Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Seems crazy that after almost 700 dives I have never done either of these sites, and since Keith hadn't done Octopus Hole we decided to go for it!
Doublesunder and Zsaoly met us at Hoodsportndive and then the four of us headed for Jorstad. Since they had both done the site once, and since Bassman had only done a night dive there a LONG time ago we were fortunate to have them as guides and for a good site briefing.
In short, I LOVE Jorstad Creek! We dorked around a bit before hitting the deep wall, but finally found it and then worked our way up to the shallow wall. Viz was great below 50fsw and above 20 fsw, and there was a TON of life on the shallow wall. With viz good in the shallows you could easily spend an hour at 10 fsw just poking around in the weeds taking pictures.
Some pics from Jorstad are here .
The entry is steep, but if you move slowly and are in reasonable shape it is very doable. I know I would have had a much harder time 6 months and 60 lbs ago. Here is Zach making his way down...
The structure below water is obvious as you look at the rocks at the entry point.
Octopus Hole was just Keith and I as Zsaoly & Doublesunder had to bail. Josh's directions were spot on and we found the wall right away. It is NOT very deep - 20 to 45 fsw or so. But it is LONG!! I think we made it all the way to the end... but after 70 minutes it got a bit boring, primarily because of the very poor viz - we were in the nasty range of viz the whole dive. Keith had a leaky glove which didn't help much either.
All in all I loved both dives and will do them again - but I will definitely be spending many a dive at Jorstad getting familiar with the site. This place has much promise for cool encounters of the photographic kind!
Thanks for a great couple of dives, guys!
Doublesunder and Zsaoly met us at Hoodsportndive and then the four of us headed for Jorstad. Since they had both done the site once, and since Bassman had only done a night dive there a LONG time ago we were fortunate to have them as guides and for a good site briefing.
In short, I LOVE Jorstad Creek! We dorked around a bit before hitting the deep wall, but finally found it and then worked our way up to the shallow wall. Viz was great below 50fsw and above 20 fsw, and there was a TON of life on the shallow wall. With viz good in the shallows you could easily spend an hour at 10 fsw just poking around in the weeds taking pictures.
Some pics from Jorstad are here .
The entry is steep, but if you move slowly and are in reasonable shape it is very doable. I know I would have had a much harder time 6 months and 60 lbs ago. Here is Zach making his way down...
The structure below water is obvious as you look at the rocks at the entry point.
Octopus Hole was just Keith and I as Zsaoly & Doublesunder had to bail. Josh's directions were spot on and we found the wall right away. It is NOT very deep - 20 to 45 fsw or so. But it is LONG!! I think we made it all the way to the end... but after 70 minutes it got a bit boring, primarily because of the very poor viz - we were in the nasty range of viz the whole dive. Keith had a leaky glove which didn't help much either.
All in all I loved both dives and will do them again - but I will definitely be spending many a dive at Jorstad getting familiar with the site. This place has much promise for cool encounters of the photographic kind!
Thanks for a great couple of dives, guys!
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
- kitsapdiver
- Submariner
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Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
SSSHHHHH!!!! Those of us who have found Jorsted Creek keep it a secret. It's a beautiful dive!
Austin
Austin
THE Ohio State University
Go Buckeyes Beat Michigan
Go Buckeyes Beat Michigan
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Yes!
Please keep repeating the story the trail is way too hard to go down .. Don't even try it
Please keep repeating the story the trail is way too hard to go down .. Don't even try it
Jeff V
Octo Buddy Dive Tours - www.octobuddy.com
Octo Buddy Dive Tours - www.octobuddy.com
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Very nice Tom
Tim McClung
22nd Annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb, support it: http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/Big ... fr_id=1280
22nd Annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb, support it: http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/Big ... fr_id=1280
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Nice, Tom! I haven't done Jorstad Creek yet but my dive buddies keep encouraging me to go there. They've even offered to carry my gear down the slope for me so I don't kill my knees. I guess I'll be doing it soon.
BTW, did La Dania's Leap while in Bonaire and all of us agree, it's the best site. We did it twice we liked it so much. Glad we finally tried it.
BTW, did La Dania's Leap while in Bonaire and all of us agree, it's the best site. We did it twice we liked it so much. Glad we finally tried it.
Georgia
NOT diving is NOT an option
NOT diving is NOT an option
- doublesunder
- Aquaphile
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Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Thanks for the great dive Tom, enjoyed diving and meeting everyone.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Great photos!
I've done Jorstad once, and I have to admit that, being an elderly weenie, I'm not sure I'd do it again without a buddy who was willing to pitch in on the gear haulage -- but once you are on the beach, the entry is easy, and I thought the dive was awesome. Because of a variety of factors, we spent the majority of our dive very shallow, and I loved the oysters and the plethora of crescent gunnels we found (among other things). This is definitely a great "other dive" for a Flagpole or Octopus Hole trip.
