Planning Salt Creek Park dive Sat 9/11, information needed

[-Aaron-]

Hello, All. This Sunday I am diving and camping with a group in Lake Crescent. My dive buddy and I are going to head over ahead of time on Saturday and do a ocean dive. We were thinking about doing Salt Creek Park, however neither of us has dove it, so I am hoping to get some information from the people on the board on whether it is diveable on Saturday and if so when is the best time.

The review page at the Perfect Dive has some nice tips and descriptions on the area and entry: http://www.theperfectdive.com/DEF-Site.asp?sID=33

Here are the tide charts for Port Angeles on Saturday:

Sa 11 High 5:42 AM 6.5 6:46 AM Rise 11:20 AM 8
11 Low 11:15 AM 2.7 7:34 PM Set 8:46 PM
11 High 5:01 PM 7.2
11 Low 11:56 PM -0.5

Low slack is looking to be our best bet. Though it would be nice to dive it a bit later in the day if possible. Often on the Oregon coast I will dive in front and back of the slack tide for my two dives. Will that be doable here with Saturday's tides or will we be limited to a single dive? We are strong swimmers and can handle kicking against a reasonable current, but I also know that this area is more exposed to the open ocean that other parts of the sound, so I want to make sure I know what we are getting ourselves in to. I assume the current is running east on an incoming tide and west on and outgoing tide?

If Saturday isn't a workable day to dive this spot I'd love to hear some ideas for other dives we could do in the area. Also, does anyone have recommendations for a good place to get air fills around there? We will need to fill up Saturday afternoon before we head up to Lake Crescent.

Thanks,
Aaron

[scottsax]

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7874

I've never dove the site, so I couldn't tell you about the current considerations....

[-Aaron-]

scottsax,

Thanks for the link, the map will be handy, though it looks like I should have found it on the Perfect Dive :P.

For anyone that has dove here is a 4.5 foot exchange diveable if we stay on the rocky reef or are we only limited to a single dive at slack?

[olyvtx]

Currents can be very strong in the Strait. Timing would be critical with this weekend exchanges.

Salt Creek has a very rocky entrance/exit. The times I've dove there I had to surface to get a compass reading for the exit. I've read others have used rope/string as a guide from the exit through the kelp to help them find the exit. It's just going to be a little trickier if you miss slack.

Another dive site nearby is the Sekui marina, where you'll find Curly's resort and fill station.

edited to add: You might check out the current charts for Saturday.
http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/loc ... 0&m=9&d=11
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/daily.php/jua/2010-09-11

[CaptnJack]

"Low slack" is not really how you want to think of this.
Its slack before flood and its not really related to when low tide is at Port Angeles. Use the Race Rocks current tables here:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_pr ... bbavgd=271

And apply the following corrections:
slack before flood -1:22
slack before ebb -0:32

There's a 4.6 knot ebb in the AM and a 3.5 knot flood in the PM on 9/11/2010 and you are midway between neap and spring tides. Not bad but definitely suboptimal. I would do 2 dives starting about 11 am and ending before 2:30ish but neither will be at slack so I'd stay inside the kelp line (~35ft). Don't even think about drifting around past 50ft depth, YMMV.

The real hazard at this site is surge coming up & down the channels between the rocks knocking you down. Trashing you and your gear.

[whatevah]

Hey Aaron - I'm probably heading out that way myself this weekend. Got plans for a different kind of adventure on Saturday but will probably head out Sunday morning, stay the night out there and will have the day off Monday too - have to be in Port Angeles for a WDFW advisory board meeting. I hear that some folks are diving Lake Crescent on Sunday so I might check that out in the morning and then spend the rest of Sunday and all day Monday trying to pack in some saltwater fun before heading to the meeting at 17:30. Haven't quite ironed out the details yet but if I don't take my boat out there I'll likely shore dive there at Tongue Point or take my kayak out and head to some nearby spots I've marked out on my charts. Would be cool to catch up for a dive or two if the opportunity arises.

During a flood, all of the area east of the reef off Tongue Point is somewhat protected from current, though you'll get a pretty stiff back-eddy eventually. This is a shallow dive - you have to go quite a ways out to get past the kelp line and reach 50 to 60 feet in depth. I think you can get away with splitting two dives around that low slack, but you might want to push it off a little later than an even split as the flood side of the slack will be easier on you (both because it's smaller in magnitude and because you'll be in the lee of that reef). I suspect you'll be fine out a little past the kelp (to 50' or so), and honestly, there's much less to see if you continue on out so that's probably where you'll want to stop anyway.

