Agate Pass

[Chevayea]

Dive Site Name: Agate Pass Drift Dive

Skill Level: Advanced current dive. Be prepared to finsih the dive solo in case you get separated by the current.

Current Sensitive: YES - If planned correctly it should be about 2knots based on the Agate Pass North End. Too fast and you won't make it to the middle of the channel, too slow and it will turn into a long swim to the exit point.

Directions:The staging point is at Old Man House State Park and the entry point is at the south east end of the bridge just off 305 on the north end of bainbridge. Here is a google map.

Parking: Limited free parking at Old Man's House Park for about 4-6 vehicles. About the same number of spots at the entry point too.

Nearby Facilities: Bathrooms are open in the summer months at Old Man House State Park

Special Considerations:This is a busy channel so beware of overhead boat traffic when surfacing. A live boat is an excellent addition to a dive here, but it is very enjoyable as a shore dive. It will require either two vehicles or a non-diving driver to make the drop off at the entry point and then pick up at the park. Avoid the back eddy (see map link below for location).

Maximum Depth: 35'

Known Hazards: Very strong current. Keep an eye out for boulders so you don't get smashed against one.

Dive Site Description: Agate Pass is a 1 mile, high speed drift dive from the SE corner of the Agate Pass Bridge to a park called Old Man House State Park. It is a relatively shallow dive (35-40ft) that affords you the unique opportunity to soar over the bottom covered with carpets of anemones, do effortless flips and cartwheels and play in the eddies behind rocks. It is a unique experience to succumb to the pull of the current and ride it along to your exit point.

More information can be found on The Perfect Dive website | Agate Pass. There you'll find dive site details, reviews, and specific instructions on how to make this dive as safely as possible.

Here is a link to an Agate Pass dive site map.

Agate Pass Map.jpg (9.91 KiB) Viewed 5571 times

[CaptnJack]

Be careful, seasonally there is ALOT of boat traffic here. Between Labor Day and Memorial Day would be prudent (non peaking summer boating season)

[ljjames]

Its an awesome dive! With vis the way it's been these past couple weeks, I bet it would be positively mind blowing! (but ya, like richard says, boats are a concern, especially right now with the heat wave)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XmIADbfRas

[CaptnJack]

Yeah its an awesome dive. As a shore dive its definitely committing.

[gcbryan]

As a shore dive mid-week in the winter when it hasn't been raining a lot is optimal. With such a shallow dive it's nice to have good viz and no to low boat traffic.

If currents are 4 knots under the bridge they will be 2 knots by the exit point at Old Man House State Park. It's hard to deal with current any greater than this as you are getting in on one side and have to cross and get out on the other side.

There are back eddies so once you leave the main center channel current after crossing you may run into these and then it's more or less time to come up.

Pick your dive buddies well for this one. It's a very good exercise of your judgment and planning abilities to carry this off without ending up in the sound.

This is also a good practice dive leading up to something bigger like Deception Pass.

[dsteding]

I'm a bit confused, because when we've done this with live boats we have done it on a flood. Your map has it as an ebb (and your description below doesn't mention that). The concern with doing it on an ebb--at least from a boat, is that people get spit out and across Port Madison to Indianola.

Having not done it on from shore, maybe that is the way it is done. But, it seems like the current conditions under which this can be done need to be clarified in the above description. Besides that, great dive site listing.

[CaptnJack]

Washing up in Indianola on the other side of Madison Bay isn't the end of the world. But that makes for a really long stressful day.

[dsteding]

Let's not try that again.

[CaptnJack]

Let's not try that again.

One person's mistake is another person's adventure!

[BDub]

Let's not try that again.

That's a motto, not a complaint!

[CaptnJack]

Let's not try that again.

That's a motto, not a complaint!

A motto the now married Dr. D.J. Steding esquire is NOT living up to, slacker!

[gcbryan]

The reason that it's done that way as a shore dive Doug is that you couldn't get out if you did it the other way. The current near the bridge is approximately twice that of the mouth.

[Chevayea]

The reason that it's done that way as a shore dive Doug is that you couldn't get out if you did it the other way. The current near the bridge is approximately twice that of the mouth.

That's right. You can do it on a flood from a boat but from shore it needs to be on an ebb. This way the current is slowing toward the exit and gives you a chance to swim to the exit point either on the surface or try to navigate underwater.

I have found that it is best at about 2-3 knots. I did it once at 5 and it was too strong to even make it to the middle of the channel where the larger boulders are and the best life. At 2 knots it is stong but manageable when swimming perpendicular to the current so you can work to the middle of the channel and then "let loose" and ride it toward the exit.

[gcbryan]

The reason that it's done that way as a shore dive Doug is that you couldn't get out if you did it the other way. The current near the bridge is approximately twice that of the mouth.

That's right. You can do it on a flood from a boat but from shore it needs to be on an ebb. This way the current is slowing toward the exit and gives you a chance to swim to the exit point either on the surface or try to navigate underwater.

I have found that it is best at about 2-3 knots. I did it once at 5 and it was too strong to even make it to the middle of the channel where the larger boulders are and the best life. At 2 knots it is stong but manageable when swimming perpendicular to the current so you can work to the middle of the channel and then "let loose" and ride it toward the exit.

I've done it when it was 4 knots at the bridge and 2 knots toward the end of the dive. I don't think you would want to do it any faster than this. I did like this combination however. You can't make any headway to the other side at 4 knots thought but by midway through the dive when the current is 2 knots it's doable. If you go too slow some with smaller tanks may run out of air.

Given the shallowness of the dive running out of air is probably not a major concern but with the excitement and the kicking to get to the other side who knows!

It's also probably not all that exciting if you go too slow.

[CaptnJack]

It's also probably not all that exciting if you go too slow.

by boat we aim for the biggest flood we can get, 6knots is a hoot