I've done Jorstad once, and I have to admit that, being an elderly weenie, I'm not sure I'd do it again without a buddy who was willing to pitch in on the gear haulage -- but once you are on the beach, the entry is easy, and I thought the dive was awesome. Because of a variety of factors, we spent the majority of our dive very shallow, and I loved the oysters and the plethora of crescent gunnels we found (among other things). This is definitely a great "other dive" for a Flagpole or Octopus Hole trip.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Great dives, with great dive buddies!
It was great meeting you doublesunder, thanks for the guided tour!
Keith.
It was great meeting you doublesunder, thanks for the guided tour!
Keith.
Hi, my name is Keith, and I'm a Dive Addict!
- doublesunder
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Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
BASSMAN wrote:Great dives, with great dive buddies!
It was great meeting you doublesunder, thanks for the guided tour!
Keith.
My pleasure Keith, I had a very enjoyable dive with everyone. Sounds like the vis at Octopus Hole was less than desired.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
One of my favorites i love the sea whips
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Doing Jorstad this weekend with a few folks, is the climb down (and back up) really as bad as the pics look?
=============================================
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Jeff, it is as steep as the photo shows, but not too far. We take our time, and we lug our stuff to the beach and then setup. It takes a few trips, but I dont have the desire to fall down the hill in full gear and tanks. If the ground is muddy from rain, that could be really interesting.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Thanks Tom, Great pix on your link! Looks pretty scary to me. Guess I'm never going to see it personally since the reasonably good shape thing pretty much eliminates me.
60lbs in 6 months? Way to go, I thought you looked a bit more svelte at the show Saturday. Congrats!
60lbs in 6 months? Way to go, I thought you looked a bit more svelte at the show Saturday. Congrats!
http://dustys-lights.com/, An awesome light at an unbelievably low price
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
thx for the info.Gdog wrote:Jeff, it is as steep as the photo shows, but not too far. We take our time, and we lug our stuff to the beach and then setup. It takes a few trips, but I dont have the desire to fall down the hill in full gear and tanks. If the ground is muddy from rain, that could be really interesting.
=============================================
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Dove Jorstad for the first time today. I have very bad knees so was hesitant. But didn't have any problem walking down in the pouring down rain wearing full gear. Left my gear on the beach between dives and just switched out tanks. Could climb the hill carrying a tank OK. After the second dive, removed my tank, left my fins, mask, and camera and carried everything else up on my back. My buddies brought up the rest of my gear although I would have been fine going back down to get my tank and misc gear. So, upshot is, not too bad.
Georgia
NOT diving is NOT an option
NOT diving is NOT an option
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Good O Georgia! Glad you could make it without incident. Bad knees are no fun and a fall in gear could knock you out of diving for a long time. Be careful, macho is for the young and dumb.
http://dustys-lights.com/, An awesome light at an unbelievably low price
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
- doublesunder
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:45 pm
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
If it wasn't for Tom and Keith carrying all my gear for me I would have never made it. Just take your time and go slow, Down is the easy part
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
I seem to get involved in the wrong hobbies. Before diving there was gold prospecting. The same rules applied there though. Everywhere worth going is downhill from the truck and the equipment gets allot heavier on the way up than it was on the way down! If a path looks dangerous from the top it will look allot worse from the bottom after the days activities.
We had a big sign in the aviation unit in Nam and I've kept it in mind every since. Though it's sort of reverse of this the gist of it is the same.
TAKE OFF IS OPTIONAL, LANDING IS MANDATORY!
We had a big sign in the aviation unit in Nam and I've kept it in mind every since. Though it's sort of reverse of this the gist of it is the same.
TAKE OFF IS OPTIONAL, LANDING IS MANDATORY!
http://dustys-lights.com/, An awesome light at an unbelievably low price
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
I dove this dive area once before, but without a guide. We never did find the main wall. Any tips on how to find the wall? The dive map that is posted on several sites did not seem to match with where we looked for the wall. on the other hand - viz wasn't all that great when we went - so maybe we just planned missed it! I'd appreciate any advice on this one!
Thanks,
Keith Boll
Thanks,
Keith Boll
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
well, I'll find out saturday
=============================================
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Just go slow and watch out for leaves and sticks - I find it harder to not miss the helmet size rock just below the surface of the water that are particularly hard to see. I have also seen divers attach a rope to their truck it seemed to help them for the 10 foot tricky part.
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
Interesting!ZSAOLY wrote: I have also seen divers attach a rope to their truck it seemed to help them for the 10 foot tricky part.
Hi, my name is Keith, and I'm a Dive Addict!
- doublesunder
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:45 pm
Re: Jorstad Creek & Octopus Hole
(( ZSAOlY WROTE I find it harder to not miss the helmet size rock just below the surface of the water that are particularly hard to see.
A good buddy would have warned
A good buddy would have warned