Keystone currents?

[DaleC]

Some of us did Keystone yesterday (a lot of life there!) but the currents confused me. We dove right on the slack in the morning and encountered the fastest current (near the end of the jetty) that I've ever experienced (horizontal kelp). In the afternoon we dove an hour before slack and there was no current at all in the same location (vertical kelp).

Any locals have an explanation?

 

[akirawut]

One for the PNW USA forum maybe?

Did you guys get any photos? Sounds like quite a good site!

 

[TSandM]

First off, currents aren't always precisely as predicted. And currents at Keystone can be quirky -- there's a circular eddy behind the jetty. You can, for example, dive the site on large floods, but it gets much more dicey on large ebbs. In my experience, there is ALWAYS current at the end of the jetty, and we just dive out until it really begins to tug at us, and then we turn around and go back.

Keystone is one of the finest shore dives I've done in all of Puget Sound -- the site is beautiful and incredibly dense with life. Check out THIS thread for things you can see at Keystone!

 

[DaleC]

...and we just dive out until it really begins to tug at us, and then we turn around and go back.

Now they tell me... those are my claw marks at the end of the jetty :shocked2:

It is a very interesting dive. Good facilities and an amazing variety of life. Thanks Lynne.