Recommendations for Puget Sound and Hood Canal Diving

[Ironborn]

I am looking for dive operations and resorts for a potential Puget Sound dive trip.

I found Seattle Dive Tours, which offers guided shore dives in Puget Sound out of a base in Seattle.

In the Hood Canal, I found Mike’s Beach Resort and the Sunrise Motel, which seem to be meant for self-sufficient shore diving, with house reefs and tank fills.

Are there any other operations similar to these that you would recommend? Are there any dive operations along the Hood Canal that offer the same type of service that Seattle Dive Tours offers?

Which underwater environment do you think is healthier and richer, or a better introduction to the area? The conventional wisdom seems to be that it is better to get further away from larger human population centers, e.g. the Hood Canal. But my research suggests (and please advise if you disagree) that the dive sites that one can conveniently reach from a base in Seattle are more numerous and equally interesting, compared to the Hood Canal.

Thoughts?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

You may want to look at the dive planning document in the link in my signature. Lots of resources provided

 

[Trailboss123]

@Ironborn
Super glad that you are considering the PNW- As you know, I have been a big fan of your trip reports. You, @scubadada and @drrich2 set the standard. I am not the authority on anything Seattle based- but I feel that I can speak authoritatively on the Hood Canal and the South Puget Sound.

Hood Canal 1st:
The town of Hoodsport is dive central for the Hood Canal dive scene.
The Sunrise Motel is a bit of a dump (kind of like a dingy and dark dive bar) you don't want to stay there or dive there- Just my opinion.
I did once, because it was the only thing available and I did my drysuit cert there and I was miserable. Basically, 3 steps down from a Motel 6 and the dive site there is all artificial reef structure.

The absolute best diving in the Hood Canal is at Sund Rock and the best place to stay in the area is the Glen Ayr. Both locations are just a bit north a few miles from the Sunrise Motel and downtown Hoodsport. The Glen Ayr does not have AC in the rooms, so consider that if you are going to be there in a peak hot spell (which is rare for the Northwest and the Hood Canal). The only other place in the general neighborhood that I would stay is the Waterfront Inn at Potlatch. However, they have yet to reopen due to COVID-19 and they are also a short distance south further from Hoodsport and Sund Rock. But, they do have AC, if needed.

Best breakfast spot in the area, without a doubt is The Tides and they love us scuba divers: https://thetideson101.com/menu

Here are links to everything else referenced above:

Waterfront at Potlatch — Skokomish Tourism | Travel to Hood Canal, Lake Cushman, Lucky Dog Casino
Glen Ayr Resort
Sund Rock

Sund Rock is privately owned. You need to make reservations online these days and choose your days and arrival times. $15 gets you entry to the best shore diving in the Hood Canal. Great gear up benches, Bald Eagles flying overhead and a Port a Potty.
Sund Rock is like 2-4 dive sites in one. I won't go into detail right now, but trust me- it is where you want to shore dive in the Hood Canal.
If your dates coincide with what is going on in my life, I will be your personal guide and introduce you to the local Wolf Eels, Nudibranchs and Giant Pacific Octos.

Dive gear and tanks and weights can be acquired from YSS
Formally known as Hoodsport and Dive, but they recently sold and the new owners are YSS.

Hoodsport is a quaint little town with a handful of restaurants (I am partial to El Puerto de Angeles- very decent Mexican food, potent margaritas and I just love supporting that family), a decent grocery store, nice little coffee shop, a very good micro distillery and wine shop.
All diving is going to be solo or you might be able to see if YSS has a dive guide to accommodate you, if I am unavailable.

Currently, there is no boat diving operations in the Hood Canal. Don Coleman and his boat "The Down Time" retired. He sold his boat to someone in Tacoma. It is now operating out of there and hitting the South Puget Sound dive sites: Home Page

MIke's Beach Resort is OK. It is much further north. There is nothing else around there. Pretty isolated and the dive site is marginal. I have dived there and it is not a place I ever consider going back to. The best diving there is at Flagpole Point, but it is better accessed by boat and there are none available currently. Otherwise, it is like a half a mile surface swim or half a mile hike in all of your gear.
My son heads up an Air Force special forces pararescue scuba unit and they do training there because it painfully sucks to swim and/or walk that distance in all of their gear. You get the idea. Not for me!

So, speaking of the South Puget Sound,
I would base myself out of Tacoma and I would recommend boat diving with the aforementioned See Ya or boat diving with my preferred dive operation: Bandito Charters on their boat called the Sampan. Rick is the owner and Captain and he knows the dive sites and tides and currents like nobody's business. I implicitly trust him to put me on the best dive site, given the day and conditions and he will also give an excellent dive briefing. I was just out with him last weekend. His operation is COVID sensitive. Limited load, social distancing, Masks, etc.
You will be diving solo or buddied up with someone, if you prefer.

Home - Bandito Charters

Again, I could probably be talked into hooking up and buddying up, if timing works out.
Prior to COVID, Bandito Charters pretty much operated weekends only, but currently, demand has increased significantly and Rick is doing a lot of mid-week trips in addition to weekends. The inability to travel and dive warm water internationally seems to be reviving people up here to dive locally.

