Conditions in the San Juans?

[DiverMike10]

Looking at doing some shore dives around the San Juans July 30 and Aug 1 (a week from now. does anyone have a report on conditions, plankton bloom, etc?

 

[Gdog]

Very cool...not to hijack, but where are you planning on diving?

 

[Gdog]

Dove 2 dives on San Juan Island on the 26, and 27th. Dove Deadmans Bay, and Eagle Cove. both ok...nothing special. Eagle Cove has a lot of surge, and very very shallow. Wanted to Dive Lime Kiln Point, but didnt get to. One note, the only air fills on the island are at Friday Harbor Marine, and they dont get in a big hurry to fill you. Just because they are open doesnt mean there is someone there who can fill tanks. Nice people tho. The dive shop is really not their primary focus.
Great Island, nice people. Vis isnt bad, we had up to 30'. Good luck!

 

[DiverMike10]

Sorry for letting this lapse; I've been offline for a while. We had a great week in the San Juan Islands, mostly on Orcas for diving and cycling, on San Juan for sea kayaking. We did our dives in Doe Bay on the East shore of Orcas Island, which was very shallow (I maxed out at 25 ft, most of the dives were spent around 15 ft). I read that there is a 50 ft wall to the SE, but the currents were such that we didn't venture very far in that direction. The bottom of the bay is silty with abundant eel grass and kelp beds, but with a good variety of macro life if you take the time to look for it. Just don't hit bottom with a fin or the viz will be silted out. We got in a night dive and enjoyed seeing the crabs and shrimp out and about, and the fish sleeping on the bottom.

Are there any boats running dive charters in the Islands? The folks in Friday Harbor said no, not since the Naknek stopped running. Is this so?

 

[Gdog]

Lu-Jacs out of anacortes runs some dives in the San Juans...

Lu-Jac's Quest- Dive Charters in the San Juan Islands