The premier shore diving sites in Washington are found throughout the Puget Sound area. We have included our favorites in and around Seattle, stretching as far South as Tacoma, Fox Island, and the Gig Harbor areas. All have unique inlets and coves, and are easily accessible shore diving opportunities for your enjoyment. Bear in mind the conditions vary considerably with the changing tides, currents and seasons of the year. Check with your local resource providers for the information to make your dive experience the safest and best possible. Enjoy!

Washington

Grays Harbor County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States

I dove off shore about one mile but heard from locals at the surf shop, yeah you heard right, that there are some walk in spots and a lot of sea life to be got!

beach or boat not much to sea but do-able. If ya gotta get wet.

Grays harbor is also known as Pacific beach.

Ocean Shores

Grays harbor

Limited Visibilty, check Tides and Currents.  Hull of Wreck Silvia Degrass, 1870's

Dive from shore

Silvia De Grass Wreck is also known as Holcom's Wreck Dive.

Silvia De Grass Wreck

Sund Rock is by mike's dive shop at Hoodsport on 101.  There is a 15 dollar fee for this dive but they have showers and bathrooms. From what I have been told you can find a path and dive Sund Rock free.

Great dive. Info on site is at "Hood Sport 'N Dive".Wall dive. Aquatic life includes sea anemones, sea cucumbers, crab, shrimp, rockfish, sculpin, lingcod, wolf eels, and spiny dogfish shark.

In order to access Sund Rock you must pay entrance fee to "Hood Sport 'N Dive" on

24080 N. Hwy 101 P.O. Box 1445
Hoodsport, WA

Once entrance fee is payed a nice open parking lot is avalible to set up gear just 5 feet from the water. Very nice area.

Sund Rock

Like the close-by Sund Rock area, Octopus Hole is very popular with Scuba divers who enjoy diving the wall to view various underwater creatures, including but not limited to Lingcod, North Pacific Giant Octopus, Wolf Eel, and nudibranch.

The most popular wall to dive in this area is about 200 yards long and starts at roughly 40 fsw, going down to roughly 50-60' fsw, depending upon the tide. Many divers use a large tree that has partially fallen out towards the water to help find the beginning of this wall. Once they have done the surface swim out to this tree, they can then drop down to the wall. Another, smaller wall is accessible, at roughly 90 fsw. This wall is nearly straight out from where most divers climb down from highway 101.

Because Octopus Hole is a conservation area, no hunting or gathering of any kind is permitted. The area also has very limited parking. Essentially, parking areas are nothing more than small turnouts on the highway. There is no formal trail or pathway. Getting gear down and back from the water requires good balance as you walk down on large irregular rocks to the water. Sometimes two trips is better, remove weights or camera gear on one trip. In spite of this, the Octopus Hole is quite popular. Access is always free of charge.

This area is not current sensitive. Source: Wikipedia.org

Octopus Hole is a designated conservation area on Washington's Hood Canal. It is located right off Highway 101 just over three miles from Hoodsport.

Octopus Hole



Small turnoff on HWY 101; room for three or four cars only. 
Gear-up in the parking area and walk down a fairly steep hill for shore access to the canal.
There's a 250-300' surface swim to the North wall; not sure on the depth but it's no problem to hit 100 FSW and deeper if you so wish. There's also a small rock structure 90 degrees from the entry point.
The animal life is abundant, Wolf Eel's, spotted Rat Fish, GPO's, Nudibranch's and much more.
This site is only dove by the hearty because of the steepness of the hill.
Tide and current are of little concern at this site on Hood Canal.  


Jorstad creek



Mike's Beach Resort is right off of Highway 101 about 50 miles north of Olympia. Very easy to find.

Mikes Beach Resort

Awsome Dive. Lots of Small boat wrecks. Mostley in about 35-50 foot of water. Dive sight is in front of a old shutdown marina. Lots of sea life diversity. Great for begining divers. Bridge over the railroad tracks and steps down to the beach is a little bit of a workout but not bad.

Driving through downtown Steilacoom heading west on Lafayette Street, take a left onto Union Street. After aprox. 1/4 of a mile take a right on to Gove Street. Come to T-intersection at 1st
Street, take right onto 1st street and drive aprox 200 yards to parking area on the left side of the road at Salters Point. 

Gear up, walk over bridge, down the steps and walk past the picnic are to the side of the marina where the pilons are. This is the entry point. Splash in and at about 30 ft turn south and dive along the front of the marina. 35-45 feet is where most of the wrecks are. Have fun, be safe,and go DIVING! 


Saltar's Point Beach is also known as Steilacoom Marina.

Saltar's Point Beach

This is a great site to practice skills.
sandy bottom, shallow and little or no current.
Not much to see here. but is a fun easy dive.
has a Outside shower and good set-up facilities.

Parking lot/ are is a fairly long distance from the actual dive / beach access.
Bring a cart with wheels

Sunny Side Beach is also known as Sunnyside Beach.

Sunny Side Beach

A very distinctive wall dive running North and South. This Dive is fore advanced divers. 

Done as a drift dive if by boat.
Able to dive from shore on a minimal tide exchange and slack current. need to make current corrections from Narrows current table.

Day Island Wall is also known as DIW.

Day Island Wall

A great place for artifact hunting, Titlow Beach offers pilings, walls and crevices to explore. Make sure you see the pillars of white sea anenomes on the posts. Fantastic. Pacific Octopus are known to be around as well!

Set up equipment on picnic tables and walk down a hill to the beach.

Titlow Beach is also known as 6th Avenue Dock.

Titlow is found on the shores of the Tacoma Narrows. Head North on  Highway 16 from I-5 in Tacoma as if you are heading to Gig Harbor.  Just before the ol' Galloping Girdy (The nickname of the previous bridge span-- look it up on the Internet!), exit and take a left on Jackson Ave.  Turn right on 6th Street, and wind your way down to the park.

Titlow Beach

This site has it all!  Well, almost-- no wrecks, no Whale Sharks-- but if you are looking for interesting marine life, this is the place.  With a creviced wall at about 30 to 60 feet deep and 100 feet long, you'll spend most of your time exploring the nooks and crannies.   Wolf Eels and Octopus are the highlights.  Bring two tanks, and plan to spend the day in the area-- but not the night, as the gates are locked at dusk.  If you aren't familiar with using the tide tables, don't dive this site-- the current can surprise you!

Found in Gig Harbor, about 6 miles NW of Tacoma.  Take either exit of Highway 16 to get to Gig Harbor, and wind your way around to the North part of the harbor.  

You'll find yourself on Peacock Hill Ave NW. 
Make a right on 96th Street NW, then a left on Crescent Valley Drive.  
In less than a mile, turn right onto Hallstrom Dr. NW and follow the signs down to the park.

Remember the landmarks going down, as you won't find "Gig Harbor: This Way" signs coming back up!

Grays harbor

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Grays harbor