There is also quite good shore diving out of Tacoma at Les Davis pier (not current or tide sensitive) and Redondo Beach (also not too tide or current sensitive).
Tanks, weights and gear can be acquired from a couple of places: Lighthouse Diving Center (my LDS when I lived in Tacoma): Lighthouse Diving Center - The Northwest's Premier SCUBA Company
or Tacoma Scuba: Tacoma SCUBA - Classes, Equipment, and Events. Recreational to Technical Levels

But, there again, you will want to find a dive buddy or local dive guide/DM to make the most of your experience.

As for accommodations in Tacoma, I would check out what is available on AirBNB or stay at the Courtyard Marriott downtown:

 

[davehicks]

Spend some time on NWDiveClub.com. This is the most active online forum for Puget Sound diving and a good place to get tips and meet up with people.

If you Base out of Seattle you can make runs up down to Hood Canal, to Tacoma, Local Seattle dive sites, and up to Whidbey Island for some of the best diving in the region. Work on your timing for the trip as well because some of the best diving around is tide and current dependent. Pick a good tide week to ensure you have the best options if you are time limited. Again, NWDiveClub is a good place to get advice on this from area experts.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

IMHO, the best diving in the area is up in the San Juan Islands. The wall dives there are awesome and you can find bull kelp forests that are reminiscent of diving the Channel Islands. I suspect (don't know) that there's similar diving on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, it's mostly boat diving and I'm not sure if any of the operators are working right now due to COVID. I had the luxury of diving for work regularly in that area, and we had our own boats.

The interior of Puget Sound is nice enough. Wolf eels, nudibranchs, huge anemones, and octopus are the big draws. I dive there regularly now because it's my "back yard," conditions are benign for teaching, and there's always someplace you can dive regardless of time of day (or time of tide, really) and weather. It's great for photography, especially macro. You could dive an eelgrass meadow at 15' for hours and take hundreds of macro shots of the critters living on the eelgrass blades if you were so inclined.

Here are some snapshots from the last dive I did with a camera, August 1st at Mukilteo T-Dock.

If you dive deeper than about 60', you'll want to carry a light for sure. Depending on where you are, 100' may effectively be a night dive.

I should add that I don't know Hood Canal well from a "prime dive site" perspective. I've been diving up there for work related stuff, and it was more of a "randomly select a site and see what's there" approach, not a "where's the coolest spot to dive" approach.

 

[davehicks]

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IMHO, the best diving in the area is up in the San Juan Islands. The wall dives there are awesome and you can find bull kelp forests that are reminiscent of diving the Channel Islands. I suspect (don't know) that there's similar diving on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, it's mostly boat diving and I'm not sure if any of the operators are working right now due to COVID. I had the luxury of diving for work regularly in that area, and we had our own boats.

The interior of Puget Sound is nice enough. Wolf eels, nudibranchs, huge anemones, and octopus are the big draws. I dive there regularly now because it's my "back yard," conditions are benign for teaching, and there's always someplace you can dive regardless of time of day (or time of tide, really) and weather. It's great for photography, especially macro. You could dive an eelgrass meadow at 15' for hours and take hundreds of macro shots of the critters living on the eelgrass blades if you were so inclined.

Here are some snapshots from the last dive I did with a camera, August 1st at Mukilteo T-Dock.

If you dive deeper than about 60', you'll want to carry a light for sure. Depending on where you are, 100' may effectively be a night dive.

I should add that I don't know Hood Canal well from a "prime dive site" perspective. I've been diving up there for work related stuff, and it was more of a "randomly select a site and see what's there" approach, not a "where's the coolest spot to dive" approach.

Umm, you need a light period. For enjoyment and safety regardless of depth or time of day. A 20" dive can be a night dive sometimes.

Whidbey Island is next to the San Juans so you will want to spend time there. As mentioned there are no boats running up there now unfortunately but there are many excellent shore dives.

 

[Ironborn]

@Ironborn
Super glad that you are considering the PNW- As you know, I have been a big fan of your trip reports. You, @scubadada and @drrich2 set the standard. I am not the authority on anything Seattle based- but I feel that I can speak authoritatively on the Hood Canal and the South Puget Sound.

Hood Canal 1st:
The town of Hoodsport is dive central for the Hood Canal dive scene.
The Sunrise Motel is a bit of a dump (kind of like a dingy and dark dive bar) you don't want to stay there or dive there- Just my opinion.
I did once, because it was the only thing available and I did my drysuit cert there and I was miserable. Basically, 3 steps down from a Motel 6 and the dive site there is all artificial reef structure.

The absolute best diving in the Hood Canal is at Sund Rock and the best place to stay in the area is the Glen Ayr. Both locations are just a bit north a few miles from the Sunrise Motel and downtown Hoodsport. The Glen Ayr does not have AC in the rooms, so consider that if you are going to be there in a peak hot spell (which is rare for the Northwest and the Hood Canal). The only other place in the general neighborhood that I would stay is the Waterfront Inn at Potlatch. However, they have yet to reopen due to COVID-19 and they are also a short distance south further from Hoodsport and Sund Rock. But, they do have AC, if needed.

