Northwest Dive Club

Dive Site Name: Fox Island West Wall

Current Sensitive: Weak and variable (noted southerly current on dive long after slack, not enough to be a problem other than for navigation)

Location/Address: Kamus Drive, Fox Island

Directions: Listed in Shore Dives- Highway 16 across the Tacoma narrows, exit at Olympic Drive and follow the signs to Fox Island- once across the bridge, right on 9th, then next right onto Kamus, down a very steep hill to the dead end.

Free Parking: Yes- local rich snobs have posted "no parking" signs, but they are not legit according to the county. Site is listed as a "boat launch" but they have erected large boulders across the end of the street.

Staging Area: Large Boulders, very flat, enough room for multiple people

Surface Swim: 100' or less

Nearby Facilities: none- Gig Harbor is close after dive for food, bathrooms. Don't piss off the neighbors by peeing on the street.

Special Considerations: a car that can make it up a long steep hill after the dive- if you wouldn't take it through the pass, don't take it here!

Maximum Depth: wall is between 50-65 feet depending on tide

Dive Site Description: Rocky shallows turning to sand, then a steep dropoff at about 100' from shore. Follow a 210 degree heading to hit the center of the wall, it is not higher than 10' at any point- if you see rocks on the sand slope, you are there. Wall runs parallel to shore, and there are large sandy fields of sea pens and striped nudis eating them to the south of the wall. Expect to find Octos, sculpins, tons of the hugest sea cucumbers, lots of various Nudis, sponges, etc. Depth drops continuously beyond wall. Lots of sand dollars in the shallows

Just a comment to say that it's not difficult to miss the wall altogether. My one attempt at this site resulted in two teams, diving separately, both missing it completely. And if you miss it, you see a lot of clam siphons and sea pens.

Hmmm... sounds like I need to check this site out. Perhaps another nice splash point for us South End divers that isn't dependent on current?

I realize that one's preference of a particular dive site is very individual... that being said, does anyone who has been at the typical South End dive sites and also dove here have a rough comparison? So... how does this site compare to Three Tree North? Redondo? Sunnyside? Les Davis? (each of the mentioned sites current not being a large factor).

Opinions please!! (knowing that divers here are SO reluctant to give their opinions!!!)

I've done this site many times. I think of it as a "hit or miss" site. The wall is very easy to miss, especially if you follow the directions in NW Shore Dives. On a high tide, if you head straight out from the walkway, head to 50 ft. Turn left and you'll hit the wall within a few minutes of swimming if you stay at that depth. In one dive, you can make several passes on the wall going slowing to look in every nook and cranny. That's when you'll see the life...if you dive "fast", you'll miss everything.

I have seen octos and wolfeels on the wall, but both are there infrequently. Lots of sailfin sculpins, nudibranches, schools of perch, etc. I have seen dogfish sharks there.

The highlight of the dive is the sand dollar beds in the shallows. It's like floating over black velvet. It's absolutely beautiful. I will do this dive strictly to see the sand dollars.

FI West Wall is a great second dive if you're doing Sunrise. Comparing it to Redondo, 3-Tree, etc as you asked...hmmmm...well, it's different. It's probably not as consistently good as those sites, but it can outshine both of them on occasion. Other times, you'll think it sucks. I have never seen outstanding viz at FI West Wall like at other sites. In fact, it's always been 15 ft or less.

Jenn

"Rich snobs posting non-legit no parking signs and putting boulders on the boat launch?!" I'm in!!!

I did it as a boat dive and saw lots of sand. Never found the wall.

Did see my first Giant Nudibranch and my first Sturgeon Poacher.

Jenn is right, the sand dollars were amazing.

Since I have only dove the site once, guess I am not in much of a position to give an opinion.

Don't have to worry about the snobby neighbors when you splash from a boat.

Had a 55 minute dive there yesterday. Visibility not the greatest. Current no big deal. Saw no wolf eels, but did find two small octos. They were shy. As soon as I pointed my HID at tentacle, tentacle disappeared. We initially did miss the wall/boulders, but quickly realized it and found them right away. Since I was diving without my weights (relied upon the weight of my doubles and breath control for keeping me down (what a lot of work)), I did only one dive. Would have liked to have been on the second dive. It is a bit of a drive.

Yes, the neighbors have blocked the boat launch, and put up signs claiming no parking, but they are not legit. I think Angry Old Man's cousin lives there. One of our group had a long talk with him. Didn't claim responsibility for the blockage or the signs, but obviously supported them.

This place could be compared to Three Tree North due to the depth. There is no boat at West Wall, however, and on the way to/from there the floor is steep 20 to 40 fsw. Overall, West Wall more interesting because there are lots of large boulders and little walls to explore to see what's going on in all the nooks and crannies. 50 minutes flew by, whereas I don't see myself doing such a long dive at Three Tree, unless diving both sides of Three Tree all in one dive.

Overall, Fox Island, West Wall was fun!

Rich

Did another dive here 4-21. 3-4 octo dens with plenty of crab shells, but nobody was home. Plenty of buffalo sculpins, even found a grunt sculpin out in the open.
Met one of the neighbors, who runs a B-n-B at the end of the Northern driveway. He seemed pretty friendly, but then he *wants* people parking in his driveway because it means money!
gomi_

I've done this one once and we found the wall. It isn't nearly as impressive as nearby FI East Wall, which is fantastic, but West wall isn't current sensitive like East Wall. We saw the same as everyone else...mostly rockfish and perch but it was a fun dive. great place for people to ease into wall dives.

We dove down deeper to 120 to see if there was anything below the wall...NOPE. The best way to find this wall is swim straight out from the entry point to 50' and then take a left. You'll hit it for sure that way. If you shoot to hit it in the middle and miss then it will be tricky to know which way to go.

Tom Nic and I dove this on 12/14/07. We dropped near the blue strip bouy, turned left at about 50FSW and found the wall in less than 5 min. We both feel this site is worth additional dives! Did not see any Wolf Eels, did see 3 octos and quite a few nudies.

The wall is now even easier to find.

Someone laid a polypro yellow line with nice anchors that leads right to the wall. We didn't find the line until the way back.

The line starts in about 6 fsw on a low tide straight out from the entry. It would be pretty hard to try to swim straight to it.

After following the line back into the shallows, it appears that if you were to head straight out from the entry down to about 20 fsw and then turn to a due west heading, you would run into the line. The line will then take you right to the beginning of the wall.

coachrenz wrote:The wall is now even easier to find.

Someone laid a polypro yellow line with nice anchors that leads right to the wall. We didn't find the line until the way back.

The line starts in about 6 fsw on a low tide straight out from the entry. It would be pretty hard to try to swim straight to it.

After following the line back into the shallows, it appears that if you were to head straight out from the entry down to about 20 fsw and then turn to a due west heading, you would run into the line. The line will then take you right to the beginning of the wall.

Dove here yesterday. The no parking signs only apply to the turnaround section of the bottom of the hill. Otherwise, you could park on either side of the road.
No problem finding the wall really. This was my 2nd time here. First time (over a decade ago) I missed the wall - this time we found it! Tons of Tube-snouts, Copper and Brown Rockfish, Striped Perch, Orange colored Gunnels hiding in the crevices, Slender Cockscomb, and NOT ONE SANDDOLLAR OR SEA PEN! Viz 10-15 feet, with a lot of surface chop due to a south wind.
- Janna