Dive Site Name:Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
Skill Level: Advanced
Current Sensitive: Yes. This site is best done on a moderate to small exchange. Use the Rosario current figures Contrary to a popular dive site guide I have found no corrections are needed for the Rosario numbers. Dive this site on slack before ebb so if the current does start it will move you back to the entrance rather than out into the sound.
Location/Address: Skyline Marina-Anacortes
Directions: Take I-5 to Anacortes and follow the signs to the SJ ferry. The road forks just before the ferry, don't go to the ferry but rather stay to the left. In about a mile you will see the Skyline Marina on your left. Drive all the way through the marina and take the last right which is a cul d'sac which ends at a gate to a private beach club. Park in the road by the beach club.
Free Parking: Yes, nearby parking limited
Staging Area: Good
Surface Swim: Medium
Nearby Facilities: Nearby at Washington Park
Special Considerations: Very Current Sensitive
Maximum Depth: approx. 35-80 FSW
Dive Site Description: Very long rocky wall covered with life, very colorful, is the only shore dive that resembles a typical San Juan boat dive. Is very current intensive so should be done on milder exchanges and only at slack before ebb. Get in a few minutes before slack. Swim past the beach club and drop when you see the patch of kelp.
Wall starts at about 35fsw but gets deeper and much, much better as you go down the wall toward the sound. The sweet spot is probably at about 65 fsw.
Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
Last edited by gcbryan on Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
As I recall it's probably around 85 fsw but I've been to around 110 fsw as you leave the wall at certain spots and some large rock structures appear at the deeper depths.mattwave wrote:Very Good Dive.
What's the deepest the walls goes too?
The best and deepest parts would be near the end as the wall gets out to Rosario Strait (or whatever the larger body of water is called) and as it turns to the right along the other side of Washington Park.
I have heard from a friend that the channel is mud around 110-130ft
Doug and I had an awesome scooter dive here last month. 25 mins out at 80ft, 15 mins back at 45ft. Slack before ebb pushes you home. Tons and tons of scallops out on the rocks in Rosario Strait. One of my best scooter dives to date.
Doug and I had an awesome scooter dive here last month. 25 mins out at 80ft, 15 mins back at 45ft. Slack before ebb pushes you home. Tons and tons of scallops out on the rocks in Rosario Strait. One of my best scooter dives to date.
Your dive tomorrow should be much easier than last weekend. There is a much milder exchange this weekend.Seth T. wrote:I updated the name for this site.
kirbycook, VMac and I did this dive last weekend. It has huge potential but the currents are just wicked. Perfect timing is crucial.
We are doing it again tomorrow. I'll update the content then.
Last edited by gcbryan on Fri Nov 09, 2007 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just as an added note, we followed the recommendations in NWSD... as a general rule they were spot on. Always dive this site on a slack water before an Ebb current and enter the water 30 min before slack water, and drop down 20 minutes before slack. So we started our surface swim at 30 min before slack (which is 32 min before slack at Rosario Strait) and dropped down just on the channel side of the kelp roughly at the "notch" in the rocks on shore that the book talks about. We hit slack water almost exactly when we thought we would, and started our swim back to the beach. We didn't really feel the ebb current until about the time we exited the water.
We did talk to another diver who had quite a bit of experience at this site and he suggested adjusting your spash time based on the strength of the waning flood tide and the ebb after slack. If it's a strong flood he recommended splashing later and closer to the slack water time since you 'll get out to Fidalgo head faster on a strong current). If it's a stronger ebb, he recommended splashing earlier than the 30 min relative to slack that the book recommends since you'll likely float back to the beach much quicker than your float out to the head. Hope that makes sense.
Kirby-
We did talk to another diver who had quite a bit of experience at this site and he suggested adjusting your spash time based on the strength of the waning flood tide and the ebb after slack. If it's a strong flood he recommended splashing later and closer to the slack water time since you 'll get out to Fidalgo head faster on a strong current). If it's a stronger ebb, he recommended splashing earlier than the 30 min relative to slack that the book recommends since you'll likely float back to the beach much quicker than your float out to the head. Hope that makes sense.
Kirby-
Have gear will travel...
Oh and I'll second gcbryan's note that parking is limited... we got the last "legal" spot. Apparently the little cul de sac that sits at the entry for the beach is overflow parking for the marina... it was a nice day and everyone was out on the water. There is a lot of "yellow curb" that is very tempting... especially when the alternative is a very very long walk, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Kirby-
Kirby-
Have gear will travel...
If you have an equipment problem, the marina staff are helpful. We had a broken X scooter and they miraculously had the proper style pin to go in a 30amp Anderson connector and the crimper to make it stay on right.
So if you need something I recommend asking at the office. Not a dive shop but close enough that they might save your dive. Be generous with your money and thanks so they continue to like divers - who are also parking in their overflow parking...
