Northwest Dive Club

Wow, chalk one up for North Sound diving!

Met up with Mateo, H20Doc, Don Showalter, and dwinslow for an attempt at shore diving the fingers. After initially pulling into the wrong park we figured out where the state park was. The road down to the ranger house was barricaded but the chain slips off. So we drove down and knocked on the door...nobody home. We staged our gear at the picnic table, drove back up the hill, and replaced the gate. Donning our gear at the bottom of the hill ... It was time to dive!

Splashing in front of the cliff to the south of the house, the slope rapidly drops until you hit sheer cliffs and ravines. We quickly dropped to about 85 fsw and headed south. WOW!! The structure here is unbelievable! Canyon after canyon after cliff....finally hit a corner, look beyond it...and it just continues! And gets better!! Soon we hit a school of hundreds of rockfish all around us.

I have not seen structure this compelling since Karpata...and it's right in my backyard!

After the dive we ran into a group of divers (one of whom puts on the expo) who said the site is basically not current sensitive. In fact, they never check the tides when diving here. Plus we found out that our method of staging and parking is exactly what you're supposed to do.

In short....epic shore diving!! Better than DIW. I will be going back frequently and soon.

Hope you do too.

Pretty cool isn't it... Bit of a hike up and down the hill to the parking area but TOTALLY worth the effort... Glad you guys had fun!!!
Wish I could've made it but had to work, getting ready for Memorial Day is our busiest time of the year... :angry:
Keystone tomorrow though...

Just to let you know, I've been caught in horrendous current there -- although the worst of it was at the top of the wall.

LCF wrote:Just to let you know, I've been caught in horrendous current there -- although the worst of it was at the top of the wall.

The "PPF River" perhaps....

Yes that was some epic terrain and the viz was above average for sure today! Can't wait to do it again. I could see where a strong North or South wind could generate some current in the shallows.

Mateo1147 wrote:Yes that was some epic terrain and the viz was above average for sure today! Can't wait to do it again. I could see where a strong North or South wind could generate some current in the shallows.

Worst case scenario...a strong south surface current blowing you away from shore.

On the bright side...it would be blowing you toward the Possession Point ferry! Might as well take a look...

That sounds like an awesome dive. I have done Karpata and if this doesn't equal, I'll come find you :-)

Any videos or pics?????

Scubie Doo wrote:That sounds like an awesome dive. I have done Karpata and if this doesn't equal, I'll come find you :-)

Any videos or pics?????

H20Doc took video...stay tuned

Dammit, you're making me jealous. Wish I coulda joined you guys today. Glad it was fun though! PM me Jeremy if you wanna get another one on the calendar

Jeremy wrote:

Scubie Doo wrote:That sounds like an awesome dive. I have done Karpata and if this doesn't equal, I'll come find you :-)

Any videos or pics?????

H20Doc took video...stay tuned

Nice! I figured he would deliver the goods.

well my video mount broke on my go pro, which is on the front of my dive X scooter... the result was shaky video.. so i couldnt use most of my footage.. so this is what I was able to salvage out of the dive.. what I didnt capture was the Massive structure here , of clay and rock walls that drop into the deep.. and massive viz .. great dive with good friends , lets do it again

[youtube]http://youtu.be/FsulvkjK18I[/youtube]

Too cool. That looks like a great dive.

Great video!!

Love that vid Chris!!

I hope that Adrian guy didnt attempt to drown y'all again

looks like you guys had fun!!

Mattleycrue and I had current at the top of the wall that speed 5 on a sierra required additional kicking to overcome.....

That being said, it was only once we passed 20' or so on our way home. Current for the rest of the dives was negligible.

I love the fingers. Good to know it can be easily done from shore. An MMM West perhaps?

Still haven't done this site.

Doc's video was awesome.

Conditions looked wonderful.

Great report!

