Northwest Dive Club

Dive Site Name:
Bar View Jetty

Current Sensitive:
Yes

Location/Address:
Just a bout one mile north of the town of Garibaldi, OR.
Look for the Bar View Store on the corner of US 101 and Ceader Street.

Driving Directions:
Take US 101 to the town of Garibaldi OR. About 1 mile north of town, you will see a store called the Bar View Store. On the corner of US 101 and Ceader Street, turn west on to Ceader Street. You can only go one way. Follow this out through the camp grounds to the end of the jetty. There is an observation tower at the end of the Jetty. Park in the dirt lot and carry your gear to the rocks.

Free Parking:
Yes.

Staging Area:
Not much of a staging area, so you will need to use your car or truck to set your gear up then move the gear to a spot closer to the rocks.

Surface Swim:
None. You will be dropping in off the rocks, so timing your step into the water with an incoming wave is a must. Not to hard to do though

Nearby Facilities:
There is a rest room in the Camping area and a convenience store near by.

Special Considerations:
This is going to be a drift dive, so tides and current conditions are going to play a large part of your dive. This would also be a great location for a live boat if you know some one with a boat.

Maximum Depth:
50 to 60 Feet.

Dive Site Description:
This is a rock Jetty made up of huge boulders and has a round rock bottom. There are lots of nooks and cervices to peek in to. Drop in at the end of the jetty and let the flood tide wash you in to the exit point.
This would be a great dive at slack tide if you could time it right but slack tides don’t seem to last long here on the OR coast, so best times to dive this I think would be the slack tide between low and high tide and ride the flood in.
Note: the boulders get smaller when you are close to the exit point. Still, it would be a good idea to turtle at least once to get you bearings

Climbing out over the rocks in dive gear can be a bit hard, so I recommend this for experienced divers only.

Spear fishing :
It is pretty good here from what I have seen. Fish you can expect to see here range from Ling Cod and Sea Bass to Sea Trout to Rock Fish. I am told this is a good place for crabbing but I did not see more then 5 or 6 crab on my dive here.

Visibility:
Can range from a few inches to several feet.

Hazards:
Could be the number of boats and fishing lines in the water but the boats seem to stay well away from the jetty for obvious reasons. The rocks can also be slick; have caution when entering and exiting the water.

I will post some pictures of the entry and exit points after my next trip to this area.

Sparky

Thanks for the review sparky! It sounds like viz is usually pretty bad. On average, what would you say it is? 5 feet?

(BTW, I updated the review with correct punctuation for you.) :occasion5:

Seth T. wrote:Thanks for the review sparky! It sounds like viz is usually pretty bad. On average, what would you say it is? 5 feet?

(BTW, I updated the review with correct punctuation for you.) :occasion5:

Thanks for the fix bro: I cant spell for crap and we wont even talk about my puctuation

Vis on the Oregon coast, can range from a few inches to grate

you never can tell from day to day just what its going to be
I have seen a dive site here on the coast that vis for the first dive is 20 + feet and same site for the second dive

have realy crappy vis just never can tell

problem is our sites are so exposed so it is hard to say

Sparky

I am new to this board and this post caught my eye. It brings back many memories of my early diving days.

I have made many many dives along the Barview Jetty (probably 100). My Grandmother owned a house on the street overlooking the State Park.

Visibility - it can be good at times but, it can be real bad at times. My dive buddy and I tried everything to predict visibility and I can offer no advice. The only thing I can say is you have to be there and jump in to have a good one. And this site is pretty neat when conditions are favorable.

Currents - You do need to pay attention! As suggested it is best to dive the end of the jetty on a flood. I always tried to enter as close to slack as possible and then ride the tide in. You can still dive the jetty on a ebb if you enter at the corner inside the bay. You can take a right turn after the railroad tracks beyond the store and park and the end of the road. The very corner is fairly shallow and sand bottom. This is where you will find the most amount of crab. It is also where you find the boats dropping crab rings and pots so, be careful of them. If you like to swim for crab you can hunt the jetty a little ways for a couple of green lings, tie them up in the sand, make your dive along the jetty, and return to chase the crabs that have gathered for a feast. Another site that can be a good shallow dive is the arch rocks farther down the railroad tracks toward the bay. You park just off the Hwy101 and have to hike with your gear to the beach above the rocks. You need to be careful in this location if you get beyond the rocks because the current can really rip in the channel entering the Tillamook bay. The shallows would be a great place for photography.

Creatures - You will see mostly small fish and crab around the corner of the jetty. Out near the end I have seen large Wolf Eel, Large Ling, and various Rock Fish. You need to take the time to look into all the great hiding places in the rocks. I have seen some nice octopus at times. Be careful of the fishermen on the jetty. Snagging their lines or getting the hook set in you might not make for a good day even if the vis is great.

Entry - You should be very physically fit for entry off the rocks at any point along the jetty. Having a non-diver on the topside to help with entry, exit, and gear is not a bad plan. You just need to take caution and time the surge for a smooth slide into the water. After entry you will want to give yourself some room from the rocks. When you exit watch the surge and look for a good rock to step onto.

Hope you enjoy Barview!

Great post, submarine. I live halfway between the sound and garibaldi so I have my eye on that spot! Welcome to NWDC. Do you have any advice on how to avoid interacting with the fishermen? Do you spot them before you submerge?
Bob

NW Bobber

Yes, I usually will take note of the folks along the rocks and do my best to watch for any lines while cruising. If you head to the bottom of the jetty rocks (40 - 50 feet) you will most likely avoid any of the lines. The bottom is sandy pebble with very little to see so, the best adventure is to cruise the rocks just off the bottom. If you dive the inside corner you may encounter the casting crabbers. The first time my dive buddy saw one of those casting crab rings he grabbed hold of it not knowing what it was. To his surprise the fisherman yanked it clean out of his hands. So, if there are people casting crab lines you might want to keep a close watch. They do cast out on to the sandy flat bottom.

Have fun!

Can anyone post a link to a google map showing where this is?

Chevayea wrote:Can anyone post a link to a google map showing where this is?

i'm pretty sure this is it:

LINKY

Jetty entry point
45.570013, -123.957088

Three Graces
45.562697, -123.936338

spatman wrote:

Chevayea wrote:Can anyone post a link to a google map showing where this is?

i'm pretty sure this is it:

LINKY

No Spatman, wrong jetty. The Barview jetty is north out of Tillamook.

Aquanautchuck wrote:

spatman wrote:

Chevayea wrote:Can anyone post a link to a google map showing where this is?

i'm pretty sure this is it:

LINKY

No Spatman, wrong jetty. The Barview jetty is north out of Tillamook.

d'oh!

i'm pulling out the map links, just in case someone doesn't read this far...