Richard
So if you need something I recommend asking at the office. Not a dive shop but close enough that they might save your dive. Be generous with your money and thanks so they continue to like divers - who are also parking in their overflow parking...
Richard
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
This is my very favorite shore dive in Washington. The bottom of the wall max is about 90fsw. It is worth running this as there are numerous undercuts and small caves (big enough for fish but not you) at the base of the wall. They have all kinds of critters in them including some of the biggest rockfish I have seen anywhere. The top of the structure is at about 15fsw. Yes, it is 75 feet high. The wall has two distinct zones of life. One from about 10 to 50fsw, and another 50fsw to 90fsw. Of the seven dives I have done here at various times of the year, vis has always been 15-20ft.
The only shore dive I have done that has a higher density of life is nearby Deception Pass. Unlike Deception Pass, Skyline Wall is divable at least once a week during spring tides, and almost daily during neap tides. It also allows for longer bottom time before the currents become unmanagable. Most of the devotes of this dive have their own methods for calculating what days it will be good, and when to get into the water. They generally all arrive at the same answer, but given the lack of specific current predictions for the site, everyone chooses some published nearby data point, and exptrapolates from there by trial and error.
My method is this, and I have been successful for all but my first attempt (got into the water too early). Go to Protides.com, and select "Anacortes Guemes Channel" (yes this is a tides, not a currents site. Don't worry about that). This dive must be done at slack before the ebb. Select high tide following a moderate flood into a MODERATE TO LARGE EBB. There is no such thing as "slack" water in Burrows Pass. The powerful flood runs due west through the entire water column. As the tide turns, the weaker ebb begins to run to the east on the surface, then penetrates into the water column deeper and deeper until it reaches the bottom of the channel. The goal is to get into the water just as it is slack (or even ebbing slightly) on the surface. DROP 15 MINUTES AFTER THE PUBLISHED HIGH TIDE TIME FOR ANACORTES GUEMES CHANNEL on Protides.com. Surface swim until about 100 feet off shore from the low cliff on the west side of the beach cabana. Drop there, and swim downhill. The westbound flood will still be running at 60fsw and deeper. Turn West, and ride the current. The wall will appear abruptly. I like to drift the zone from 60fsw to 90fsw until I have used about 2/3 of my gas. Then the real magic of the dive happens. Ascend to 40fsw or shallower, and the ebb will be running eastbound giving you a free ride back to the beach on your remaining gas!
One word of caution relayed to me from the staff at dive shop in Anacortes. It takes a fairly large exchange on the ebb to shut off the flood current. On small ebb exchanges, the current never reverses, and you could find yourself getting out of the water on the rocks and cliffs a half mile to the west at the end of the point. This makes for a difficult scramble up dirty cliffs with gear, and a long walk back to the car.
The only shore dive I have done that has a higher density of life is nearby Deception Pass. Unlike Deception Pass, Skyline Wall is divable at least once a week during spring tides, and almost daily during neap tides. It also allows for longer bottom time before the currents become unmanagable. Most of the devotes of this dive have their own methods for calculating what days it will be good, and when to get into the water. They generally all arrive at the same answer, but given the lack of specific current predictions for the site, everyone chooses some published nearby data point, and exptrapolates from there by trial and error.
My method is this, and I have been successful for all but my first attempt (got into the water too early). Go to Protides.com, and select "Anacortes Guemes Channel" (yes this is a tides, not a currents site. Don't worry about that). This dive must be done at slack before the ebb. Select high tide following a moderate flood into a MODERATE TO LARGE EBB. There is no such thing as "slack" water in Burrows Pass. The powerful flood runs due west through the entire water column. As the tide turns, the weaker ebb begins to run to the east on the surface, then penetrates into the water column deeper and deeper until it reaches the bottom of the channel. The goal is to get into the water just as it is slack (or even ebbing slightly) on the surface. DROP 15 MINUTES AFTER THE PUBLISHED HIGH TIDE TIME FOR ANACORTES GUEMES CHANNEL on Protides.com. Surface swim until about 100 feet off shore from the low cliff on the west side of the beach cabana. Drop there, and swim downhill. The westbound flood will still be running at 60fsw and deeper. Turn West, and ride the current. The wall will appear abruptly. I like to drift the zone from 60fsw to 90fsw until I have used about 2/3 of my gas. Then the real magic of the dive happens. Ascend to 40fsw or shallower, and the ebb will be running eastbound giving you a free ride back to the beach on your remaining gas!
One word of caution relayed to me from the staff at dive shop in Anacortes. It takes a fairly large exchange on the ebb to shut off the flood current. On small ebb exchanges, the current never reverses, and you could find yourself getting out of the water on the rocks and cliffs a half mile to the west at the end of the point. This makes for a difficult scramble up dirty cliffs with gear, and a long walk back to the car.