Watch that surge during your entry - CaptnJack is not exaggerating about the potential for damage to your gear and your person. Be really careful clambering down over those rocks - one slip and you could be in a world of hurt. One of the stairways... I think maybe the middle one, will give you access to a small gravel beach which might be less hazardous - you still have to clamber down over a bunch of slippery rocks, but once you're there you can trundle into the water pretty comfortably, and then swim a short distance out through the rocks and the surge to drop in the kelp. Super cool Gooseneck Barnacles in the shallows there by the way - amazing to watch them filter feeding in time with the waves. The other option involves rolling off rock into surge channels and trying to make your way out/down fast enough to avoid the next wave tossing you back onto the rocks. Saturday looks like it might be a little challenging and things look to be settling out quite nicely for Sunday and Monday - just in case you have flexibility to plan around the conditions.

[selkie]

My buddy and I dove this site from the middle stairway last late last spring. One of the things we noticed was that the rocks were covered in sea urchins so you really do not want to bashed into the rocks. Another thing about the straights is the waves and surf tends to build in the afternoon particularly if there is an onshore breeze from a temperature differential between the land and Ocean. If the beach to the east of the middle stairway is exposed there are some good channels in the rocks to access the water.

[DonGeorge]

I'll be on the Lake Crescent group on Sunday, I dove there a few weeks ago and the environment plus the super clear water makes it worth the drive IMHO .

I'm really looking forward on meeting new divers as I'm trying to dive more often!

[-Aaron-]

Thanks everyone for the great information.

Man, punishing surge, entangling kelp, raging currents, treacherous sea urchins, this place sounds like a real Northwest classic .

Looks like we aren't going to be in town until about noon, so we are going to play it by ear. Probably drive down and take a look at Salt Creek and maybe cruise over to Sekiu Jetty if things are ripping there. If worst comes to worse and we don't have the right conditions for either we can head up to Lake Crescent early and do some dives there. Salt Creek sounds like a really cool dive though, if I don't make it out this weekend I'd really like to check it out in the future.

Pete,

I'm going to be up in Lake Crescent on Sunday for sure. I'm not sure if we are talking about the same group, I'm heading up with Zhiji and some of the Underwater Sports people we went to Sechelt with. I'll drop you a PM with my phone number, give me a call on Sunday if you are around. Sounds like it will a BBQ and a whole deal.

DonGeorge,

Look forward to meeting you on Sunday. I'll look just like my profile picture except my hotdog will be in my hand instead of floating on the anchor line :P.

[whatevah]

Use the Race Rocks current tables here:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_pr ... bbavgd=271

And apply the following corrections:
slack before flood -1:22
slack before ebb -0:32

There's a 4.6 knot ebb in the AM and a 3.5 knot flood in the PM on 9/11/2010 and you are midway between neap and spring tides. Not bad but definitely suboptimal. I would do 2 dives starting about 11 am and ending before 2:30ish

Hrm. Was just going through the tables myself for my own weekend planning, and I think there was an error made above. 4.6 and 3.5 knots both exceed anything ever seen out there, and the uncorrected slack predictions for that station are at 08:59 and 15:09 on 09/11. Have a feeling CaptnJack flipped to the wrong browser tab and got a different current station. Looks like the corrections are as given in Northwest Shore Dives, but the correction for slack before flood should be +1:22 rather than -1:22 (according to the book). I'm making notes for Sunday and Monday but you might want to double check what you are working with for Saturday Aaron.

[CaptnJack]

Use the Race Rocks current tables here:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_pr ... bbavgd=271

And apply the following corrections:
slack before flood -1:22
slack before ebb -0:32

There's a 4.6 knot ebb in the AM and a 3.5 knot flood in the PM on 9/11/2010 and you are midway between neap and spring tides. Not bad but definitely suboptimal. I would do 2 dives starting about 11 am and ending before 2:30ish

Hrm. Was just going through the tables myself for my own weekend planning, and I think there was an error made above. 4.6 and 3.5 knots both exceed anything ever seen out there, and the uncorrected slack predictions for that station are at 08:59 and 15:09 on 09/11. Have a feeling CaptnJack flipped to the wrong browser tab and got a different current station. Looks like the corrections are as given in Northwest Shore Dives, but the correction for slack before flood should be +1:22 rather than -1:22 (according to the book). I'm making notes for Sunday and Monday but you might want to double check what you are working with for Saturday Aaron.

Those are Race Rocks speeds, there's no speed correction for the site. I have found these kind of speeds just offshore at the Diamond Knot for sure, but yes its quite protected inside the kelp line. You're right though its +1:22 before flood I made a boo boo.

[whatevah]

Alright, now I'm really confused. The link you gave was for "Race Rocks, 4 miles south of", and when I look at the 11th of September 2010 on that page I see...

02:56 low slack
05:45 peak flood 2.1kts
08:59 high slack
12:10 peak ebb 2.0kts
15:09 low slack
17:43 peak flood 1.9kts
20:05 high slack

I am not seeing the 4.6kt ebb or the 3.5kt flood and that troubles me because this is an area I'd like to figure out - last time I was at the DK my timing for slack was definitely not right.

