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Wacoma Dock
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Another great place to grab a few crab for dinner. It's an easy drive, and parking is just a few feet away from the entry. If you're looking for peace and quiet, this is the place!
Directions: Take the nearest exit from the South side of the Newport Bridge. Head down the hill until you are by the water on East side of the bridge. You'll be on SE Marine Science Drive. Continue for a short way, and turn right on SE 25th Street, then left on SE Ferry Ship Road. When the road dead ends, you're there!.
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Diver
Reviews: (Please share your
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08/22/2009 Gunner (Avg: 3.23 Review) - Entry and parking is really easy. We just dropped to the bottom and headed toward the building and piling. Viz was probably about 6ft or so, and the water temp was 55. Under the building at high tide the depth was about 23ft. It's a pretty easy dive but you gotta watch out for the current. We ended up getting swept around the corner. It was also really windy so the surface was pretty choppy
05/27/2008 Mark Mills (Avg: 3.02 Review) - We dove this site a few times in a weekend. It was both my buddies and my first dive without a professional instructor/dive master with us. The vis was about 6ft and we saw a number of crab and other types of life. Once you get out a ways the current picks up when exchange is about to happen. Overall a good dive, one which we will return to.
01/27/2008 John Estabrook (Avg: 3.11 Review) - Dove the Wacoma dock to try out new gear. This is just a nice, easy dive. Gently sloping mud bottom with lots of shells, some starfish, a dozen clam necks sticking out of mud holes, a few anemones and one smaller ling cod. Water temp 45F, and the deepest point inside docks was 21' on a tide level of around 3 or 4 feet. The fill station has moved to the little store by the south beach boat launch ramp. You drive right by it on the way to the Wacoma dock dive spot. Haven't filled there yet but I will soon.
02/11/2006 Steve Stephens (Avg: 3.00 Review) - This is an addendum to my last review. The dive shop is gone. When we asked at the marina bait shop they said the guy who owned it is building condos on that site. The bait shop will be adding some limited dive shop type services soon.
02/09/2006 Steve Stephens (Avg: 3.03 Review) - This site was our first of the day, and probably the best. The vis sucked…. Had to get so close to the bottom to see anything that we kept bouncing off it, thus causing the vis to get worse. We also had a pretty strong current. Unfortunately, this may have been poor planning on our part as there was a huge swing in the tide (8.5 ft) so that caused most of our current problems. I would probably try this dive again when the tidal shift is smaller.
09/20/2005 Steven Dietzel (Avg: 3.18 Review) - We went in an attempt to get crab, but the vis was too bad to see anything. We had to get within 1 ft of the bottom before we could see it. The dive was easy and near a very knowledgeable dive shop. We would be willing to try again in better vis.
09/26/2003 Joel Priddy (Avg: 2.91 Review) - My brother and I dove here on the 21st of September just after high tide. The tide actually helped us in our pursuit of crab. If you swim in the North/South direction, any silt you kick up will get swept away by the tide going out to sea. We stayed next to the pier poles as most of the crab did. We saw lots of giant clam shells, perch, red rock and Dungeness crab, and another fish I have not yet been able to identify. We really enjoyed this dive. Vis was 8-10 feet.
09/15/2003 Dawn (Avg: 3.51 Review) - Diving under the docks is an interesting dive with plenty of legal sized Dungeness crab. Pile perch, anemones, whelks, hermit crabs, and nudibranches. Poor visibility when the wind is up. Bring a flashlight and a goodie bag if you are hunting or interested in picking up a little bit of garbage.
06/13/2002 Steve Frisbie (Avg: 3.27 Review) - If there is no current, this is a nice spot for beginners to get used to their gear and doing surface swims and such. If there is a current, it can be some work and experience would help. I dove here as part of my open water training and then later on just for kicks. Lots of grasses, clams, crabs, baby flounder, junk and such. There's actually quite a bit to look at here. My favorite thing, once I started noticing them, was all the green pipefish (seahorse relative) which were to be found mixed in with the grasses under the dock.
12/14/2001 Jeff Breazile (Avg: 3.33 Review) - My dive buddy and I attempted a night dive here 12/7/2001. Spent about 5 min. underwater, vis was maybe 2ft and current was clipping along nicely even before you could reach the dock shown in the picture. Lots of eel grass when you first enter the water until the bottoms drops away, which it does just like the description says. We did see an awful lot of Dungeness during our brief dive! The entry couldn't be any easier! You can almost step out of your car and into the water, from car to water and back entry and exit couldn't be any easier unless someone carried you! I do want to try this again when the vis and current are more manageable. I report back when I do, which hopefully won't be long, I'm a volunteer diver at the Oregon Coast Aquarium http://www.aquarium.com and diving there at least every three weeks.
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Site Photos
Maps
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Photo
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Comments |
| Parking
Map
Sat
GPS: OR0601
N44°37.4794'
W124°02.7868'
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Park at the end of the road. The beach is to the right.
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| Overview
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A small cove protects you from the current, and is out of the main boating lane.
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| Entry
Map
Sat
GPS: OR0603
N44°37.4929'
W124°02.7709'
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It stays shallow for a bit, then drops off rapidly. This site is known for its non-technical night diving.
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Last Verification: July, 2001
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