Name: Flagpole Point
Rating: 4.5

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

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

Flagpole Point

Agate Pass is a 4.666666666666667-star rated scuba dive and snorkel destination in Washington, USA West which is accessible from shore based on 3 ratings.

Agate Pass

The Alki Beach Park is often overlooked.  Excellent marine life can be found here, and it makes for great night dive as well.  Access is easy, and facilities are available.  Bring the kids, and make a day of it!

Just South of downtown Seattle, take the West Seattle Bridge to hop over to West Seattle.  Just before the bridge ends, make a right onto Harbor Ave SW.   Drive Northwest until you round the point and find yourself heading Southwest on Alki Ave SW.  The whole stretch is considered Alki Beach Park, but drive to the end of the beach section before parking.  Just before the beach residences, there will be a pathway down to the beach.

Alki Beach Park

For a change of pace from the other Alki dive sites, try the Pipeline.  You may find an octopus in the rubble, as well as most other marine life found in the area!

Just South of downtown Seattle, take the West Seattle Bridge to hop over to West Seattle.  Just before the bridge ends, make a right onto Harbor Ave SW.   Drive Northwest until you round the point and find yourself heading Southwest on Alki Ave SW.  Travel for a couple of miles until you round another point.  Once on Beach Drive, heading Southeast, pull over at the end of the little stretch of beach at the corner of 63rd Ave SW.  This is a roundabout way to get here, but it's the most scenic!

Alki Pipeline

Historic former Mosquito fleet and 100-ft long ferry dock; this .3-acre park is now an ideal spot for fishing and scuba diving. In 1995, the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners transferred ownership of the Point White Pier to the Bainbridge Island Park & Recreation District.

Point White Pier (Crystal Springs Pier)

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

Don Armini Ramp offers an excellent selection of sights for the adventurer: the Old Saw Mill is to the left, bottles and other treasures from the early Seattle settlement days are to the right, and plenty of marine life in between!  Use your dive flag, and watch out for boat traffic, of course.

Just South of downtown Seattle, take the West Seattle Bridge to hop over to West Seattle.  Just before the bridge ends, make a right onto Harbor Ave SW.   Drive for about a mile to the North, and you'll see the landmarks in the photos.

Don Armini Ramp

The Edmonds Oil Dock can offer all the sights of Puget Sound.  It's a bit more technical than other dives in the area due to the complications of current, but it's very worthwhile.  Go with someone experienced in the area for the first dive.

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 Dayton, and then another left onto Admiral Way.  Follow this road into Marina Beach.

Edmonds Oil Dock

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

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

Incredible! Octopus in the open. Cloud sponges at  80'. Lots of rock fish, greenling, wolf eels, lingcod, and others. This is a much better dive by boat because of the private property that you have to swim around. There is a mooring buoy above the reef. It is a 60' decent down the line. Probably not a good dive site for new divers.

This is the best dive in the Hood Canal. You need a key from Mike's Beach Resort to access the road to the beach. In truth it is a much better boat dive, but I have done it from shore.  Swim from the flagpole on the rock at 110 degrees until you get to 70 feet, then stay at 70 feet and swim south. You will run into the reef shortly.  Octo's, Wolf Eels, Fish, and other critters await. Cloud Sponges off the Eastern drop off and even a very deep wall for the tech people.

Flagpole Point

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Flagpole Point