[CaptnJack]

Well the DK is pretty much not predictable. 1st time I was there was good, 2nd time perfect, 3rd time horrid all using the same correction factors from Steve's book. Ports & Passes shows a -4.6 (ebb) and +3.5 (flood) on the 11th, but it seems that they don't name the sites the same way NOAA does. The link is right but the numbers I grabbed from Port and Passes aren't.

It really doesn't matter for Salt Creek anyway, as long as you stay inside the kelp line (which is way out there). For the DK in my experience you need to arrive at least an hour before you think you should and wait for the wake to stop on the bouy (or back of the boat). And it doesn't seem to go slack out there it slows and then speeds up intermittently around the time of slack. But as you noted above it almost never stops and turns around to flow west- due to the eddy around Tongue Point.

[camerone]

...and inside Tongue Point is almost always diveable as long as the surge isn't horrible. It's not fantastic like the strait sites around the point, but there's lots of little stuff to pick at.

[CaptnJack]

...and inside Tongue Point is almost always diveable as long as the surge isn't horrible. It's not fantastic like the strait sites around the point, but there's lots of little stuff to pick at.

As a shore dive I dont think we ever got below 40ft

[-Aaron-]

Just thought I'd post up a quick trip report. Thanks again to everyone for all the helpful information.

I ended up leaving from Oregon about 6 AM on Saturday and I made it to Salt Creek around noon, my dive buddies ferry from Everett was full so he showed up around 12:30. When I pulled up to the initial viewpoint the ocean looked fairly calm and the kelp forest offshore was thick enough that I could see a Great Blue Heron standing on it with its weight supported. It was a bit of an intimidating view looking down the coast at a continuous line of rocky cliffs. It didn't look like there were many entries to the water.

I wound my way through the campground and ended up at the 3rd day use area at Tongue point. After walking out on the rocks I could see paths leading down to the water on both sides. There was a large beach covered in flat round stones on the west side of the trail, but it required scrambling over some slippery kelp covered rocks to get there. The right side looked fairly rocky at first, but when I walked down I could see there was a small sandy beach and a shoulder width channel cutting it's way through the rocks to the ocean.

We geared up at hit the water around 1:00 with the plan to swim west against the incoming tide and to call the dive if the current felt too strong. The initial swim through the channel and across the rocky shelf was very surgey and we hugged the bottom and worked our way out cautiously. However once we got below 10 feet the surge dissipated and it opened up in to a beautiful kelp forest. The visibility was a crystal clear 50 feet and the sun was shining down through the kelp blades, made for a fantastic dive.

We saw a variety of encrusting life, huge anemones, jellyfish, nudibranchs. a Red Irish lord, and more Kelp Greenlings that I could count. We stayed within the kelp forest near the rocks and the current was basically non existent. On the way back we swam up on the rocky shelf and checked out some of the gooseneck barnacles while getting whipped around in the surge. Unfortunately, by the time we came up from the dive we were concerned about making it to the shop in Port Angeles for air fills before they closed, so we had to pass on a second dive. Overall it was a really amazing spot, definitely worth the trip and I look forward to getting a chance to dive it again the in the future. The site really lived up to its excellent reputation.

We camped out in the Olympics on Saturday and headed over to Lake Crescent on Sunday for some fresh water diving. We dove a large vertical wall on the other side of the point from the Warren car in the morning and then met up with a group from Argonaut diving for some dives on a sunken barge and a BBQ in the afternoon. Nice people and some fun dives, great way to end the weekend. I wish it wasn't such a long haul from Oregon, but I had the chance to dive some great new sites and meet up with some new people.

My dive buddy was using a macro lens for the Salt Creek dives so we missed out on a the chance for some wide angle action, I'm linking a couple of cool shots he took in Lake Crescent that turned out nice. There are a couple of nice macro and lake shots in his gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Infl3x/2010 ... keCrescent#

[whatevah]

Did Z take these Aaron? They're beautiful.

[-Aaron-]

Yeah Z took them. He is a great photographer. Has a nice camera setup as well .

[CaptnJack]

Great pictures, is the wall a shore dive?

[-Aaron-]

CaptnJack,

Yeah it is right on the shore, even has a nice pull out and rock wall to gear up on, couldn't really ask for a nicer setup. The wall is nearly vertical from the shore down to 160 feet or so from what I was told, then it starts to angle to a more gradual slope. We only went down to 115'.

I checked a bit and it looks like I was mistaken on the location, I thought it was in the same area as the Warren car, but I guess that isn't the case, it is a few miles before it on the road. Here is a link to the location on Google maps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 9,,0,12.91.

The entry is very easy, just park in the pull out and head down the trail to the left of the Madrona trees. It is maybe an 80 foot walk to the water. You can gear up on the small rock wall around the trees, then there is a waist deep ledge in the water to get your fins on. The wall drops away pretty straight from there.