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
Honestly, when I went, we just used the PYD tide charts and we hit slack dead on. No adjustments, and zero current. Awesome dive.
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
January 26, 2013 at 2:44 PM:
I did my first Skyline Wall dive yesterday. I talked with Kelly at Anacortes Dive and Supply before the dive and she said the same thing; too small of an exchange and the current might not change directions. We started our descent early, 37 minutes prior to the slack before ebb (Rosario Strait). We experienced a moderate current at depth (50 - 60 feet). Nothing you couldn't swim against to stop your progress and look around, but too much current to swim against for any length of time. After 22 minutes (now 17 minutes before predicted slack), and with 1600 psi showing (out of a max of 3442), we ascended to 30 feet for the return trip. The current had not changed direction to take us back to the car, but at the shallow depth, the current was much weaker. After 15 minutes of that, we ascended to the safety stop depth (~15). The current we were swimming against was almost nothing. We continued at 15 feet for another 8 minutes at which point we turned left and headed directly to shore. With my wife's tank at 400 PSI, we decided to surface from a depth of 10 feet (15 ft./min). We ended up straight off the beach from where we parked the car (pure luck on my part, but don’t tell my wife that), but it was still a long swim in. Bottom line: we did not get the advantage of a return current; probably because we started too early and picked a day with too small of an exchange.
I did my first Skyline Wall dive yesterday. I talked with Kelly at Anacortes Dive and Supply before the dive and she said the same thing; too small of an exchange and the current might not change directions. We started our descent early, 37 minutes prior to the slack before ebb (Rosario Strait). We experienced a moderate current at depth (50 - 60 feet). Nothing you couldn't swim against to stop your progress and look around, but too much current to swim against for any length of time. After 22 minutes (now 17 minutes before predicted slack), and with 1600 psi showing (out of a max of 3442), we ascended to 30 feet for the return trip. The current had not changed direction to take us back to the car, but at the shallow depth, the current was much weaker. After 15 minutes of that, we ascended to the safety stop depth (~15). The current we were swimming against was almost nothing. We continued at 15 feet for another 8 minutes at which point we turned left and headed directly to shore. With my wife's tank at 400 PSI, we decided to surface from a depth of 10 feet (15 ft./min). We ended up straight off the beach from where we parked the car (pure luck on my part, but don’t tell my wife that), but it was still a long swim in. Bottom line: we did not get the advantage of a return current; probably because we started too early and picked a day with too small of an exchange.
Last edited by johndo88 on Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
Last time I did Skyline, I scootered it. That was a good plan.
=============================================
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it
CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
I don't use Rosario, but the timing parameters are fine. I use a commercial Tide/Current program that interprets Burrow Pass itself. What I have found after a lot of dives there is that the FLOOD needs to be GREATER than the Ebb to reverse properly. The 2 dives I've had there that were a trial were profiles like yours, ebb greater than flood on a small exchange. I have not resorted years of data to determine if that is true using Rosario also but it was on the 26th.
I also learned that if you work up to very shallow water (less than 10 ft. deep) there is almost no current and lots of big rocks to help the long journey back.
How was the viz, the invert life, and the dive itself? I tend to not bother with Skyline in the winter due to the long drive and the high probability of fresh water Skagit dump messing up the dive. It's sure a nice dive on a decent day but it certainly can be lousy with crap viz and current.
I also learned that if you work up to very shallow water (less than 10 ft. deep) there is almost no current and lots of big rocks to help the long journey back.
How was the viz, the invert life, and the dive itself? I tend to not bother with Skyline in the winter due to the long drive and the high probability of fresh water Skagit dump messing up the dive. It's sure a nice dive on a decent day but it certainly can be lousy with crap viz and current.
To Air is Human,
To Respire, Divine.
To Respire, Divine.
Re: Skyline Wall (Burrows Pass)
You will be happy to know that your assessment about diving Skyline in the winter is spot-on. At 60 feet the visibility was what about 15 feet plus or minus. From 30 feet up to 10 feet, visibility was closer to 5 feet. Lots of small critters on the wall, lots of nice colors like you get in the San Juan Islands, but very few fish of any size and no octopus or wolf eels. We only went down to 63 feet; I’ve read that the bottom is better for finding big stuff. To be fair, this was a site-familiarization dive for me so we might not have done a good search. I was more focused on current, gas consumption, and how we were going to get back to the car.fmerkel wrote:I tend to not bother with Skyline in the winter due to the long drive and the high probability of fresh water Skagit dump messing up the dive. It's sure a nice dive on a decent day but it certainly can be lousy with crap viz and current.
You nailed the current issue, at 10 feet there was little resistance, and I too used the rocks to get back; very easy. After our dive, my wife (Lynne) and I decided that we would not come back. However, after hearing from you that it’s better during other times of the year, we will give it another chance. I would welcome your experience sometime.