Diving recommendations for Seattle/San Juan Islands

[potato cod]

Hi Orca Bait Divers,

My husband and I will be in WA at the end of July visiting friends in Seattle and doing a kayak trip in the San Juan Islands (based out of Friday Harbor). We'd also like to do some diving while we are there and are looking for some recommendations.

Here's a little more info about us:

1. We're looking for boat dives. Neither of us are very keen on shore diving and as a result we're not experienced shore divers either. That said, my husband had the chance to check out some of the life on the pier at the Friday Harbor research station when he was an undergrad at UW, and thinks puttering along the pier would be fun. Does anyone know if you're allowed to dive or snorkel along it?

2. We will each have ~110 dives logged, all in the last 5 years. We're AOW, Nitrox, and Rescue certified. However, almost all of our dives have been in warm tropical waters with great vis. We don't dive dry, but do have 7 mm suits with hooded vests and will try to get in some local diving this summer to get more practice in cold, lower vis water. (Not much in the way of aquatic life around here if you're not into zebra mussels, so we haven't gotten too excited about local diving. Wrecks are not of particular interest unless they harbor critters).

3. Also, while we've dove a few sites with slight-moderate currents in the Caribbean, we've never done any drift diving.

4. We like to dive well within our limits and stay relatively shallow. I.e., although we are AOW trained, we try to stay around 60' or above. Because diving in the Pacific NW will be very different from what we're used to, not pushing things on depth would make the most sense.

So, given those factors, we're interested in recommend operators either around Seattle/Puget Sound or the Friday Harbor/San Juan area that will accomodate divers with little experience with cold water/low vis/current.

Also, which of these areas would be recommended in terms of the overall quality of the diving/marine life?

Thanks for the help!

Potato Cod

 

[Peter Guy]

The Naknek is based in Friday Harbor and would be your best choice for boat dives (assuming no private boats) out of Friday Harbor.

If you are on the mainland then there are other boats available (Alluminator in Seattle, Bandito in Tacoma) but you should try shore diving. It is easy, simple and you can get to look at a lot of life.

I dive dry so I'm not the one who can tell you if a 7 mm +hooded vest will be sufficient. The water temp won't be above 56 F -- your choice.

Edmonds Underwater Park and Seacrest Park (Alki Coves 1,2 & 3) may be your best bets for shore diving -- easy access, lots of critters. However, in the summer, visibility may be limited, especially in the shallower depths.

Stay in touch and reach out to some of us who are here.

 

[TSandM]

As Peter said, the NakNek is based in Friday Harbor, and it's a good boat. Most of the dives in the San Juans are on walls, so you can more or less choose your depth. Dive sites are chosen to be sheltered from current or done at slack, so you're generally only going to be dealing with a gentle drift -- although there is NO guarantee of that!

But one of the things about Puget Sound is that, because the waters are sheltered from the open ocean (and often to some degree even from the wind) shore diving entries and exits are trivial. The only thing you really have to be careful about is knowing enough about the site to avoid diving one which is very current-sensitive at a time when the current will be strong.

I don't know anything about diving the pier in Friday Harbor, unfortunately.

The end of July is probably going to be fairly low viz, although you could luck out and hit the window between algae blooms. Water temperature will be in the low 50's. Most people diving wet here dive 7 mm Farmer Johns (so 14 mm of neoprene on the torso) and heavy hoods.

When you get closer to your actual trip, post here, or on nwdiveclub.com, and I'm sure you will be able to find some locals to help you sort out site choices and boats. We do have an awful lot of marine life to enjoy here!

 

[KeesBL]

Diving at the Friday Harbor Labs is off limits to those that aren't diving with the UW's research program there. That said, the life found there is found all around the puget sound, so if your husband enjoyed that you're likely to enjoy the cold-water diving we have around here.

I found a full 7mm suit quite cold this last summer. A hood thinner than 7mm is also going to be pretty cold. If your vest isn't 7mm throughout, you might consider tracking down a 7mm hooded vest or jacket of some kind - or consider trying out a drysuit (you'll enjoy your dives much more).

 

[potato cod]

Hey, thanks for all the advice so far! We'll be sure to bring lots of wetsuit. My current vest/hood is probably better suited to the tropics (3/5 mm), but I can either get or borrow a thicker one.

So, just how bad is the vis in the summer? Will we be able to see much of anything at this time?

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Yes you will be able to see on sanjuan, there are at least 5 shoredives on the island, most are shallow. The Naknek captain can tell you the tides for lime kiln lighthouse.

Naknek is also in front of the dock in friday harbor, this is where you will get your tanks and weights, call ahead and he can get what you need. When filling your tanks they can give you a predive. there are plenty of dives not far on there boat from the harbor.




Happy Diving

 

[TSandM]

Ten feet is pretty typical; it's fairly rare for it to go below that. That's plenty of viz to see a lot of sea life. We just don't shoot wide angle much here