I dive Maury Island Barges as often as I can. Many divers hear that the "barges" is on the schedule for a boat dive and groan, "...not again...boring...". Well, I love diving the Barges!
The area actually has 3 attractions. First, there is the 3 barges that sunk. It is hard to tell anymore that they were ships. It looks more like a huge amount of debris. There is so much living on them that everywhere you turn, there is more stuff. At low tide, the sunk barges are at a max depth of 65-70 feet so they can be easily explored by a new diver, however, watch your buoyancy! Also, bring a light to look down and around the wreck
The second attraction is the sunken pleasure craft. It sits in 60 feet of water. I have seen an octo or two under its hull. Yesterday, all that were in the holes were crab. It is fun to explore as well.
The most fun for me is the rock pile. It is in 85 feet of water and it is directly underneath the end of the gravel elevator. There are huge bolders and they are covered with all kinds of life.
The best part of this dive is the safety stop. There are huge pilings, where the boats normally tie up to. The pilings are covered with sea aneonomies and all kinds of small fish and crab. I have seen gunnels at the bases and lingcod cruising around looking for a quick bit to eat.
Yesterday, I was diving there and it had been a while since I had just dove the sunken barges. It was amazing. The barges have really fallen apart in the last 6 years I have been diving there. However, there was so much life and the crab are some of the largest I have seen this year. I got pinched pretty good too. (Sidebar...I have to play with crab. I always want to pet them. They typically don't like it. A large Dungeoness showed disapproval yesterday by pinching my left forfinger pretty good. It hurt too...even through my heavy dry gloves!) Anyway, we had a great 1 hour dive.
If you dive the Barges, remember to watch your buoyancy and bring your camera because there is always something cool to see.
Maury Island Barges
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Pinkpadigal
- I've Got Gills
- Posts: 1060
- Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:19 pm
Maury Island Barges
Amy Rhodes
PADI Master Instructor #183890
A-2-Z Scuba Instruction
http://www.a2zscuba.com
*******************
PADI Master Instructor #183890
A-2-Z Scuba Instruction
http://www.a2zscuba.com
*******************
hunting around the net, it looks like this site has GPS co-ordinates:
http://www.boydski.com/diving/dives/Mau ... Barges.htm
http://www.boydski.com/diving/dives/Mau ... Barges.htm
Boat dive only, just offshore from the gravel quarry conveyor belts. Its about 1/2 way down the southeast side of Maury Island.
If you've never been there Lamont, maybe you'd like to give a them a go with Lynne sometime? I'm pretty sure she's never been there either. I got the boat.
Good second dive after a deep dive on the KVI tower reef.
Richard
If you've never been there Lamont, maybe you'd like to give a them a go with Lynne sometime? I'm pretty sure she's never been there either. I got the boat.
Good second dive after a deep dive on the KVI tower reef.
Richard
The only time I hit the barges was as the 3rd dive of the day, and in comparison to the first two it was not much to write home about. Viz was crummy, which I think kind of colored my opinion, making me one of the people you referred to that would be less than excited about a trip there.
I'll have to go back now!!
(Just what I needed, ANOTHER excuse to go diving!)
I'll have to go back now!!
(Just what I needed, ANOTHER excuse to go diving!)Not sure about with a scooter. There is a road but the whole hillside is basically a defunct gravel pit. I doubt you could drive down it, but maybe.
I have seen kids jumping off the conveyor belt (swimming) and they had to have gotten there somehow.
Northstar has tried to restart that pit for years to supply gravel for the 3rd runway.
I have seen kids jumping off the conveyor belt (swimming) and they had to have gotten there somehow.
Northstar has tried to restart that pit for years to supply gravel for the 3rd runway.
Re: Maury Island Barges
This is funny to me, My buddy Joe aka Fishstiq was just telling me that he can't help but play with the crab as we are swimming along. When I look for him and he's not there, I always look back and catch him doing the Crab Rodeo! He's always finding the crab from the Honda Element Commercial................"I Peench!"Pinkpadigal wrote: the crab are some of the largest I have seen this year. I got pinched pretty good too. (Sidebar...I have to play with crab. I always want to pet them. They typically don't like it. A large Dungeoness showed disapproval yesterday by pinching my left forfinger pretty good. It hurt too...even through my heavy dry gloves!) .
