At Long Last: Octopus Hole

[dwashbur]

I've been diving for over 7 years, all of it either in the PNW or the Monterey area. Yet, today was my first time at Octopus Hole. This may be unforgivable, considering how octopus-crazy my wife is. Anyway, we weren't sure about getting down to it; between my spine and her knees it was going to be a fairly difficult trek. But we have heard about this spot ever since our first trip over to the Sound, so we had to give it a try.

We had partly cloudy skies and absolutely flat, clear water. From the shore it was beautiful. Yesterday at Sund Rock we had some trouble with our camera cases fogging up, so I used my noodle and anchored them at the water's edge to cool down while we geared up. So much for my noodle; by the time we finished getting our gear on and got down there to them, the tide had gone out a little and they were high and dry. Oh well. The trick apparently worked anyway, because we had no fogging problems.

We had been told two ways to do this: one was, take a 130 degree heading to the platform and either keep going past that to the south wall, or turn east and go to another wall. Alternately, go down to a big tree snag hanging out over the water and head straight in there to get to the wall. We decided to go for the compass heading; file that under Best Laid Plans. We got too deep pretty quickly and missed it. When we got to 65 feet I knew we were way off, so I turned us up slope. I started seeing the bottom covered with loose shale-like rock pieces, the kind that usually shear off a wall over time, so I figured we were close. Sure enough, we got to the wall and spent the rest of our bottom time exploring it. We did find two octopuseseseses - now I know why we say "octopi," it's easier to spell! Anyway, one was definitely on eggs, and judging by the color of the second one we suspect she is, too. We found one nudibranch that we haven't been able to identify, and it maybe a new one for us. Gotta get back home and get the books out!

All too soon we hit turnaround pressure, so we slowly made our way up the wall and I took a reciprocal heading back toward the trail, hoping to run into that platform this time. If it's still there, you couldn't prove it by us, because we missed it both times. But the critters were out in force, including who knows how many black-eyed gobies and a lot of listless-looking copper rockfish (low oxygen levels?). Total dive time was 47 minutes, max depth was 65 feet. Then we got out and Kathy discovered that the car key had fallen off her BCD. Got a spare? Uh, that WAS the spare. The other one is in the car. Thankfully, my wife is brilliant as well as beautiful; the driver's window was down just a sliver, and she managed to get a stick through there and hit the "unlock" button. There are many, many reasons why I love this woman so much. That's just one more.

We will definitely be back here some time, though not today; my body can't take another trip up and down that trail in one day. But now I understand what all the fuss is about, because this is an incredible site.

I'll try to post some pictures later today.

[selkie]

Dave,

How old were the instructions you had? There was a floating platform there at one time. I think it has been gone for 6 or 7 years.

[mz53480]

... hoping to run into that platform this time. If it's still there, you couldn't prove it by us, because we missed it both times. ...

I don't think it's there anymore. I think only the cement block and chain are all that's left.

How was the viz?

[selkie]

There is an engine block there some place also but divers keep moving it around with lift bags so it is not a constant land mark.

[dwashbur]

I asked Jerry at the shop about it and he said it's been gone for a long time. Viz was good, probably a respectable 20 feet down around the wall, actually a little better up shallow. Quite a change from yesterday when the wind was whipping everything up and the viz at Sund Rock was about half that much. Still,we found 2 octos and 4 wolfies at Sund, so we couldn't gripe. Much.

We didn't find a block or chain or engine block or anything else. I basically used fallen scree to locate the wall from below, and that was good enough for us. The map was from Janna's site, and I know it's a good 10 years old or so. Still, we got compass headings off it and a general idea, so it was quite helpful.

Resting up for a night dive at one of the local spots later on when it gets dark.

[dwashbur]

As promised, pictures.

White cucumbers were everywhere on the wall.

One of the two octos we found. The color of this one made us wonder if she's on eggs.

These guys are HARD to get a picture of!

Who are you calling squat, shorty??

Not sure what was going on here because there was no current. It almost looked ill.

For my paguriphile daughter.

What kind of eggs are these? I'm pretty sure that one little limpet in the middle didn't lay all of them...

Another view of the egg mass.

And the star of the show: a nice Acanthodoris lutea, the first one we've ever encountered. Finding a new-to-us nudibranch is always the highlight of a dive!

[Gdog]

The tree is the best way to do...points right to the northern tip of the wall.

[selkie]

The tree is the best way to do...points right to the northern tip of the wall.

+1

[dwashbur]

Agreed. Next time we'll definitely do it that way. Actually, next time we would prefer to be on a boat, but that's negotiable of course.

[mz53480]

great pics!!!