Newbie planning first dive at Edmonds UWP, questions...

[Matt S.]

I am hoping to dive Edmonds Underwater Park tomorrow with my wife. We are VERY new divers, having only made 1 simple dive on our own after finishing OW class. In fact, all of our dives so far have been at Cove 1.

I have my copy of Northwest Shore Dives and I am trying to plan an outing to Edmonds tomorrow, but I have a couple of questions.

Tides
From what I have read around here, you want to dive EUWP at high tide since it's a pretty shallow site. But I can't figure out which tide station to use. Can I just use the Seattle values? It looks like high tides are going to be while it is dark, so the best time to dive with some light would be around 8 AM? Tides would be up somewhat around 4 PM too, but that is close to max flood.

Currents
I found some material online that says currents aren't a big deal here. I assume I should still try to plan around a slack current. 8 AM is about halfway to max ebb current though, is that a deal breaker?

Dive Plan?
I was planning on getting a map at the LDS there, and simply following the ropes out and back, staying far away from the ferry. But it's hard to figure this part out with no actual experience at the site.

I greatly appreciate any advice. I'm learning this as I go, dive planning (WRT currents and tides) is not covered much in PADI OW.

Maybe we should just hit Cove 2 instead, around 8 AM or 3-4 PM?

Am I overthinking this?

Thanks again.

 

[dsteding]

Matt-

The concern at EUP is a southerly current that can pull you into the ferry dock. For that reason alone, newer divers probably should dive it at slack. Also, navigation here can be tricky because of the flat slope. There are ropes to use for navigating, and they run N-S and E-W, but I still find myself using a compass to figure out which ropes I am on when I run across them.

A general dive plan is to swim out to the end of the jetty and out to the buoys that run E-W ("Jetty Way" on the maps). You can descend on one of the buoys, follow the rope west, then run north when you run into another set of ropes. We generally do the dive based on pressure or time, and do a square circuit. If, for instance, you are using an AL 80, you could descend, use 500 PSI going west, 500 psi going north, 500 psi going east and 500 psi going south (this reserves you 1000 psi which is probably more than your 500 psi end-the-dive rule from OW, but I am a bit more conservative in gas planning . . . a separate issue to read about here, search for "rock bottom" or PM NWGrateful Diver for more info). Or-doing it on time--you can go ten minutes west, ten minutes north, ten minutes east, and ten minutes south. Legs depend on how much gas you will be using. If you do that square circuit, you can swim back up slope (when heading east on leg 3 of the dive) to about 10 fsw and work your way south until you hit the jetty. Nice thing there is you are good and shallow for a while, and can surface to take a peak of where you are if you get a bit disoriented.

To be honest, because of the flat bottom, currents, and the looming issue of the ferry (which, at times, can sound like it is right on top of you if on the south side of the part) this site can be tricky for newer divers to navigate. I know it was for me the first few times there. How do you feel about using a compass and navigating underwater? Does the above dive plan sound like it is within your comfort level? Where did you do your OW dives? There are much more experienced divers on this board that might offer different opinions, but those are at least a few questions to ask before striking out on your own. EUP is shallow, but it isn't without hazards.

As for overthinking this, I'd say you are not doing that at all. To the contrary, these are exactly the types of questions to ask yourself, and it sounds like you are on a good track in terms of dive planning.

There are lots of divers on this board--myself included--that would be happy to show you around EUP. A couple dives there with someone who knows the site will make you familiar with it, and that will make it easier to navigate on your own. As for doing the dive or not, I won't tell you one way or the other, but at least you are gathering enough information to make an informed, educated, choice.

-Doug

 

[lundysd]

Good summary, but you forgot the most important thing..... never EVER dive with Doug

Just kidding -- in all seriousness, the only real danger is the southern side. Thinking about tides and navigation this early is a great idea though. Just make sure to take a bearing for shore and keep it in mind throughout the dive, adjusting for current if necessary. Like Doug said, there are plenty of older divers willing to mentor and assist the newer divers in the area.

Edmonds is a good place to begin diving, but don't forget about the other great sites (Redondo, Alki, etc).

