Diving during the lockdown

General banter about diving and why we love it.
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YellowEye
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Diving during the lockdown

Post by YellowEye »

Seattle.gov says scuba is still open, so yay! But it says to do so alone or with family. So no ThThTh this week.
https://parkways.seattle.gov/tag/covid/

Jan found the following note:
OLYMPIA – Today, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Parks) and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced the temporary closure of all state-managed parks, wildlife areas, and water access areas for at least two weeks starting Wednesday, March 25. The closure is in response to Gov. Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order issued yesterday.

So no keystone in the next couple weeks, and no deception pass season opener on the typical date :(

Most diving shops are closed now, or closing tomorrow :( hope you banked up some fills!

Be safe out there!
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Scubie Doo
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by Scubie Doo »

That’s good news, but I truly hope people don’t abuse this or we will end up in a much worse spot moving forward.


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Scubie Doo
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by Scubie Doo »

Looks like all public water access has been shut down for two weeks per https://parks.state.wa.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=603

I have an email into them. But I suspect it will be low priority given all the more pressing issues our state, country, world is dealing with. I’ll keep y’all posted.


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Sharkb8
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by Sharkb8 »

Scubie Doo wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:05 pm Looks like all public water access has been shut down for two weeks per https://parks.state.wa.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=603

I have an email into them. But I suspect it will be low priority given all the more pressing issues our state, country, world is dealing with. I’ll keep y’all posted.


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Is that access only through areas managed by the state parks association? I can think of several sites (T Dock in Mulkiteo for example) that may still be technically accessible.

I've been debating if diving during the lockdown is actually a good idea or not. While obviously it can be done safely if one is rigged for essentially solo diving, driving around to recreate while technically legal is still frowned upon. At home up here in Bellingham there have been issues with the mountain bike community still riding in large numbers this past week. There have been large amounts of people driving to the trailheads, parking in residential neighborhoods and only loosely following the 6 ft rule. The local governing bodies are well aware and have been fielding complaints from many residents trying to abide by the rules. While everyone's intentions are mostly good, I'm guessing the large number of people recreating last weekend (it was ALL over the news) contributed to the state wide shelter in-place ban, along with the closing of parks/parking lots/beach access/etc....

I may end up sneaking out for a dive or two depending on how things play out in the next few weeks, but there are only a couple places I can think of that would be discrete enough for comfort. Locations such as Three Tree with already contentious access in residential areas are most certainly NOT on my list! I also will not be planning or talking about any adventures on-line until things start getting back to normal. Hopefully we can all stay smart and healthy, and get back to diving in a short amount of time!
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60south
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by 60south »

Port Townsend is a ghost town, no crowds here. You could quite easily park anywhere and suit up and dive Point Hudson without any problem. I wish I was diving yesterday-- took a walk downtown to the docks and the water was super clear.

I imagine Rockaway is still accessible too.
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Scubie Doo
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by Scubie Doo »

Looks good as long as you can gain access :)


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Gdog
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Re: Diving during the lockdown

Post by Gdog »

Great news!
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