Salt Creek - Straight of Juan de Fuca

[Chevayea]

Dive Site Name: SALT CREEK

Skill Level: Advanced. It isn't deep but there are waves and surge...and kelp... and urchins

Current Sensitive: Only beyond 45' deep. The reef and kelp block the majority of the current but the rocky reef ends about 45'. Beyond this point there is considerable current.

Location/Address: Salt Creek County Park [Google Map]

Directions: Driving - Salt Creek is 13 miles west of Port Angeles along the Straight of Juan de Fuca toward Sekiu, WA.
Head West on HWY 101 (yes it does run East/West up there) and Take HWY 112 towards Neah Bay. Watch for Camp Hayden RD. There are large signs telling you to turn for Salt Creek.
Boat - Salt Creek is the three coves just east of tongue point. It is near the Diamond Knot and makes a great follow up dive. [Google Map]

Free Parking: Yes

Staging Area: Space for a couple of vehicles located at the trail heads for each of the entry points.

Surface Swim: Short surface swim but challenging due to waves. Time your sets and hurry out between the rocks. Descend before the kelp beds and begin your dive. Coming back in - Surface away from rocks and kelp to find your exit point. Take a compass heading and return underwater.

Nearby Facilities: Salt Creek Recreation Area has restrooms, showers and campsites for tents and RVs. There are signs that prohibit dive gear in the showers.

Special Considerations: This area is BEAUTIFUL! The entry points are located within the well maintained park campground. This site is perfect for a dive camp out adventure.

Maximum Depth: 15-60'. You can go deeper and explore some boulders and short ledges but the best part of the dive is 15-45' deep through the reef.

Known Hazards: The challenge is the entry and exit when there is any amount of surf. Surge can be very strong during these times and there is the possibility of being tossed up on the rocks so keep your distance. There is a VERY thick kelp bed here with potential for entanglement and should be treated as an overhead environment.

There is a short, but steep path and stair case you must follow to the water. If there are waves then the entry and exit can be tricky. Enter the water (preferably at site 63) from a small cove to the right of the trail end. There is a small channel in the rocks that make a great staging point to wait for the waves to pass then follow it out through the small pool to the reef. It begins near the large kelp matt in front of you. There are other entry points as well but this is the best suited for divers.

Dive Site Description: This may be Washington's best shore dive site for beauty and sea life. It is comprised of a rugged rocky reef and the thick bull kelp forest that grows from summer to early fall. This is no ordinary kelp bed, it is thick, dynamic and exciting to navigate through and houses lots of rockfish. The bottom contour mimics the rocky shore, and comprises shelves, channels, overhangs and large boulders all covered in colorful invertebrates such as huge beds of sea urchins, sponges, starfish, chitons, hydrocoral, etc. Even though this is a marine sanctuary, the sea life here usually isn’t huge but it is colorfully arrayed and very diverse. Expect to see great quantities of black rockfish, kelp greenling, lingcod, all varieties of sculpin, etc.

Additional Resources:
Salt Creek Dive Site write-up on ThePerfectDive.com
Salt Creek Photo Gallery
Salt Creek Dive Site Map

[loanwolf]

Sail Rock, Seal Rock, and the Rock Garden are just off their also, the ANDALUSIA is located just under a half mile out and makes for a great scooter dive from shore. It is quite easy to find the ANDALUSIA if you follow the contour of the bottom. The spear fishing is great along that stretch as well.

[Romer Treece]

Sail Rock, Seal Rock, and the Rock Garden are just off their also, the ANDALUSIA is located just under a half mile out and makes for a great scooter dive from shore. It is quite easy to find the ANDALUSIA if you follow the contour of the bottom. The spear fishing is great along that stretch as well.

Isn't it the Diamond Knot just off of Salt creek? I thought the Andalusia was more west towards the tip of Washington.

[CaptnJack]

Sail Rock, Seal Rock, and the Rock Garden are just off their also, the ANDALUSIA is located just under a half mile out and makes for a great scooter dive from shore. It is quite easy to find the ANDALUSIA if you follow the contour of the bottom. The spear fishing is great along that stretch as well.

Isn't it the Diamond Knot just off of Salt creek? I thought the Andalusia was more west towards the tip of Washington.

Yup about 450yards.
Yes, Andalusia is west over closer Sekiu
Salt Creek County Park itself is a reserve, no spear fishing or collecting allowed. Certainly one of the best shore dive in WA

[loanwolf]

You are right I always get Snow Creek and Salt Creek mixed up.

[ljjames]

[BASSMAN]

Dude! Thanks for the review! I have put this site on my bucket list!
I hope to dive this site, soon!

[LCF]

We did Salt Creek this morning, and it's well worth the effort.

We went in down the stairs at the west end of the campground. At the bottom of the stairs, we went to the left, down the rocks to the small channel. Although there was significant surf further out, this area was very calm and allowed a safe entry. The water was deep enough at the start of our dive to lie down and more or less snorkel (or it would be snorkeling, if I had a snorkel, which I didn't) out to between the two large, flat rocks, where there was a calm place to wait for the others to join us. We then scootered out through the surf, which at that point is breaking over a rock shelf. Because we didn't have to stand up at any point, it was actually quite easy (and it would have been easy without scooters, too, as we had swimmers in our group who had no problems, either).

A word to the wise . . . do NOT try to traverse the kelp on the surface. It is MUCH easier to drop and wind through the stems than to try to crawl through the leaves. You can do it, but it's a pain.

The dive is worth it. It was beautiful, even in the fairly marginal viz we had today. I will go back.

[Mortuus]

I will go back.

As will I. That site was astoundingly beautiful! 10/10

[mpenders]

Scubie Doo and I have done Salt Creek a couple of times now. It sounds like you entered down the stairs near campsite #63 (right?), which is where we also park and head towards the water. However, at the bottom of the stairs, we head to the right, where there is a little cove with a pebble beach. Entering the water there is also fairly easy, with a small chest-deep area to fin up. Then there is a channel that you can swim under the kelp canopy to get to the outside edge of the kelp forest.

Beautiful area, beautiful dive. With cameras and no scooters, we try to avoid big tide swings, and prefer to dive there in the morning before the wind kicks up the swells.

[LCF]

I think we might have been even further west -- I seem to remember passing campsite #72 and wondering just how big the place WAS. This is where we went in:







We dove at about 10 am. The surf you can see here:



When we came out an hour or so later, the ocean was a lake.

[mpenders]

Here's a couple of images of the layout of Salt Creek Campground:

[KneeDeep]

Scubie Doo and I have done Salt Creek a couple of times now. It sounds like you entered down the stairs near campsite #63 (right?), which is where we also park and head towards the water. However, at the bottom of the stairs, we head to the right, where there is a little cove with a pebble beach. Entering the water there is also fairly easy, with a small chest-deep area to fin up. Then there is a channel that you can swim under the kelp canopy to get to the outside edge of the kelp forest.

Beautiful area, beautiful dive. With cameras and no scooters, we try to avoid big tide swings, and prefer to dive there in the morning before the wind kicks up the swells.

Yep, this is the entry I did, after the stairs take a right. Great entry on the day we did it, but I could see how it might be a challenge to enter the channel if swells were coming in, but still doable.

Outstanding site... hoping we can do it again before summers over.