 

[dsteding]

Good summary, but you forgot the most important thing..... never EVER dive with Doug

I break that rule every time I go for a dive . . .

 

[TSandM]

If you look at the entry for Edmonds in Northwest Shore Dives, there will be a time correction for current, and that refers to the Admiralty Inlet current station.

Edmonds is diveable on all tides, but very low (minus) tides are a PITA. I have had to wade out past the jetty to get into water deep enough to put fins on, and that's no fun. Tomorrow's tides aren't that low, but you have two big exchanges, which is going to mean some current.

Current CAN get significant at this site, but is only a real problem when it's blowing toward the ferry. Otherwise, the worst that will happen to you is a long surface swim or walk at the end of the dive, from the north end of the park.

Edmonds has the advantage of having VERY simple navigation. It's basically N-S-E-W, and has the rope grid on the bottom. A nice dive is to swim out just past the end of the jetty, submerge, and head about 330 until you run into the first rope, which is Jetty Way. You can go straight out Jetty Way, exploring the structures you encounter on either side, and then come back, or you can turn along one of the cross-ropes and go to the next east-west path and come back that way.

Looking at tomorrow's tides and currents, I'd either try to dive at slack (using the corrections from the book) or go elsewhere. Cove 2 is a very nice beginner dive, but the navigation is somewhat more complex. You really don't have to worry about the tides there, although getting in and out on minus tides is tricky because you have to cross concrete slabs covered in algae, and they're slippery.

Site maps for a lot of local sites can be found on the PNW Scuba site.

Have a good dive tomorrow!

 

[lamont]

If you go out jetty way keep a look out for a north-south running line with milk crates stacked on it which is the northern lights. If you hang a right from jetty way onto northern lights you should go past the cathedrals (huge 15' x 15' blocks of concrete). And if you head back in East from the cathedrals you'll exit along cathedral way. That's a pretty good dive plan which keeps you completely away from the ferry dock.

 

[Matt S.]

Thanks a bunch for the replies. It sounds like it will be wise to pass on Edmonds UWP until we are diving with more experienced folks... At dive #2 I want a big bathtub.

I checked out Redondo online and it looks pretty cool too, so I think we'll head there.
It seems easier to navigate than Cove 2 and there seems to be a lot of stuff to look at in the 40-50 ft. range.

(Getting in the water at 10 AM makes the tide at Redondo about +6 ft. The lowest tide, around noon, is about 3.5 ft. Web guides say current's not a factor there.)

Thanks again, I can't believe how helpful our locals are.

 

[TSandM]

Redondo is a easy navigation dive, and there are a lot of structures in the 40 to 50 foot range. It's a better night dive, in my limited experience -- There's TONS of stuff there at night. If you go out tomorrow, be sure to look inside of pipes and things. The pipe boat has gunnels in almost every opening, but they're easy to miss if you don't know to look for them.

Give a holler when you guys want to try Edmonds again, and you'll be sure to find people who'll be happy to play tour guide. I think you'd even be okay with Doug

(He's one of my favorite dive buddies, BTW.)

 

[lamont]

I actually found edmonds to be really enjoyable as a newbie scuba diver -- although I always had someone more experienced than me leading the dive.

Since its so shallow, bottom times are longer. If you take an HP130 out there even new divers can push up to an hour of bottom time. Its also so flat that once you get your buoyancy dialed in it tends to stay more dialed in. That lets you concentrate on smaller adjustments in buoyancy control. It was difficult for me to learn about fine-tuning buoyancy control at alki because so much of the dives there were either ascending or descending and managing large shifts in buoyancy that I was constantly task loaded and typically too paranoid about popping to the surface to practice effectively. Edmonds was where I noticed that as I sucked my tank dry that I would need to compensate by dumping gas.

 

[Matt S.]

Well, we did Redondo. Nice site, plenty to see on a return trip. Vis was 15-20 ft. Temp was 48-46F.

The trip was uneventful, though we got a little disoriented on the steep slope and ended up touching 84 ft. It was really easy to overshoot 60 ft, I'll have to be more careful next time. (We were following the thick rope and ended up at the skull.)

Thanks again for all the advice.