Maurey Island Barge Site
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... ne09m.html
This was a Seattle Times article published in the Wednesday, 1/9/08 edition. I hope the link works.
Eventually, this dive site will be lost.
There was an effort to make the area under the water adjacent to the gravel mine a Marine Protection Area to prevent the mine from reopening as a mine. If you happen to take the ferry to Vashon and look in one of the Vashon Tourist guides available on the ferry, or get a map of Vashon - Maurey Island, they even list the site as a Marine Protection Area projecting that the initiative would become real.
It is not an actual Marine Protection Area. Those are listed in the Washington State Fishing Regulations publication. You have to look in each zone for the MPA's in that zone to find where they are.
There is no provision in any Washington State law or provision that I know of to have no net loss of a significant underwater feature or a cultural heritage site like a reef or a dive site as a result of a land use change, in this case a land use change that is under the water.
There are provisions to have no net loss of wetlands when property is developed as there is with wetland mitigation laws that are in place to ensure significant wetlands are built in kind if any are lost to change.
When underwater reefs are lost, they are not replaced.
There are no design standards that I know of for reef building. There are no materials that are defined from which to build reefs and there are no siting criteria that I know of for where to build a reef.
When the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge was built, a significant amount of the old Galloping Gertie Bridge reef was covered over with quarry rock to provide stable anchorage for support footings.
There has been a long standing provision in the transportation planning arena to build a bridge to connect Bremerton to Bainbridge Island and do away with the Seattle- Bremerton Ferry run. The design for that would eliminate the Waterman Point Wall reef.
Waterman Point Wall is the absolute best NATURAL reef in all of Puget Sound!
There should be provisions in the land use law to include underwater land similar to the provisions that protect for the no net loss of wet lands.
There should be design standards for reefs to include appropriate material definition and siting criteria.
There should be provisions in the future under water land use laws for no net loss of reefs and allowances for the development, construction, protection and stewardship of reefs by divers.
Other land use laws exist, and are actively promoted by many environmental advocacy groups, city, county and state agencies and governments for things like hiking trails, urban farms, biking trails from rails pathways, kayak camping marine trails and much more.
This was a Seattle Times article published in the Wednesday, 1/9/08 edition. I hope the link works.
Eventually, this dive site will be lost.
There was an effort to make the area under the water adjacent to the gravel mine a Marine Protection Area to prevent the mine from reopening as a mine. If you happen to take the ferry to Vashon and look in one of the Vashon Tourist guides available on the ferry, or get a map of Vashon - Maurey Island, they even list the site as a Marine Protection Area projecting that the initiative would become real.
It is not an actual Marine Protection Area. Those are listed in the Washington State Fishing Regulations publication. You have to look in each zone for the MPA's in that zone to find where they are.
There is no provision in any Washington State law or provision that I know of to have no net loss of a significant underwater feature or a cultural heritage site like a reef or a dive site as a result of a land use change, in this case a land use change that is under the water.
There are provisions to have no net loss of wetlands when property is developed as there is with wetland mitigation laws that are in place to ensure significant wetlands are built in kind if any are lost to change.
When underwater reefs are lost, they are not replaced.
There are no design standards that I know of for reef building. There are no materials that are defined from which to build reefs and there are no siting criteria that I know of for where to build a reef.
When the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge was built, a significant amount of the old Galloping Gertie Bridge reef was covered over with quarry rock to provide stable anchorage for support footings.
There has been a long standing provision in the transportation planning arena to build a bridge to connect Bremerton to Bainbridge Island and do away with the Seattle- Bremerton Ferry run. The design for that would eliminate the Waterman Point Wall reef.
Waterman Point Wall is the absolute best NATURAL reef in all of Puget Sound!
There should be provisions in the land use law to include underwater land similar to the provisions that protect for the no net loss of wet lands.
There should be design standards for reefs to include appropriate material definition and siting criteria.
There should be provisions in the future under water land use laws for no net loss of reefs and allowances for the development, construction, protection and stewardship of reefs by divers.
Other land use laws exist, and are actively promoted by many environmental advocacy groups, city, county and state agencies and governments for things like hiking trails, urban farms, biking trails from rails pathways, kayak camping marine trails and much more.