Northwest Dive Club

In case you missed it "For a Facilities Use Pass, please contact the
Des Moines Marina at 206-824-5700. Some restrictions apply."

This really sucks! They will close the lot at dusk, and you'll only be able to park on the street (only with a permit). And the bathroom will be closed.

I was told to mail a marinainfo@desmoineswa.gov with a copy of your driver id and diver id, and then call to arrange for payment for the permit.

Booo! This is a great night dive spot. Thanks for the info on how to get a permit.

Oh, and I believe the effective date is Oct 1

Here's some additional details that may be helpful. As of this writing, the pass and transponder is $25.00 per quarter (you need to call each quarter to renew). The first quarter starts Oct. 1st. This will give you access to permit only street parking, the Redondo parking lot, and the marina with the following stipulation:

You must be parked in the Redondo parking lot prior to dusk/gate closing or you won't be able to get in. It has an older style gate that is manually closed by someone assigned to that task (so the timing of the gate closing will definitely be contingent on when that person gets around to it). And the main exit doesn't have or need a gate to keep people out, as it's protected by tire spikes.

Here's a picture I pulled off of street view if you can't picture the gate in your head...


But as long as you are in before dusk you are allowed to stay. Also, you will no longer have to pay the hourly rate to park in the lot; so at least there's that silver lining

I've never been to the marina, but I guess you get 24/7 access to that as well.

To get this pass you need to do the following:

• Email your DL number + Scuba Permit to marinainfo@desmoineswa.gov (and shipping address if you don't want to bother picking it up in person).

• Call them during business hours (except between 12:00-1:00PM) at 206-824-5700 (ext. 3). I didn't wait for them to reply to my email, and they were able to find my email while on the phone and then I provided them my payment information. You can pickup the pass/transponder in person or have them mail it to you (no additional charging for mailing it)

Final note: They will also be offering passes for night time fishing, and they make no guarantee of parking availably.

I just talked to them a bit more on the phone. I requested to them to keep the lot open til at least 6:30 as dusk will be super early in the winter and we're simply going to run out of parking spots. She said that it may work out that way. Somebody has to come by and close the gate and that will be on a schedule, it will not be exactly at dusk. She says we can talk about that in November as things settle down. So fingers crossed for an opening until at least 6:30.

-Eric

That would be great if they could just decided on a time to shut the gate instead of a dusk. Especially, for people who don't have a flexible work schedule.

Btw there's a one way exit from the lot that has spikes if you go the wrong way. So once you're in you're good, no transponder needed.

No luck on the bathrooms. I asked if they can install a keypad onto bathrooms and give code to divers. She said she would suggest it but highly doubtful they can do that so as of October 1st no bathroom access for night dives which really seems like a bad idea :(

I sent my Email to the Marina office last Thursday, Called them on Friday and paid, received my Parking Pass in the mail today. One week end to end.

I'm attaching a photo with the letter of instructions on using the lot as well as the Hanging Pass AND Electronic Passkey (in orange).

It appears that a new parking kiosk will be installed and the electronic pass needs to be Swiped IN and Swiped OUT each visit. The hanging pass needs to be displayed to avoid a ticket.

That'd be great if that lets us in after dusk, which it looks like it might!

From what I heard on the phone, the electronic access key is for 24/7 access to the marina parking lot (which doesn't really do us divers any good) and there are no current plans to install a similar system at Redondo.

And if you read the letter that dlh kindly posted, it specifically states: "Included in this letter is your Marina north lot access card"

And because they don't have a similar system at the Redondo parking lot that is why we can't use the access card for that and must be in the lot before they manually lock it up.

Don't forget to renew your Redondo parking passes to do night dives at Redondo. Call 206-824-5700 option 3 to order. If you don't have a pass you risk being ticketed after park closure (which is officially at dusk, but in practice at around 8pm). Yes, they will ticket you even if you bought extra hours from the parking meter. The permit is now an annual pass, $100/year. They don't have any options for occasional guests like for our friends from further away, other than suggesting carpooling, which is not a great suggestion with covid :( You might also be able to borrow a pass from somebody, as the tag is not associated with a license #.

Note: I just got a second 2021 Redondo parking pass I can loan to occasional guests to ththth. Chip in $10 to recoup fees til I break even. Let me know if you need to borrow it.

Not sure how much this is related to the parking but I just saw this on the Q13 website: https://www.q13fox.com/washingtons-most ... des-moines

blt2go wrote: ↑Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:53 am Not sure how much this is related to the parking but I just saw this on the Q13 website: https://www.q13fox.com/washingtons-most ... des-moines

I saw that as well. Not good.

Does the dive instructor who was injured need anything? Anyone who could pass on to him that we are here...

Haven't been down to Redondo for evening dives in a while, but are there any updates to parking since last year? I'm assuming that tickets are handed out if we don't have a pass after dusk?

RVbldr wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:12 am Haven't been down to Redondo for evening dives in a while, but are there any updates to parking since last year? I'm assuming that tickets are handed out if we don't have a pass after dusk?

Hi. As far as I know it is still the same policy.

I did hear someone recently got ticketed for parking outside the lot past 10pm, but I haven't seen a lot of enforcement in the lot come lot closing time.