Arrived at Salt Creek last Monday night (one week before Memorial Day) to an almost empty campground, and picked a perfect site overlooking the Straight of Juan De Fuca and right next to the stairs leading down to the water on the west end.
Listened to the surf all night and kinda slept and got up at 5:30am. I have a camping espresso maker (gift), so I made a double mocha, tossed it down, donned my gear and completed two solo dives before 11:00. First dive had gentle ebb current with some nice surge and 15 visibility. The second dive was the same with increased current. The further you get from the protection of the kelp beds near shore, the more the current, and at one point I just pulled myself along the rocks on the bottom for a while. Then back up to camp where Priscilla had a campfire going, breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee. Oh, yeah
After the 2 dives, it was a trip to Port Angeles for air.
The dive site was just as I remembered (sometimes my memory improves a dive with time) with lots of great colors, beautiful red, green and white anemones, purple and red urchins, yellow and red sponges, new-growth bull kelp forests, abalone, scallops, nudibranches and schools of thousands of tiny fish. The bottom is sand and pebbles, and there are wonderful rock structures covered with growth and marine life. There are not a lot of the bigger fish, a few lingcod and kelp greenlings. I loved the feel of the surge, and the non-silt bottom. Floating with (not fighting) the surge is relaxing and serene. And riding the swells on the surface as I timed my entries and exits was a blast. This is the real ocean, and I love it.
One Wednesday AM Bob L. arrived and we made two dives. Bob has The Eye, and I enjoy letting him play tour guide as he points out the great stuff I would normally miss. We really hit the slack on the second dive, and the visibility was a good 20 feet. Nice! Then it was back to PA for air. We planned a third dive in the afternoon, but aborted it due to high surf. Instead we toured the campground, taking pictures of each other and beautiful Crescent Bay. Then we B-B-Qd shrimp, scallops and ribs over the campfire, ate and played Scrabble until bedtime.
Up at 6:30 for 2 more nice dives, said goodbye to Bob, then back to PA for more air. This was Thursday and the campground was beginning to fill up as we neared the three-day weekend.
That night at 8:30, my friend Tony from Spokane arrived. We set up his tent, looked at the pictures Bob had taken (now on my laptop) and talked diving. We looked over current charts, tide charts, and planned tomorrows dives.
Next morning we made two dives. The surge was up some, and timing exits and entries was a little tricky. This was Tonys first time in salt water and he took to it like a fish. We timed the sets; surface swam out, then just relaxed outside the break line, enjoying the back and forth ride of the surge. Then we descended and practiced hovering over the bottom and letting the surge ride us around without fighting it. When you hover over a 3 kelp bed, as youre washed back and forth with the kelp, it looks and feels like youre not moving, until the bottom comes in sight, sailing beneath you like IT is moving, not you. Very cool. Tony loved the dives, did great in the surge and the current and the kelp and said the 8-hour drive was definitely worth it.
Back to PA for air and then a third dive. The surge was absolutely up, and we looked at it hard before deciding it was do-able. On the big sets, waves were defiantly crashing onto the rocks around the channel we used as our entry/exit point. But after the big wave set, we went out during a group of easy swells, no problem. The visibility was down to about 8-10. And the surge on the bottom was extreme. Even at 35, the surge would pull us around like (quote from Tony), a carnival ride. To get a close look at anything you would have to grab onto a rock and just let the surge whip you back and forth. Several times, while holding tight to a rock, my rapid accent alarm would go off as a small mountain of water would travel over above us, effetely increasing our depth.
At the end of the dive, we surfaced to a different ocean then the one we entered. The swells were now huge, and even during the gentle wave sets, waves were crashing dangerously into the rocks. People had come down from the campground just to watch the surf action. Riding the giant swells up and down, just outside the surf-line increased our anticipation of making the entry. When it looked like the biggest set of waves had passed, I turned to Tony to say, Go! and saw him already on his way. We swam like crazy with the inward surge, and rode the backward pulls back out. We were about half way in when the big waves returned. It was like being inside of a washing machine, with zero visibility and all I could do was swim like mad with my hands out in front to push off the rocks. But the water was pulling us back out as fast as we could swim in, and we were trapped in the rocky surf zone. I was tiring fast.
Wave after wave, we were getting nowhere, tossed around in the crashing waves. I had a death bite on my regulator. Once I looked over at Tony and he was on his back being banged down onto a rock. Yeee-haaaa!! he cheered. Was he crazy???
Finally the big set passed and we managed to finish the swim in. We climbed up onto shore and just stood there panting at each other. Slowly, we both started smiling, then laughing. Now THAT was exciting! It was a long hump back up the stairs back to camp. We were both exhausted.
That night, we B-B-Qd steaks and shrimp over the campfire. Good food, good diving and good friends over a campfire is about as good as it gets.
One more dive with Tony the next morning, and then he had to leave. The swell was still up a little, but nothing like the night before. It was a blast doing the safety stop 2 feet above the urchin covered rocks, and riding the surge back and forth across it, travling as much as 20 feet. Fun ride!
I had 4 more dives planned before I left on Monday, but that Saturday night I came down with the flu, bad, and we made the trek back to Spokane Sunday morning.
