Dragged to Seattle in October

[azchipka]

So I am being dragged to seattle in October for a wedding. From everything I have seen all signs are pointing to it being the worst possible time to visit the area since all the whales have already passed through.

Looking for some recommendations for shops to dive through and cool sites worth visiting.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks

 

[Peter Guy]

Whales? We have whales here? Where?

Hmmm, October diving in Puget Sound -- hmmm -- water warmish, lighting not bad -- viz may be OK -- not too much rain perhaps.

Nah, no one would want to dive in Puget Sound in October.

 

[gcbryan]

It's a good dive to dive. Plankton is gone for the year and the rains may not have started so viz could be better than average. The surface weather would be mild and anyway it's always a good time to dive in Seattle.

All the dive shops are good and there are many shore dive sites as well as a few charters.

Which dive shop will probably depend on exactly where you are going to be based out of. Is it downtown Seattle or somewhere else?

Side note: In the days of more plentiful sightings of Sixgill Sharks October was a very good month as well.

 

[TSandM]

October weather can be chancy, but the visibility is generally good and there is still lots of life in the water. In fact, September and October tend to be good diving months!

If you post closer to your trip, I'm sure you can pick up some buddies who'd be willing to do a dive or two with you and show you the local sites. We also still have a few excellent charter boats, although they tend to be a bit of a drive from Seattle proper.

 

[calebdespins]

I also am planning a trip out to dive in Puget sound, but looking at the first week of september. Looks like a lot of good sites require a boat to get there, so looking for a dive charter recomendation. Also, curious about water temp. at depths. Diving in lake Michigan right now so dive a 8 mm semi dry wet suit, and usually see mid 40's for a water temp under 60 feet. Pretty comparable to what i'll expect in the sound? Any info would be great, excited to get out there and dive!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Water temps in September are as warm as it ever gets here ... mid 50's. Plenty to see, if the rainfall and plankton blooms cooperate ... even on shore dives.

If you have a chance to get up to Anacortes (1.5 hours north of Seattle), there are some great sites via charter in the San Juan Islands ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

What are the dates of your trip? The week of the 8th, the tides are pretty ugly -- so a charter might be the only option to dive some of our better sites. The NakNek and LuJac's Quest are two San Juan Island charter boats, or if you are staying in the south end, Bandito Charters is a good operation. None of them runs routine weekday charters, but they will go out if there are enough divers.

 

[calebdespins]

Will be there Monday the 6th through saturday the eleventh, have been told to check out edmonds underwater park for a good shore dive spot, any advice there? Haven't looked into doing a san juan island charter yet, but will do so if its worth the trip. Would love to see some pacific octopus, seals if possible. Gratefull diver, you said water temp is in the 50's, is that at depth? just did a dive in lake michigan today, was 44 at 55 feet, so i'm used to it but if its in the 50's at depth there, it'll feel like a warm bath compared to here! Thanks for all the info, please keep it coming.

 

[Brandon]

I wish I could be so lucky to be stuck in Seattle for a long weekend =) I grew up there, but since moving to Alaska I'm only around when passing through to somewhere else, and never with enough time to check out some kick butt Puget Sound diving. It's different from Florida for sure... but in a good way.

Enjoy yourself!

-B

 

[TSandM]

Well, September 8th, there is an 11 foot tidal exchange, with the nadir at roughly noon . . . This means big currents all morning and all afternoon, and crummy low water during the majority of the day. This pattern holds through the week, although at the moment, the site I use for looking at it is down. Edmonds is not good to dive at very low tide (long wade to water deep enough to dive in) and can have significant current during big exchanges.

The best diving will probably be in the early morning, getting somewhat better as the week goes on (but I'm doing a gut-level forecast here, as the site is down).

Charters offer a little wider range of options, because you can drift something that you couldn't do as a "must return to entry point" dive.