If only one dive?

[Randy8876]

A friend of mine wants to go diving in Puget with me. She will probably only get to do one dive and I'd prefer to keep it a fairly easy dive since she has no experience with cold water and just a little experience with poor vis. Any recommendations on a shore dive that has plenty to see and is fairly easy?

 

[diveborg]

Where exactly in the Puget Sound are you interested in diving?

If you are close to Edmunds, I'd suggest the underwater park there. There is an Underwater Sports dive shop near by for rentals and the site itself is an easy, shallow dive. There is a map of the park on the side of the restroom. The one thing you need to plan for is the tides so you can avoid any potential current.

I'm sure you'll get more responses, especially if can narrow down where it would be convenient for you to dive.

 

[whatevah]

Edmonds Underwater Park is a good option almost any time. On the other hand, if you have the luxury of diving at high slack, Keystone Jetty is hard to beat - the variety of life there is astounding. Granted, Keystone Jetty stretches the definition of "Puget Sound", but lately every dive there seems to offer me a bunch of different nudibranchs, mosshead warbonnets, decorator warbonnets, puget sound rockfish, yellowtail rockfish, copper rockfish, black rockfish, GPOs, vast clouds of plumose anemone, painted anemone, gargantuan lingcod, buffalo sculpin etc etc.

 

[Randy8876]

I'll be staying in the Sumner area, but I'm willing to drive up to 2 hours to get to a good dive site. I've bragged about how great the diving is in Puget, so now I have to make sure to pick the right spot.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

A friend of mine wants to go diving in Puget with me. She will probably only get to do one dive and I'd prefer to keep it a fairly easy dive since she has no experience with cold water and just a little experience with poor vis. Any recommendations on a shore dive that has plenty to see and is fairly easy?

Well, you can do it from shore, but it's better from a boat ... Sunrise. Give her a shot at seeing wolf eels and octopus.

I'd call Bandito and see if they have a charter on the day you want to go ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[gomi_otaku]

I think this is a great topic, even if you weren't doing it to select a spot to take someone.
From my limited experience, the Underwater Park would be great earlier in the spring. My first 10 dives were there, and the las times I went all I was doing was swimming across an endless salad bowl. While it gets mention in every magazine article about the area, it's best when the kelp is at it's lowest.
I'd recommend going just a few blocks farther and doing the Oil Dock. First dive I did outside the park, and my best dive ever, even more so than the wrecks on my OW cert dives. Tons, literally, tons, of ratfish and sunflower stars, and if you have the benefit of sunlight, it's amazing to be under the dock swimming through the pilings. There were schools of shiner perch, tubesnouts, and oh, did I mention the ratfish? If you don't get a chance to see a six-gill, there's always the chance to see a dogfish there as well.
Of course, I'll be diving Sunrise for the first time this Saturday, so my opinions may change.
gomi_

 

[TSandM]

In the South Sound, for a shallow, easy dive, I sure love Titlow. The only issue there is that you have to get the currents just right. But the site is loaded with life, and the plumose anemones are denser on the pilings there than anywhere else I've been. I've done two dives there, and both were memorable.

But if you can do a charter, the Bandito is convenient to you, and they'll take you places like Sunrise and Zee's Reef which are just wonderful dive sites. There, you are very likely to be able to show your friend the critters we're famous for -- octopus and Wolf eels. You MIGHT see them at Titlow, if you go south of the pilings (so I've read, anyway) but you almost certainly will at the boat dive sites.

 

[Dean810]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Alki Cove 2 yet. Easy to get to, no current to speak of, lots of life, real bathrooms, shower, parking, and a fish & chips joint to boot! Maybe its in the wrong location for him? I don't know Sumner, being from out of town.

 

[TSandM]

Well, Sumner's down south, and if I only had the opportunity to do ONE dive in the Seattle area, I wouldn't choose Cove 2 unless tides/currents necessitated it. And from Sumner, under those conditions, I'd probably do Les Davis instead.

 

[DiverLaura]

Cove 2 is a mud hole But it has no current issues.

Edmonds Marina Beach is a long *** swim for someone not used to the cold water gear, and it has potential for current issues and excessive depth. I would not recommend it for taking a less experienced buddy on their first NW dive.

The Edmonds underwater park also milder current issues, tons of marine life, shallow comparitively, showers, bathrooms, etc... but has a long swim.

It is recommended to dive keystone on a minimal exchange weekend, as far as color goes it is quite pretty...

I would have to agree with Bob, if you really want to show her the best of the best, Sunrise off a charter boat. I'm not sure that is the best plan though for someone with zero cold water experience.

I would stick with the Edmonds Underwater park, talk to her and decide what she is more comfortable doing (slog or swim on the surface or meander underwater at shallow depth) as it takes a bit to get out to the 'good stuff' AKA enhancements.

What is her experience level? One can be a heck of a cave/wreck/tech diver and never have touched cold water. This would help with giving input