Name:

Alki - Pipeline

Location:

West Seattle, Washington

Type of Dive:

Shore Dive

My Most Recent Dive Here:

5/13/2006

Number of Dives:

3

Reasons to Make the Dive:

Relatively easy (except when the surge/surf is big), shallow shore dive along a rock wall/pipe.  Lots and lots of anemones!  Some great worms and orange sea cucumbers.  Rumors of skates, although I didn't see any.

Life to See:

Did I mention that there were LOTS of anemones?  Many that I hadn't seen before, and have yet to ID.  Aggregating green anemones, maybe?  Some of the reviews I read mentioned skates and octos.  Oh yeah.  Lots of plumose also!

My Own Personal Rating:

8/10

Directions/Coordinates:

From I--5, either direction, take the West Seattle Bridge.  Exit at Admiral Way (I think?).  Basically follow this all the way "over" the hill.  When you wind around enough and get to a stop sign at 63rd, take a left.  Down a ways, take a right at Beach.  This is where you want to park.  Access is pretty easy.

Other Reviews, Site Maps and Resources for This Site:

PNW Scuba has good information here, with an aerial photo that really helps identify your objective, along with a dive map.

Description:

This site, for some reason, doesn't get a lot of publicity.  I've only been in the water here once.  But I can't wait to go back.  Something is very intriguing about this site.  Maybe it was the number and variety of anemones that I spotted.  (Got some photos...I'll upload them soon.)  Maybe it was the adventure, as the surge/surf was kind of high and the tide was very low.  (Neither makes for a good dive here, but we went for it anyway, knowing it was pretty shallow.)  The vis at the beginning was horrible.  But once we got out enough, it cleared up pretty good.  There's a spot (approx. 15-25 fsw, depending on the tide) where the rocks and pipe disappear.  Make sure you have taken a bearing BEFORE you dive, so when you get to this spot, you can just keep going.  You'll eventually find the rocks and pipe again.  One hint I got from another review was to look for the occasional plumose, as they need a solid substrate, and your swimming through sand.  So they are attached to the pipe.  It worked on the way down for us, but on the way back, we lost our way a bit, but eventually got back on track.  I think this would be a great night dive spot, too.  I can't wait to get back.  And you can get all the way to the end of the pipe...a big 6 foot opening.  Many years ago, sewage came out of that pipe...maybe that's why there's so much life.

Home

Training

Gear

Dive Buddy

Dive Sites

Critter List

Resources