Northwest Dive Club

This is what I found yesterday at Keystone.
The only thing missing from the picture - DIVERS !

Now that's my kinda dive site!

Only question is was the viz that good?

No fair!

Man, what was the occasion? If hot pizza is on offer at Keystone, I'd dive there more often!

LCF wrote:Man, what was the occasion? If hot pizza is on offer at Keystone, I'd dive there more often!

These were exactly my thoughts when I saw the rig.
When I asked if they serve pizza to old and cold divers ( I just came out of water ),
they told me that Wounded Warriors Soldier Bike ride is scheduled to make a stop here...
So it was for a good cause. And as for divers? BYO

Hmmm, :angry:

LowDrag wrote:Hi Jan. I have never heard or seen anything on Keystone before your thread. Can you post a link for this location that would give some good info? Also, is this a good site for rookies or is it a more advanced site? You know, current sensitive, depth requirements and so on? Thanks, Dave
PS: The pic you post is really cool..did you take that?

Hi Dave, you got to come to Whidbey. Maybe not a pizza waiting for you, but lots of sea life ...
Here is the write up from Whidbey Dive Center:
Keystone Underwater Park
Recommended type of dive: Shore
How to dive this site: Two dives are possible here. "The Jetty" and "The Pilings". The Jetty dive is the most common, with thousands of divers from several states visiting it each year. Most local certification courses are held here. To dive The Jetty, you should begin by gearing up in the parking area and hiking down to the east side of the jetty itself. Stay to the left of the rocks and follow them to the end in 55' of water or around to the other side. "Rounding the end" of the jetty as it is called is best done during a flood current. The end of the jetty should not be approached during an ebb tide since the current may pull you away from the rocks.

HAZARD: While this site is recommended for divers of all skill levels, beginners should dive here during a slack period. The current at this site may be strong at times and has the capability of pulling a diver out into the ferry traffic lane.

To dive The Pilings, you must hike your gear down the beach to the east until you are standing in front of the old wharf to the left of the jetty. Gear up and swim out to the pilings where you should make your descent. Although the current can be strong until reaching the pilings, it is minimal once you are inside of them. Maximum depth here is 35' depending on the tide height. An excellent drift dive can be done on the end of a flood movement by leaving the pilings and drifting to the jetty.

Directions to the site: GPS Coordinates: N. 48 09.408 W. 122 40.267 (Boat ramp)

From Oak Harbor - Follow SR20 South to Coupeville. Once there, turn right on Main, which turns into Engle Road, and follow it the to Keystone Ferry terminal. Pass the ferry entrance and turn into the state park.

From Clinton - Follow Highway 525 North until turning left onto Wanamaker Road just after Admirals Cove. Follow Wanamaker Road to the ocean where you will turn right on to Keystone Road. Continue on Keystone towards the ferry landing. Turn left into the State Park just before the terminal.

And more photos from there:
http://jankocian.smugmug.com/Other/Keys ... &k=9VV7RsN

Awesome!!!

LowDrag, Keystone is one of the best shore dives in all Puget Sound -- but it is current-sensitive, so it's good to take a look at tides before you come over here to dive it.

LowDrag wrote:Sounds like a bit more experience reading tide charts is in order.

Keystone is a dive where one would consult Current Charts/Tables since the state of water currents are are dependent on the tides but don't directly correlate with the tidal state. The tide tables will give you a rough idea of the magnitude of the currents but without significant local knowledge you won't know when to exact peak and slack currents based solely on tide tables.

NOAA is the source of both current data and predictions that are often republished in a variety of formats by other entities. xTide is a popular open source computer program that many other programs, apps, and web sites with tide and/or current predictions are based on. Generally in any given region actual measurements are taken at a handful of stations and predictions for other locations are interpolated from the direct observations. The predictions don't consider real world conditions like flooding rivers or strong winds that can have significant effects on tidal heights and current strengths.

Northwest Shore Dives by Stephen Fischnaller is out of print but a used copy will have his corrections from known stations for many dive sites. You can compare them to the listings here and elsewhere (Perfect Dive, Shorediving.com, Shop web sites, etc.) and hopefully get a better understanding. Finally you will probably find watching an animation of Puget Sound currents more helpful than anything I just wrote.

renoun wrote:

LowDrag wrote:Sounds like a bit more experience reading tide charts is in order.

Keystone is a dive where one would consult Current Charts/Tables since the state of water currents are are dependent on the tides but don't directly correlate with the tidal state. The tide tables will give you a rough idea of the magnitude of the currents but without significant local knowledge you won't know when to exact peak and slack currents based solely on tide tables.

NOAA is the source of both current data and predictions that are often republished in a variety of formats by other entities. xTide is a popular open source computer program that many other programs, apps, and web sites with tide and/or current predictions are based on. Generally in any given region actual measurements are taken at a handful of stations and predictions for other locations are interpolated from the direct observations. The predictions don't consider real world conditions like flooding rivers or strong winds that can have significant effects on tidal heights and current strengths.

Northwest Shore Dives by Stephen Fischnaller is out of print but a used copy will have his corrections from known stations for many dive sites. You can compare them to the listings here and elsewhere (Perfect Dive, Shorediving.com, Shop web sites, etc.) and hopefully get a better understanding. Finally you will probably find watching an animation of Puget Sound currents more helpful than anything I just wrote.

Yeah.

Keystone has some quirks, because the flood waters are deflected off the headland north of there. They come south a little offshore, and can curl around and create a weaker northbound current inshore. You can dive Keystone on fairly large floods, but even small ebbs can make life difficult. And south winds can make the entry and exit difficult, and mess up the viz.

Very current-sensitive sites like Keystone and Day Island are great places to go with somebody who knows the site reasonably well. They're great fun if planned properly, and can be not fun at all if you mess up (says Lynne, remembering a day where she and her buddy got in the water 45 minutes early at DIW, spent three minutes underwater, and had a 15 minute wade to get back to the exit . . . ).

Keystones one of my favorite sites, if you need a guide sometime post or shoot a pm and I'll go... Sundays are my primary dive day...