Name: Fort Flagler Pier
Rating: 4.2

Washington

USA_West

Fort Flagler is great out-of-the-way park for sightseeing, picnicking, and of course diving!  The scenic drive, alone, to the park is worth it for a weekend outing from Seattle.  For those who brought your Scuba gear, prepare for a fascinating dive.  Fish, macro life, plume worms and anemones have engulfed the pilings that march far out into the Admiralty Inlet.  As usual, dive on a slack tide.

From Seattle, take the Edmonds/Kingston ferry to 104.  Continue North through Port Gamble and over the Hood Canal Bridge.  In about 5.5 miles, turn right onto 19. After 11.5 miles, turn right again onto 116 and head North to the end of the road, in about 10 miles.  You'll then be at the entrance of the park.

Fort Flagler Pier

Marowstone Point is a 3.0-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Washington, USA West which is accessible from shore based on 1 ratings.

Marowstone Point

Beach access jetty dive.Keep jetty on your right. Heavy current near end of jetty . Avoid ferry traffic on wrong side of jetty. LARGE ling cod. Lots of marine life. Cold water.Lings can be agressive.

Walk in beach access.

Keystone Jetty is also known as Keystone underwater park.

Keystone Jetty

Wreck of the Comet lies 30-35 feet deep.  Enter on sandy beach south of (quiet) boat launch and proceed east to depth of 25' then turn south to find wreck.  Divers may swim above oyster farm nets, but do not touch/disturb farming operation, bounded by rope line.

If questioned by farm operators, indicate interest in wreck of the Comet.

Easy parking near Ajax Cafe.  Stay clear of private oyster farm, do not block drive.

Wreck of the Comet is also known as Port Hadlock.

Wreck of the Comet

Fun spot for crabbing and having a little change up. There are restrooms and showers in the parking lot. You want to head out on the North West side of pier with the huge wall.  Swim out, Dive then follow the wall out towards the deeper water. You will then see a bunch of tires located in about 25 to 45 feet of water. You can't miss it. Lots of life and low use make it a fun dive. Nice change up.  Vis will range around 15-20 in January and improves quite a bit around 15-20' plus in depth.

You can park right next to the pier.  

Langley Tire Reef

The T-dock is a great place for a leisurely dive, bottle hunting or grabbing a few crabs.  The pilings on the old dock are always interesting to explore.

Take exit 189 off I-5 in Everett, and head West on 526.  Then head North on 525.  Follow signs to the Mukilteo Ferry.  Take a right at the intersection just after you pass of over the railroad tracks  (See the aerial photo).  Just past the hotel on your left, turn left into the parking area.

Mukilteo T-Dock

Why dive this site? If things go well, and so far they have for me, (I've been diving with a buddy who lives near the site) you drift with the slack current east past three separate steep walls and sometimes even into a group of pinnacles, until the tide turns and you drift right back to the eddy you started in at the end of the trail. The walls are absolutely covered with life - the colors are more intense and varied than any Hawaiian dive and rival South Pacific dive sites. After the bland dives you've just done in southern Puget Sound, it's hard to believe you're in the same waters (unless you're just coming from the San Juan Islands.) The main difference is that you've diving a solid rock structure, unlike South Sound clay and muck,  that is capable of holding securely the filter feeders that live off the potent Deception Pass currents. Once you get used to all the lingcod, painted and kelp greenling on this site, it's time to examine all the different colored anemones and search out the Irish Lords and grunt sculpins. And what are all those other long, pastel filter feeders? You'll never find out unless you try this site!

Deception Pass has tons of tourists in season gawking at the whirlpools a couple hundred feet below the bridge connecting Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands. I have never met another diver there, however, though this is the best shore dive I've yet been on in Washington, a state known for its shore dives. Pick up a copy of Henry Powers The Whidbey Island Dive guide or go to his former shop in Oak Harbor or the Anacortes dive shop for information. Here's Henry's drive directions: from the north (I-5 just north of Mount Vernon) head south on SR20 until passing over Deception Pass Bridge onto Whidbey Island. Once on Whidbey Island, take the first right turn into Deception Pass State Park.  Next take another right turn into the North Beach area. Park in the upper parking lot. From the South, head North from Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island on SR 20. Just before reaching the bridge turn left into Deception Pass State Park. Next take a left into the North Beach area. Park in the upper parking lot and  gear up there (restrooms nearby,) packing your equipment down to the beach. (I'm guessing it's a downhill football field and a bit.) Remember that the park opens on April Fools Day and closes right around October 1st (usually).

Deception Pass

A semi-interesting dive.  By swimming west off of wharf, there are sporadically placed piles of rocks, tires, and other debris.  Wildlife is located around these piles.  This dive site can also me combined with 100 foot rock.  Depth is 15 feet at west side of wharf and becomes very deep as you swim west.  Bottom is sandy and moderately sloping.  There is a small kelp forest that grows in the summer off of the parts of the wharf that have fallen into the water.   
This wharf closed in mid 90's.  You can swim under it though it is shallow and there is little to see.    

Small parking lot east of Wharf,  do not park in front of drive ways.

Meadowdale Wharf is also known as Haine's Wharf.

Meadowdale Wharf

This dive is a large glacial erratic (huge rock deposited by glacier).  It is almost 100 feet at the deepest.  The rock;s dimensions are about 20 feet high and 30 feet long.  Lots of hidden spots for cool animals.  
To get to sight:  from the surface you will see a white buoy (this buoy is south of the warf and can be seen on Google Earth.  Swim to, and descend on this buoy.  Bottom will be roughly 50 feet.  You will notice that you are in a shallow trench, get in the middle of this trench and swim west, the rock will become visible in a few minutes of swimming.     

Park in Small Parking lot near the Warf. 

100 Foot Rock

This is a site you can come back to dozens of times and never see it all.  Set up specifically for divers, you'll find wrecks, bottles, and sea life galore--  but don't even think about bringing anything back with you!  Navigation is relatively easy with the well-placed system of buoys and ropes that lead to many of the underwater sights.

Just North of Seattle, take Exit 177 off I-5 and head West toward the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry on 104.  Just before you find yourself at the Ferry, take a left on Main Street, cross the railroad tracks, then turn right into the park.

Edmonds Underwater Park

A life-encrusted intake pipe extends out, running north-south. You'll find the pipe starting at about 15' and running down to 100 feet, more or less depending on the tides. Look for GPOs under the supports. The start of the pipe is located near the center of the parking area. (There's really two pipes, but one is shorter.) Octopus Gardens Dive Shop has a good map and write-up of this site on. Point Whitney (near the Washington State Shellfish Laboratory) is a fine site on the Hood Canal north of Hoodsport.

Point Whitney

This was a great dive.  Lots to see on the artifical reef- underwater trail for easy navigation.  We missed slack so the current made the dive an advanced dive.

Fort Flagler Pier

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Fort Flagler Pier