Great video, looks like you had good vis. Just a reminder about the access to the shore dive. I posted this on dive planning just in case.
I would like to pass this to all fellow divers who like to dive the Fingers from the shore.
The rule did not change, we are still required to call the park ranger 24 hours before
we plan to dive there. We had some difficulties with access to the beach via the
"Authorized Vehicles Only" in the past and we negotiated with the park service that
we will call 24 hours prior the dive to ask for permission to drive down, unload and
then park up in the parking lot. I was reminded of it today (May 20, 2013) although I did
not dive there. Kevin, the park ranger who lives there, but works also in the South Whidbey
State Park is a very nice guy and I would like to keep him happy, for I love that place too
and it is a long haul for my old bones to carry gear down when I return to diving again.
So please, lets not abuse the good will and call him before you plan to dive there.
Thank you.
360 929 3191 at least 24 hours prior to dive.

Jan - I'm curious about these rules?

If a random few divers decided to go dive possession point fingers, where/how are they informed about having to call someone and where would they get the number and does the ranger check permits or something?

I.e., Where are there rules and the contact person details and phone number published?

Never dove this site and I'm genuinely curious how this is disseminated to the diving world?

Its kinda like the Lake Crescent dives, there are no signs or anything, but everyone somehow just seems to know you are supposed to get a permit?

All good questions.
I don't know the details of the deal, I was only involved in the beginning of the whole mess about access to the shore few years back. We were told that it is closed to divers, period. So we contacted the Washington Scuba Alliance and they got involved with the state bureaucracy and came out with the compromise. Janna knows more about it, I decided that instead of trying to call and go thought all this, once the access to the beach was secured, I purchased a dock cart and hauled my gear down the road to the picnic tables without problems. As I recall, it all has to do with fishermen, parking limitations down at the beach and that the road is too narrow for two cars to pass and also that the road is affected by land slides. But as I said, I am not behind these rules, all I wish for, is that I was told yesterday to post the phone number.
Somewhere on this forum, there might still be posts discussing all this.
As for signs, it is even hard to find the park. But there is sign at the gate "Authorized Vehicles Only" and that is hard to argue with. I don't want to start war of words and ideas as it is already happening around the octopus issue ...
Enjoy the Fingers, I still can't...

kdupreez wrote:Jan - I'm curious about these rules?

If a random few divers decided to go dive possession point fingers, where/how are they informed about having to call someone and where would they get the number and does the ranger check permits or something?

I.e., Where are there rules and the contact person details and phone number published?

Never dove this site and I'm genuinely curious how this is disseminated to the diving world?

Its kinda like the Lake Crescent dives, there are no signs or anything, but everyone somehow just seems to know you are supposed to get a permit?

I don't think the issue is with diving there or a permit being required, (When I did it from shore we scootered from the boat launch to the north) it's that if you want to use the service road to move your gear closer to the entry point, you need to call ahead and ask permission. Most state parks have roads designated for service vehicles that the public is not allowed to use. In this case it seems that the ranger is being rather accommodating by letting divers call ahead and get permission to use the service road to save their backs a bit.

Nwbrewer wrote:
I don't think the issue is with diving there or a permit being required, (When I did it from shore we scootered from the boat launch to the north) it's that if you want to use the service road to move your gear closer to the entry point, you need to call ahead and ask permission. Most state parks have roads designated for service vehicles that the public is not allowed to use. In this case it seems that the ranger is being rather accommodating by letting divers call ahead and get permission to use the service road to save their backs a bit.

You said it better than I did. Thanks

Aha! That makes total sense (light bulb goes from dim to bright..)

Its less a scuba diving issue and more a land/road use issue to get your gear closer.

And you are totally right a "Authorized Vehicles Only" is hard to argue with and if they allow us to use that road with a courtesy call ahead, thats actually pretty nice of them.

Good info to have and thanks all for clarifying.

*BTW - this might be some fantastic info to add to the dive sites listings section?

kdupreez wrote:Aha! That makes total sense (light bulb goes from dim to bright..)

Its less a scuba diving issue and more a land/road use issue to get your gear closer.

And you are totally right a "Authorized Vehicles Only" is hard to argue with and if they allow us to use that road with a courtesy call ahead, thats actually pretty nice of them.

Good info to have and thanks all for clarifying.

*BTW - this might be some fantastic info to add to the dive sites listings section?

Couldn't agree more. I have not checked the listing myself, so I will just assume Koos checked before making that post! If that info is not there however, it should be added if possible. Thanks Jan and Jake for the info!

Nwbrewer wrote: An MMM West perhaps?

Now you're talking!