Historical interest: :thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
Ease of access: :thumbs_down:
Overall fun: :star:
Disappointment factor: :disappoin:disappoin:disappoin:disappoin
From 1893-1936 ships coming in to Puget Sound were inspected and disinfected at Diamond Point. Today all that remains of the facility are the wooden pier pilings and a couple of old buildings. Because all the land is now private property, we approached it by boat and tied up at the pilings.
We were giddy with excitement. Lots of ships came through here... There must be loads of stuff down there! Uh... maybe. We sure didn't see it.
Beyond the pier the bottom slopes steeply down, heavy with sediments and organic matter. If anything was there it's either at the bottom of the abyss (120+ ft?) or, more likely, buried deeply under all the detritus. From the south end of the old pier we followed the slope down to 95ft; it showed no sign of flattening out (and there was absolutely no evidence of bottles or booty), so we came back up and patrolled the entire length of the pier from 50ft to under the pilings. Nada.
The bottom had a deoxygenated look to it. Currents were slight but erratic, with an interesting downwelling at one point; visibility was a so-so 20ft. We saw a number of female rock crabs apparently strip-mining the slope for nesting sites, a couple of monster nudibranchs and some huge clam shells, but that's about it. Well huh. We've heard reports of the "rock pile" there, presumably a ballast pile of rocks, but we didn't see it. Overall conclusion: a huge disappointment. Perhaps someone can guide us to the 'right' spot next time, but otherwise we decided to dive elsewhere (which we did and had a great dive at nearby Ed's Fault. If you find an Ikelite PCa flashlight near the pinnacle there, it's mine.)
For more history on the quarantine pier you can check out the Washington State History entry; they have a neat picture of the original pier. For more info on Diamond Point in general see Wikipedia. If you have had a more positive experience diving the quarantine pier I'd like to hear from you.
glenn
Ease of access: :thumbs_down:
Overall fun: :star:
Disappointment factor: :disappoin:disappoin:disappoin:disappoin
From 1893-1936 ships coming in to Puget Sound were inspected and disinfected at Diamond Point. Today all that remains of the facility are the wooden pier pilings and a couple of old buildings. Because all the land is now private property, we approached it by boat and tied up at the pilings.
We were giddy with excitement. Lots of ships came through here... There must be loads of stuff down there! Uh... maybe. We sure didn't see it.
Beyond the pier the bottom slopes steeply down, heavy with sediments and organic matter. If anything was there it's either at the bottom of the abyss (120+ ft?) or, more likely, buried deeply under all the detritus. From the south end of the old pier we followed the slope down to 95ft; it showed no sign of flattening out (and there was absolutely no evidence of bottles or booty), so we came back up and patrolled the entire length of the pier from 50ft to under the pilings. Nada.
The bottom had a deoxygenated look to it. Currents were slight but erratic, with an interesting downwelling at one point; visibility was a so-so 20ft. We saw a number of female rock crabs apparently strip-mining the slope for nesting sites, a couple of monster nudibranchs and some huge clam shells, but that's about it. Well huh. We've heard reports of the "rock pile" there, presumably a ballast pile of rocks, but we didn't see it. Overall conclusion: a huge disappointment. Perhaps someone can guide us to the 'right' spot next time, but otherwise we decided to dive elsewhere (which we did and had a great dive at nearby Ed's Fault. If you find an Ikelite PCa flashlight near the pinnacle there, it's mine.)
For more history on the quarantine pier you can check out the Washington State History entry; they have a neat picture of the original pier. For more info on Diamond Point in general see Wikipedia. If you have had a more positive experience diving the quarantine pier I'd like to hear from you.
glenn
