Diving Glacier Bay

[Tristan.ak]

Im going there this summer, and I was there last summer. You have to remember that there is glaciers dumping tons of fine sediment into the water. You could find a clear section if you look hard but my best bet would be outside of GB. Vis is going to be normal, around 5 feet also GB has some of the strongest currents. I was there for fishing along with visiting friends and when we anchored, the boat was almost at plan. Juneau diving is great but only when it clears up. Anyone dive Yakatat bay? I doing field work out there for the summer and I noticed a few inlets that looked clear.

 

[geoff w]

... You have to remember that there is glaciers dumping tons of fine sediment into the water. You could find a clear section if you look hard but my best bet would be outside of GB. Vis is going to be normal, around 5 feet also GB has some of the strongest currents. I was there for fishing along with visiting friends and when we anchored, the boat was almost at plan...

Thanks for sharing your experience! With conditions like that, I'm tending toward leaving my dry suit at home when we visit our friends (hopefully in July) and spending all my time above the water. The most I was expecting to get in was only one dive, and the logistics probably make it a non-starter; I can get 5 ft viz at home

 

[geoff w]

Our friends with the sailboat we're planning on meeting in Glacier Bay don't have a phone line or fax machine, so they asked us to fax in the Private Vessel application for cruising Glacier Bay in July. I called the NPS office to get the straight story on the application, and then asked the ranger about diving in Glacier Bay. In the northern section where all the glaciers come down, visibility is pretty marginal at best. In the lower section of Glacier Bay, supposedly visibility improves, but still nothing spectacular. Sea life is typical cold water critters, with plenty of squid and octopus, and water in the 33-40°F range. Our friends said with the Orcas in the water, they won't be jumping in and diving. At this point, I'm leaning toward leaving my dry suit at home and diving elsewhere in the Pacific northwest some other trip