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skills. It’s an extreme dive due to current, surge, depth, expo-
sure and fog. Only a handful of days each year yield the right
mix of conditions for safe diving.
Duncan is not happening for us this trip. Conditions aren’t
perfect, so we pass it by. No worries. In my logbook, I’ve always
awarded first-place honors to
Waddah Island Fingers
. It’s an
advanced site just outside Neah Bay and more frequently dive-
able than Duncan. Charismatic megafauna? Check. Abundant
fish and polychromatic inverts? Check. Interesting bottomogra-
phy? Checkmate. We wait until kelp buoys to the surface, and
then we descend into its midst. We punch through a swarm
of blue and black rockfish and head to the edge of a narrow
ridge. Visibility is 30 feet, enough to truly appreciate the fertile
gardens for Metridium anemones, which glow an eerie greenish
white. I’m stalking a quillback rockfish that hovers over rasp-
berry soft corals when my buddy points excitedly downslope.
A serpentine shape slithers across the gorge. We power ahead
attempting to intercept the 6-foot-long wolf eel, but we’re too
late. He disappears into his den. Before I can curse, a lumpy
head emerges, and with a gap-toothed grin the Muppet monster
launches outward into my camera. I love wolf eels.
I’m even more enamored of giant pacific octopuses. At 80
feet we’re given a second major dose of luck when we stumble
across a “GPO.” This one is just a teenager, only 5 feet across.
It’s on the prowl, probing cracks and crevices. Tasting the
substrate with suckered arms, it appears to be hot on the trail
of some hapless crab. Then it stands tall, blushes from brown
to brick red, and fleshy fingers spring up from its chameleon-
like skin. All-knowing eyes scan me up and down. If only I
could connect with its alien intellect. If I had gills I’d spend
forever down here in its presence, but current is building, and
gas is running low. Reluctantly we turn about, and in the calm
afforded by the slanting wall, we swim back upslope.
Although most of these sites are accessible only by boat, there
are some excellent shore dives on the Peninsula.
Sekiu Jetty
, 15
miles to the east, hosts hordes of critters crammed into a maze of
kelp-covered rocks just beyond the surf line. I see kelp greenlings,
ling cod, schools of shimmering baitfish and handsome cop-
per rockfish. The rocks bustle with crustaceans (including very
unusual heart crabs), various sculpins and mosshead warbonnets.
Piles of discarded shellfish remains mark octopus lairs, and in the
adjacent eelgrass I spy stalked jellies and silverspot sculpins. Due
to very shallow depths (35 feet maximum) I can submerge for 80
to 90 minutes. Since fishermen often patrol the kelp bed’s outer
edge, fly a dive flag if you explore near the perimeter.
Access to my other favorite shore dive,
Salt Creek County
Park
, can be a bit of a bear. If waves are breaking at Tongue
Point, I try Sekiu instead. But at high slack tide with no surf,
I’ll scamper (carefully) down the rocks and kick out to explore
a remarkable reef between 30 and 60 feet deep.
About 400 yards offshore (and ergo a boat dive) is the
wreck of the Diamond Knot
. This 326-foot freighter sank
in the 1940s and has become an extraordinary artificial reef
supporting loads of life. The wreck is deep, resting at 135 feet.
Current rips this advanced site, and it’s completely exposed to
weather. If conditions are favorable and your training appro-
priate, dive the Knot with an experienced operator for an
exhilarating look into Washington’s maritime history.
“Wild and woolly.” It’s a concise summary of Olympic
Peninsula diving and hints at the adventures to be found there.
When you’re ready to shake off the smothering cloak of civi-
lization, leave the crowds far behind and immerse yourself in
a local diving experience that seems anything but, head west
to the edge of the map. You’ll know you’re there when the sea
overwhelms you.
AD
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SPRING 2012
LOCAL DIVING
CONDITIONS:
Dive season on the Olympic Peninsula is late spring through
mid-fall, with most folks targeting late summer. Average water tempera-
tures range from 42°F to 48°F. Visibility may be anywhere from 5 to 50
feet, and plankton blooms can occur. Most of the diving in the Neah Bay
region is intermediate to advanced; some sites might even be considered
extreme. Weather and sea conditions are prone to sudden changes.
Time your dives for slack water. Some days the current never completely
stops, but it usually slows enough to allow diving. It’s safest to go with
those who know the local currents. Always evaluate the conditions on site,
use a “live” boat, carry surface-signaling devices and have a contingency
plan that accounts for current. It’s the lifeblood of Pacific Northwest diving.
GETTING THERE:
Neah Bay is a four- to five-hour drive from Seattle and
a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Portland, Ore. Take US Highway 101
to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. Continue west on 101 to the
101/112 junction, and then turn right onto State Highway 112. Drive
west on 112 for approximately 11 miles to Salt Creek or 46 miles to
Sekiu. Highway 112 ends at Neah Bay, 18 miles west of Sekiu.
HOW TO DIVE IT