Mercer Island Underwater Forest

[Mortuus]

Dive Site Name: Mercer Island Underwater Forest

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced due to the extreme murkiness and low viz of the lake complimented by numerous entanglement hazards (lots of monofilament line), and an incredibly silty bottom with the potential to reduce viz to 0 in seconds.

Current Sensitive: No

Location/Address: Clarke Beach State Park on Mercer Island http://goo.gl/maps/dz6Bv

Directions: Driving from the I-90 bridge, take exit 7 or 7B towards Island Crest Way, depending on which direction you are traveling on I-90. Turn onto Island Crest Way and follow it south for about 3 miles. Turn left onto SE 68th St. This will turn into SE 70th Pl, which you then follow until you hit E Mercer Way. Take a right onto E Mercer Way and follow that road for about half a mile until you reach the intersection of E Mercer Way and SE 77th Pl. Take a left to pull into the parking lot for Clarke Beach State Park

Free Parking: Yes

Staging Area: Good. There are plenty of picnic tables down near the entry point to set your gear up on.

Entry/Exit: Shore or boat. Getting to the water from shore is tough. It requires a 150 yard walk down to the staging area from the parking lot. The entry itself is also difficult. "Stepping" off the final stair into the water is a good way to break a knee/leg if wearing doubles. Its a big jump. Sitting down and sliding in isnt easy, but its not impossible. The other alternative is to climb down a ladder off the dock. I havent tried entering here yet, but this seems to be the best way to exit. Again, it is difficult, and can be slick. BE CAREFUL!

Surface Swim: Short. About 100 ft. Swim about the distance to the end of the dock, and drop.

Nearby Facilities: Bathrooms in a concrete building right behind the swimming area (aka entry point)

Special Considerations: As already stated, Lake Washington is a somewhat hostile dive environment for the diver who is unprepared. There is a fair bit of monofilament fishing line underwater, and some of it is even taut, and hanging mid water, attached to the various logs. Combined with the low murky vis, and potential for silting, this can be deadly. Be sure to carry more than one knife, and dive it with a reliable buddy. Be sure to also dive with a compass, as it can be disorienting down there, and there will be boat traffic in the summer, making surfacing far from shore less than optimal.
Drop 6 lbs. for fresh water too.

Maximum Depth: There seem to be a lot of dead trees between 40 and 60 ffw. From around 52 ft my buddy and I followed one fallen tree straight out from shore along the bottom, and it seemed to get pretty flat. I dont think it went much deeper than 60. I will be doing some more exploration here on another day.

Known Hazards: Kind of already went over those in the "Special Consideration" category. Ill reiterate:
- Entanglement
- Low viz
- Murkiness
- Silt
- Boat traffic

Dive Site Description: This is an underwater forest in Lake Washington, and it is exactly what it sounds like. It is a dive for looking for trees, and looking at said trees. Those are the only attractions. The trees that have fallen here slid into the lake over 1000 years ago. That alone makes it pretty cool.

[Nwbrewer]

Pez, Fishstiq and I did this dive a long time ago from boat, good to know you can do it from shore! It's a fine dive to do once or twice.

[Mortuus]

Pez, Fishstiq and I did this dive a long time ago from boat, good to know you can do it from shore! It's a fine dive to do once or twice.

Updated the listing to include the entry/exit "strategies". I forgot to mention that access from shore is quite the challenge.

[Jeff Pack]

Dylan did the stairs entrance,i entered by ladder.no big deal.

[Nwbrewer]

Entry/Exit: Shore or boat. Getting to the water from shore is tough. It requires a 150 yard walk down to the staging area from the parking lot. The entry itself is also difficult. "Stepping" off the final stair into the water is a good way to break a knee/leg if wearing doubles. Its a big jump. Sitting down and sliding in isnt easy, but its not impossible. The other alternative is to climb down a ladder off the dock. I havent tried entering here yet, but this seems to be the best way to exit. Again, it is difficult, and can be slick. BE CAREFUL!

Sidemount! Stage the bottles in the water, jump in with no tanks on at all!

[Jeff Pack]

Its alittle uneven, personally, I'd climb down the ladder rather then jump in at the steps.

[Joshua Smith]

Be warned: 3 members of the MDS were ordered out of the water and detained by the MI police for over an hour, while the officers tried to come up with something to charge them with last year. After several tries, they were ticketed for failing to use a dive flag, even though none of them had actually been underwater. The MI police are actively hostile to scuba divers.

[CaptnJack]

Be warned: 3 members of the MDS were ordered out of the water and detained by the MI police for over an hour, while the officers tried to come up with something to charge them with last year. After several tries, they were ticketed for failing to use a dive flag, even though none of them had actually been underwater. The MI police are actively hostile to scuba divers.

We did not have that experience. Bdub, Edge and my wife were out on my boat in a storm at the wreck of the Wheeler last winter. Someone on shore thought we were in distress even though we were not. So MI police were dispatched to rescue us. By the time MI PD arrived, we had left the Wheeler and were preparing for a 2nd dive on the wreck of the Gigolo. Despite pulling up with lights flashing, they just made sure we were ok and left. No boarding or anything.

[Joshua Smith]

We did not have that experience.

I guess you didn't. You'd definitely remember it.

