Spring diving at Deception Pass

Sharkb8 · Post by **Sharkb8** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:12 pm

I was able to get out for a handful of dives this spring under the big bridge at the north end of Whidbey Island. Due to sheer luck and a little bit of great planning advice from a couple NW Dive Club trolls (seriously do you guys ever work?!

) I was able to experience some of the best conditions possible more than once. Mellow slacks and visibility pushing 20 ft make for some pretty incredible diving in the land of occasionally ripped drysuits and destroyed morale.

H20doctor · Post by **H20doctor** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:04 pm

where you there during the crowed days ? i heard from other divers that 2 of the good days for the pass created over 20 divers there in the parking Lot .. WOW times have changed , that site used to be only a place very few would dive ..
Great Pictures !!

derekcs · Post by **derekcs** » Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:33 pm

Great colors. And the lighting on the sculpin photo is really nice. I like how it gets darker as the focus gets softer.

YellowEye · Post by **YellowEye** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:02 am

Nice snaps!
Yes there were a couple days with over a dozen divers. Several days with only 3 of us, guess you can't guess who

Attached one of my scenes:

RoxnDox · Post by **RoxnDox** » Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:13 pm

See, I keep reading this as "Shark Diving at Deception Pass"... Great pics!

Sharkb8 · Post by **Sharkb8** » Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:35 am

H20doctor wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:04 pm where you there during the crowed days ? i heard from other divers that 2 of the good days for the pass created over 20 divers there in the parking Lot .. WOW times have changed , that site used to be only a place very few would dive ..
Great Pictures !!

I think one of the days there were close to 20 divers. The other times were around 10 or so. I'm pretty sure every time I was out there a couple of the first timers came out of the water swearing to never come back

Yelloweye, your wide angle shots down there always blow my mind!

eh.haole · Post by **eh.haole** » Fri Jul 03, 2020 4:16 pm

These were my first times going in there, the first time surprisingly a very easy dive that did not disappoint with regard to stunning unwrecked cold reef habitat

The latest time we all got in too early on purpose, fought the counter-current eddy just to start the dive, and then hurtled around at various depths until slack eventually occurred. I spent a solid ten minutes holding onto a rock in blasting current at around 20 metres while deciding not to go shooting up some ramp well into the pass.

I would rate this as a tech dive, as the chance for separation is high, self-rescue is probably the only way out alive, and any problems arising would be best dealt with calmly and self-sufficiently on the spot (easier said than done)

Or in the words that a salty old dive guru once told me, "How many dives do you have in that drysuit? I'm not taking you to the Pass!"