Two dives shoreline. It also is the jumping off point to Low Island located make this an interesting dive destination. One is off the beach Whidbey 5-Lined Aeolid 39 to the artificial reef marked by a white buoy and consists of cement pipes, just offshore. Strong currents make this an advanced dive better Island Nudibranch accessed by kayak or small boat. tires and scattered logs. The second is under the pier itself, where there’s 20 lots of life living amid plumose anemones and tubeworms. Lime Kiln State Park: 29 A picturesque location along Haro Strait, Lime Kiln is 5 Fort Flagler: This site is on the east shore of a Voluntary Marine Sanctuary that is a look at “old school” Puget 40 the park. An easy, but exposed, entry has a small, colorful Sound with a dense array of invertebrate and other marine life. artifical reef that is an easy swim. Coves on either side allow for entry and exit in protected Keystone back eddies, but the point itself has strong currents. Dive Safely Oak Harbor Dive within your ability, 41 Jetty: (MPA) Keystone Jetty is quite Puget Sound Marine Habitats Reuben Tarte Picnic Area: training and experience Quillback possibly the richest dive site 30 Offers rocky shorelines and a beautiful reef, level. Site conditions may To experience the whole array of species that live in Rockfish in Puget Sound for underwa- divers can explore either side of the cove, and investigate boul- vary from those described. the Puget Sound, be aware of the habitats you are diving in. ter life and is a marine pre- ders and rocky habitats where Puget Sound king crab, Irish lords, Divers are responsible for serve located on the south Eelgrass: Abundant in many places small fish and a host of invertebrate life await you. This area can be their own dive plan; 41 side of the Keystone Ferry along the fringes of Puget Sound, Eelgrass silty, especially when wind-driven waves are present. this is not intended as a I dock. Dive on the south side blades (up to 3 feet long) ripple in the H replacement. Jones Island: This small island park is ac- 39 current and provide a place where salmon, of the jetty or among the old cessible from nearby Orcas or San Juan islands, and offers Port Townsend other fish, and shellfish feed and hide. 31 pilings located just offshore. several dive sites and reefs to explore. The reef off it’s north end is a Enjoy swimming through a sandstone structure descending to moderate depths and harboring small kelp forest and coming lingcod and other fish in small overhangs and caves. 101 40 face to face with lingcod, Keystone Jetty Kelp Beds: Kelps are one of the many types of seaweed kelp greenlings, and octopus Bell Island: A small island with rock 20 that inhabit Puget Sound. They are the forests of the nearshore amid plumose anenome and invertibrate covered boulders. There are ledges that are home to lingcod, rockfish and wolf eels. waters. They need a solid surface for 32 Marine Science Centers good shore facilities and a sandy beach to enjoy as well. attachment and are generally found in Doe Island: A protected bay with an island Bellingham Marine Life Center about 20-60 feet of water. The complex G Everett Scatchet Head: This is an undulating dive that is good for snorkeling, diving and just plain ex- www.marinelifecenter.org • 360-671-2431 habitat they create is home to a wide 33 series of shallower sandy hills and gullys that have many ploring. Lots of kelp and rocks loaded with scallops, fish and more. 42 variety of fish and crabs. Port Townsend Marine patches of kelp that fish enjoy. These drop off into deep water to the H 525 James Island: There are many different Science Center southwest. Mud & Sand: Although these flat areas may look like walls and rocky ledges on each side to explore depend- www.ptmsc.org • 360-531-0127 34 Possession Point Ferry: This is the deserts, they are more like produc- ing on tide and current. Kelp forests in several places offer hiding Whidbey Feiro Marine Life Center 101 Island large wreck of the Kehloken ferry, put down as an artificial tive grasslands. Thriving in sand and places for fish, colorful anemo- I 43 www.olypen.com/feirolab • 360-417-6254 45 reef along with piles of cement roadway and pilings. This is a huge area mud are swarms of clams, worms nes, and all the usual Mukelteo Padilla Bay National 104 to explore with many different structures harboring sea life. The plumose and shrimp that get gobbled up by all critters of the deep. J kinds of fish and crabs. These habitats Estuarine Research Reserve Boat Dive Shore Dive anemone covered top of the wreck has become a nursery for schools of Scale (miles) provide the life-needs for creatures such as gobies, starfish and www.padillabay.gov • (360) 428-1558 42 44 rockfish. Deeper wreckage is home to huge lingcod with lots of inverte- 0 5 10 sea pens, a type of soft coral. 43 brates in between. Beware of boat traffic and strong surface currents. Possession Point Fingers: Rocky Habitats: Rocky habitats A 40’ deep shelf drops off nearly vertically to deep water include current-swept walls, solitary 44 boulders, fields of stacked boulders, and Turn Island State Park: Directly with several “fingers” of clay and sandstone that have many ledges, aggregates of cobbles and gravel. Rockfish, 35 offshore from Friday Harbor is this jewel of a park and dive site. overhangs and caves to explore for large fish and octopus. lingcod, greenlings, sculpins and a unique Short rocky walls and boulder fields are covered with purple encrusting hy- Mukilteo: Access is down short stairs to Com- community of anemones, barnacles, sponge, drocoral, sponges and invertebrates that offer homes to many animals. The munity Beach downtown next to a hotel and the ferry dock. snails, and other invertebrates live in these wall off its east side is a deep drop-off and an exciting advanced drift dive. 45 The slope is fairly steep, so it’s a good place to practice deeper dives. habitats. The site should only be dove at slack, and divers should be aware of very strong currents and rotating downdrafts that can be extremely hazardous. There are many artificial reef elements that divers have placed to explore. Photography and Graphic Design by: Jack Connick Creative Services, Inc Currents can be moderate along the open slope. Map courtesy of IntegralGIS, Inc. Long Island: One of the best wall dives in the Writing and Editing by: Jack Connick, Wayne Palsson, Mary Lou Mills, Misty Klotz Pacific Northwest is found on its south side. Its steep, current- Coordinated by: Misty Klotz 36 Marine Protected Area Guidelines washed slopes are covered with strawberry anemones, sponge, barnacles Special Thanks to: Marine Science Centers, and Contributors Marine protected areas (MPA’s) prohibit the taking of all species of Sponsored by: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and invertebrate life of every hue. Overhangs and a cave are found deeper. Washington State Tourism and San Juan Island County Nearby Whale Rocks, or the south side of Iceberg Point, offer boulder-strewn invertebrates and fishes.