Les Davis Marine Park
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:32 am
Dive Site Name: more comonly known as: Les Davis Pier
Skill Level: (All Divers) See Below for descriptions.
Current Sensitive: (no)
Location/Address: 3427 Ruston Way Tacoma, WA
Directions:
The park is easy to find along Ruston Way, just past the large red fireboat pulled out on dry land as part of the shoreline park.
Free Parking: Yes , but is limmited, The good spots are, all the way to the end and back in, up against the sidewalk.
Staging Area: I usually set up in the parking lot on my tailgate. There are tables and benches along the grass area available for setting up gear as well.
Surface Swim: short
Nearby Facilities: Restrooms aare at the park. Many nearby restaurants are located along Ruston Way.
Special Considerations: It has been reported that the weekend nights can get a little rough with the potential of crime activity.
Allthough, there seems to be a stronger presence of police there recentyly too!
Maximum Depth: From 15fsw to 100+fsw the average max depthof the structures is around 80 fsw
Known Hazards: Do not go east past the tire reef, the fishing pier is closed to diving and is quite dangerous from lost fishing line. In fact, since fishermen commonly troll the diving area, it is a necessity to carry a good knife or shears here, and to keep a sharp eye out for lost line.
Dive Site Description:
A short swim out from the stairs (about 75’) puts you at the shallow 40-foot deep edge of the large, man-made underwater reef lying perpendicular to the shore. It continues well out into deep water, over 100’ deep, running east and west along the shore towards the fishing pier at the east entrance of the park. You can easily poke around looking into all the hollowed concrete for many dives, seeing rockfish, lingcod and other fish large and small, as well as invertebrates and much more.
Making a tour out into 70-80 feet of water and along to the right, east, and then back shallower is probably what most divers do, but feel free to explore it using your own dive plan. Some divers have seen deep-water 6-gill sharks during late summer night dives.
Do not go east past the tire reef, the fishing pier is closed to diving and is quite dangerous from lost fishing line. In fact, since fishermen commonly troll the diving area, it is a necessity to carry a good knife or shears here, and to keep a sharp eye out for lost line.
Les Davis tends to be quite silty from rivers emptying into Commencement Bay and coupled with a lack of current, buoyancy control becomes important to maintain visibility. It can be a rough entry when the wind is from the north. A strong flood current with a northerly wind is also a poor time to dive this site.
I would reccomend diving during a flood tide to reduce thr amount of silt in the water
most of this information came from. http://www.experiencewa.com/attraction.aspx?id=9146
Skill Level: (All Divers) See Below for descriptions.
Current Sensitive: (no)
Location/Address: 3427 Ruston Way Tacoma, WA
Directions:
The park is easy to find along Ruston Way, just past the large red fireboat pulled out on dry land as part of the shoreline park.
Free Parking: Yes , but is limmited, The good spots are, all the way to the end and back in, up against the sidewalk.
Staging Area: I usually set up in the parking lot on my tailgate. There are tables and benches along the grass area available for setting up gear as well.
Surface Swim: short
Nearby Facilities: Restrooms aare at the park. Many nearby restaurants are located along Ruston Way.
Special Considerations: It has been reported that the weekend nights can get a little rough with the potential of crime activity.
Allthough, there seems to be a stronger presence of police there recentyly too!
Maximum Depth: From 15fsw to 100+fsw the average max depthof the structures is around 80 fsw
Known Hazards: Do not go east past the tire reef, the fishing pier is closed to diving and is quite dangerous from lost fishing line. In fact, since fishermen commonly troll the diving area, it is a necessity to carry a good knife or shears here, and to keep a sharp eye out for lost line.
Dive Site Description:
A short swim out from the stairs (about 75’) puts you at the shallow 40-foot deep edge of the large, man-made underwater reef lying perpendicular to the shore. It continues well out into deep water, over 100’ deep, running east and west along the shore towards the fishing pier at the east entrance of the park. You can easily poke around looking into all the hollowed concrete for many dives, seeing rockfish, lingcod and other fish large and small, as well as invertebrates and much more.
Making a tour out into 70-80 feet of water and along to the right, east, and then back shallower is probably what most divers do, but feel free to explore it using your own dive plan. Some divers have seen deep-water 6-gill sharks during late summer night dives.
Do not go east past the tire reef, the fishing pier is closed to diving and is quite dangerous from lost fishing line. In fact, since fishermen commonly troll the diving area, it is a necessity to carry a good knife or shears here, and to keep a sharp eye out for lost line.
Les Davis tends to be quite silty from rivers emptying into Commencement Bay and coupled with a lack of current, buoyancy control becomes important to maintain visibility. It can be a rough entry when the wind is from the north. A strong flood current with a northerly wind is also a poor time to dive this site.
I would reccomend diving during a flood tide to reduce thr amount of silt in the water
most of this information came from. http://www.experiencewa.com/attraction.aspx?id=9146