So I sit here recovering on the couch, re-enjoying my dives at Salt Creek, and recommending to any PS divers who have not dived here before, try it. Youll like it!
*More Pics Next Post
Listened to the surf all night and kinda slept and got up at 5:30am. I have a camping espresso maker (gift), so I made a double mocha, tossed it down, donned my gear and completed two solo dives before 11:00. First dive had gentle ebb current with some nice surge and 15 visibility. The second dive was the same with increased current. The further you get from the protection of the kelp beds near shore, the more the current, and at one point I just pulled myself along the rocks on the bottom for a while. Then back up to camp where Priscilla had a campfire going, breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee. Oh, yeah
After the 2 dives, it was a trip to Port Angeles for air.
The dive site was just as I remembered (sometimes my memory improves a dive with time) with lots of great colors, beautiful red, green and white anemones, purple and red urchins, yellow and red sponges, new-growth bull kelp forests, abalone, scallops, nudibranches and schools of thousands of tiny fish. The bottom is sand and pebbles, and there are wonderful rock structures covered with growth and marine life. There are not a lot of the bigger fish, a few lingcod and kelp greenlings. I loved the feel of the surge, and the non-silt bottom. Floating with (not fighting) the surge is relaxing and serene. And riding the swells on the surface as I timed my entries and exits was a blast. This is the real ocean, and I love it.
One Wednesday AM Bob L. arrived and we made two dives. Bob has The Eye, and I enjoy letting him play tour guide as he points out the great stuff I would normally miss. We really hit the slack on the second dive, and the visibility was a good 20 feet. Nice! Then it was back to PA for air. We planned a third dive in the afternoon, but aborted it due to high surf. Instead we toured the campground, taking pictures of each other and beautiful Crescent Bay. Then we B-B-Qd shrimp, scallops and ribs over the campfire, ate and played Scrabble until bedtime.
Up at 6:30 for 2 more nice dives, said goodbye to Bob, then back to PA for more air. This was Thursday and the campground was beginning to fill up as we neared the three-day weekend.
That night at 8:30, my friend Tony from Spokane arrived. We set up his tent, looked at the pictures Bob had taken (now on my laptop) and talked diving. We looked over current charts, tide charts, and planned tomorrows dives.
Next morning we made two dives. The surge was up some, and timing exits and entries was a little tricky. This was Tonys first time in salt water and he took to it like a fish. We timed the sets; surface swam out, then just relaxed outside the break line, enjoying the back and forth ride of the surge. Then we descended and practiced hovering over the bottom and letting the surge ride us around without fighting it. When you hover over a 3 kelp bed, as youre washed back and forth with the kelp, it looks and feels like youre not moving, until the bottom comes in sight, sailing beneath you like IT is moving, not you. Very cool. Tony loved the dives, did great in the surge and the current and the kelp and said the 8-hour drive was definitely worth it.
Back to PA for air and then a third dive. The surge was absolutely up, and we looked at it hard before deciding it was do-able. On the big sets, waves were defiantly crashing onto the rocks around the channel we used as our entry/exit point. But after the big wave set, we went out during a group of easy swells, no problem. The visibility was down to about 8-10. And the surge on the bottom was extreme. Even at 35, the surge would pull us around like (quote from Tony), a carnival ride. To get a close look at anything you would have to grab onto a rock and just let the surge whip you back and forth. Several times, while holding tight to a rock, my rapid accent alarm would go off as a small mountain of water would travel over above us, effetely increasing our depth.
At the end of the dive, we surfaced to a different ocean then the one we entered. The swells were now huge, and even during the gentle wave sets, waves were crashing dangerously into the rocks. People had come down from the campground just to watch the surf action. Riding the giant swells up and down, just outside the surf-line increased our anticipation of making the entry. When it looked like the biggest set of waves had passed, I turned to Tony to say, Go! and saw him already on his way. We swam like crazy with the inward surge, and rode the backward pulls back out. We were about half way in when the big waves returned. It was like being inside of a washing machine, with zero visibility and all I could do was swim like mad with my hands out in front to push off the rocks. But the water was pulling us back out as fast as we could swim in, and we were trapped in the rocky surf zone. I was tiring fast.
Wave after wave, we were getting nowhere, tossed around in the crashing waves. I had a death bite on my regulator. Once I looked over at Tony and he was on his back being banged down onto a rock. Yeee-haaaa!! he cheered. Was he crazy???
Finally the big set passed and we managed to finish the swim in. We climbed up onto shore and just stood there panting at each other. Slowly, we both started smiling, then laughing. Now THAT was exciting! It was a long hump back up the stairs back to camp. We were both exhausted.
That night, we B-B-Qd steaks and shrimp over the campfire. Good food, good diving and good friends over a campfire is about as good as it gets.
One more dive with Tony the next morning, and then he had to leave. The swell was still up a little, but nothing like the night before. It was a blast doing the safety stop 2 feet above the urchin covered rocks, and riding the surge back and forth across it, travling as much as 20 feet. Fun ride!
I had 4 more dives planned before I left on Monday, but that Saturday night I came down with the flu, bad, and we made the trek back to Spokane Sunday morning.
So I sit here recovering on the couch, re-enjoying my dives at Salt Creek, and recommending to any PS divers who have not dived here before, try it. Youll like it!
*More Pics Next Post