Best breakfast spot in the area, without a doubt is The Tides and they love us scuba divers: https://thetideson101.com/menu

Here are links to everything else referenced above:

Waterfront at Potlatch — Skokomish Tourism | Travel to Hood Canal, Lake Cushman, Lucky Dog Casino
Glen Ayr Resort
Sund Rock

Sund Rock is privately owned. You need to make reservations online these days and choose your days and arrival times. $15 gets you entry to the best shore diving in the Hood Canal. Great gear up benches, Bald Eagles flying overhead and a Port a Potty.
Sund Rock is like 2-4 dive sites in one. I won't go into detail right now, but trust me- it is where you want to shore dive in the Hood Canal.
If your dates coincide with what is going on in my life, I will be your personal guide and introduce you to the local Wolf Eels, Nudibranchs and Giant Pacific Octos.

Dive gear and tanks and weights can be acquired from YSS
Formally known as Hoodsport and Dive, but they recently sold and the new owners are YSS.

Hoodsport is a quaint little town with a handful of restaurants (I am partial to El Puerto de Angeles- very decent Mexican food, potent margaritas and I just love supporting that family), a decent grocery store, nice little coffee shop, a very good micro distillery and wine shop.
All diving is going to be solo or you might be able to see if YSS has a dive guide to accommodate you, if I am unavailable.

Currently, there is no boat diving operations in the Hood Canal. Don Coleman and his boat "The Down Time" retired. He sold his boat to someone in Tacoma. It is now operating out of there and hitting the South Puget Sound dive sites: Home Page

MIke's Beach Resort is OK. It is much further north. There is nothing else around there. Pretty isolated and the dive site is marginal. I have dived there and it is not a place I ever consider going back to. The best diving there is at Flagpole Point, but it is better accessed by boat and there are none available currently. Otherwise, it is like a half a mile surface swim or half a mile hike in all of your gear.
My son heads up an Air Force special forces pararescue scuba unit and they do training there because it painfully sucks to swim and/or walk that distance in all of their gear. You get the idea. Not for me!

@Trailboss123 Thank you for all this information and the offer to dive with me. I will be in touch if/when my plans become concrete.

You mentioned solo diving - are the local Washington dive shops and dive boats generally tolerant of solo diving?

It sounds like Sund Rock is the main attraction in the Hood Canal. What about Octopus Hole? I did not find information on many other dive sites in the Hood Canal, except the Flagpole Point that you mentioned.

I found this Octo Buddy Dive Tours, which offers guided dives of both Sund Rock and Octopus Hole. Looks interesting, but a bit pricey for shore diving.

If Sund Rock is the main attraction in the Hood Canal, then I am not sure that I would want to travel and stay in that area for an extended period of time. I am wondering if Sund Rock would be viable as a day trip from closer to Seattle. I did find this shop on Bainbridge Island, which offers guided dives of Sund Rock.

 

[OrcasC205]

Umm, you need a light period. For enjoyment and safety regardless of depth or time of day. A 20" dive can be a night dive sometimes.

I 100% agree with this. There are many times here that having a light is the only way to stay in contact with your buddy at any depth.

 

[Ironborn]

View attachment 605244 View attachment 605245 View attachment 605246 View attachment 605247

IMHO, the best diving in the area is up in the San Juan Islands. The wall dives there are awesome and you can find bull kelp forests that are reminiscent of diving the Channel Islands. I suspect (don't know) that there's similar diving on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, it's mostly boat diving and I'm not sure if any of the operators are working right now due to COVID. I had the luxury of diving for work regularly in that area, and we had our own boats.

The interior of Puget Sound is nice enough. Wolf eels, nudibranchs, huge anemones, and octopus are the big draws. I dive there regularly now because it's my "back yard," conditions are benign for teaching, and there's always someplace you can dive regardless of time of day (or time of tide, really) and weather. It's great for photography, especially macro. You could dive an eelgrass meadow at 15' for hours and take hundreds of macro shots of the critters living on the eelgrass blades if you were so inclined.

@Seaweed Doc I started looking into the San Juan Islands as well. I did read about the wall diving there, which sounded interesting. I was also wondering if the environment there is any more pristine or richer in marine life simply by virtue of being more remote and removed from larger human population centers. I was looking for a more remote area to balance out the Seattle-based or Tacoma-based diving; would you say that these islands are a better fit in that regard than the Hood Canal?

I looked into local operators on the islands and found this Island Dive & Watersports. Is there another one that you would recommend?

 

[OrcasC205]

@Trailboss123 If Sund Rock is the main attraction in the Hood Canal, then I am not sure that I would want to travel and stay in that area for an extended period of time. I am wondering if Sund Rock would be viable as a day trip from closer to Seattle. I did find this shop on Bainbridge Island, which offers guided dives of Sund Rock.

I live in Seattle and have traveled over to Sund Rock as a day trip a couple of times. It is definitely doable and makes a nice trip. My suggestion is to take the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton (or back) at least one of the ways to break up the long day of driving since the alternative is to drive all the way down through Olympia.