Those particular officers were total jerks to my friends on that particular day. They told them it was illegal to dive near I90. When one of them produced the local director of homeland security's business card, and explained that it was, in fact NOT illegal, and offered to call him, they got really angry, and tried to come up with a different charge. Several attempts later, they had the dive flag charge, even though the team hadn't even dived. It was a very hostile situation.

[Jeff Pack]

thats pretty crappy, but I have lawyers that eat dickhead cops for a snack. I just let them(cops) do their thing, i make a call, and it goes away.

[CaptnJack]

We did not have that experience.

I guess you didn't. You'd definitely remember it.

Those particular officers were total jerks to my friends on that particular day. They told them it was illegal to dive near I90. When one of them produced the local director of homeland security's business card, and explained that it was, in fact NOT illegal, and offered to call him, they got really angry, and tried to come up with a different charge. Several attempts later, they had the dive flag charge, even though the team hadn't even dived. It was a very hostile situation.

Did they contest the citation?

[Joshua Smith]

We did not have that experience.

I guess you didn't. You'd definitely remember it.

Those particular officers were total jerks to my friends on that particular day. They told them it was illegal to dive near I90. When one of them produced the local director of homeland security's business card, and explained that it was, in fact NOT illegal, and offered to call him, they got really angry, and tried to come up with a different charge. Several attempts later, they had the dive flag charge, even though the team hadn't even dived. It was a very hostile situation.

Did they contest the citation?

Yep. Got it dismissed. Were done diving that island, though. I hate the place. Whole thing is a speed trap full of bored cops who can't afford to live there.

[CaptnJack]

Problem solved (which should never have existed in the first place).
I almost never shore dive in the Lake and certainly not from MI. Any kind of dive group at all just attracts wayyyy too much attention and conflict.

[Jeff Pack]

Or dive on a crappy rainy day like Dylan and I did, where the donut eaters dont want to get out of their cars...

[CaptnJack]

I'm a big fan of maintaining a low profile with local law enforcement and any neighbors. Obviously this site (from shore) has some on-going issues.

[Mortuus]

How can cops even get involved if all you are doing is diving a site (assume with a dive flag)? Theres nothing illegal about shore diving there. At least not from what I have heard.

[CaptnJack]

How can cops even get involved if all you are doing is diving a site (assume with a dive flag)? Theres nothing illegal about shore diving there. At least not from what I have heard.

Oh grasshopper, you don't have to be doing anything illegal to be hassled and even cited.

[Joshua Smith]

How can cops even get involved if all you are doing is diving a site (assume with a dive flag)? Theres nothing illegal about shore diving there. At least not from what I have heard.

Oh grasshopper, you don't have to be doing anything illegal to be hassled and even cited.

ROFL!

I take it Mortuus is young and idealistic? Yeah. Thought so.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I was, too, once.

[Mortuus]

How can cops even get involved if all you are doing is diving a site (assume with a dive flag)? Theres nothing illegal about shore diving there. At least not from what I have heard.

Oh grasshopper, you don't have to be doing anything illegal to be hassled and even cited.

ROFL!

I take it Mortuus is young and idealistic? Yeah. Thought so.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I was, too, once.

Far from it. I just try to avoid spewing my general cynicism while on the board lest I scare away dive buddies. "Act like a normal person, act like a normal person...."

[renoun]

[sarcasm]The cops probably thought that all divers are from Kent.[/sarcasm]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/AA15o2YL8e0[/youtube]



If you have arrived in the Seattle area recently there is plenty of sage advice (from my adolescence ) contained in the Almost Live Guide to Living in Seattle.

[ORDiver]

I love almost live! As a native Auburnite I sadly am not allowed on Mercer Island either and will probably never be able to dive this site from shore.

[Mortuus]

[sarcasm]The cops probably thought that all divers are from Kent.[/sarcasm]
[youtube]http://youtu.be/AA15o2YL8e0[/youtube]



If you have arrived in the Seattle area recently there is plenty of sage advice (from my adolescence ) contained in the Almost Live Guide to Living in Seattle.

[Nwbrewer]

I love almost live! As a native Auburnite I sadly am not allowed on Mercer Island either and will probably never be able to dive this site from shore.

I'd say it's best done as a dive after having done something cool in the lake, when you still have some gas in the tanks and are already on the boat with nothing better to do.... Like 100' rock.

[ORDiver]

I love almost live! As a native Auburnite I sadly am not allowed on Mercer Island either and will probably never be able to dive this site from shore.

I'd say it's best done as a dive after having done something cool in the lake, when you still have some gas in the tanks and are already on the boat with nothing better to do.... Like 100' rock.

Yeah, I would agree after that dsecription of how to get down to the water. I'll have to check with the Mercer Island PD and make sure that the site is not too close to shore. They may have some sort of off shore perimeter around the island that native southender's can't enter. I did move away from Auburn 20 years ago though. Maybe that clears me.

Seriously though, I would like to check this out. A creepy, ancient underwater forest sounds intriguing to me. I'd be willing to bring the boat up and hit another site and then this one.

[Mortuus]

Theres always the PBM Mariner for a first dive. I havent dove it, but it sounds like the PBM followed by the underwater forest would make for a pretty cool day