Name:

Sunnyside Beach

Location:

South Puget Sound; Steilacom, Washington

Type of Dive:

Shore Dive

My Most Recent Dive Here:

1/21/2006

Reasons to Make the Dive:

GPO!  Decorator Crab, an old sewer line to poke around, two boats, nice facilities (although the showers are turned off in the winter).

Life to See:

GPO!  Decorator Crab, plumose, Stalked Hairy Sea Squirts

My Own Personal Rating:

7/10

Directions/Coordinates:

Exit 129 from I-5 in Tacoma...head towards Steilacom.  You have to pay for parking, though.  $5 the last time we were there.

Other Reviews, Site Maps and Resources for This Site:

PNWScuba Dive Site Map

Description:

This is a neat site.  The facilities are clean, with concrete sidewalk to get you to the entry point.  Some driftwood can make it difficult to get to the water, but it wasn't too bad on our last trip here.

You should check out the map to get an idea of what to see here and how to get there.  We found a spot on the beach to enter, then headed straight out to find the line.  It took us a while, as we got a bit sideways on our navigation.  The line is in about 40 fsw.  We headed to the left (There's a boat to the right...but we didn't find it.) until we got to the sewer line.  (I've heard it's no longer used...)  We missed the "Santa and Frosty Boat" that's there due to poor vis.  So we headed down the pipe and saw lots of decorator crabs along the way, along with some other typical stuff...plumose, sunflower stars, and Stalked Hairy Sea Squirts.  Then we spotted our first GPO of the day.  It was tucked under the pipe at one of the smaller junction boxes.  Unfortunately, it didn't want to come out and play.  So we kept going and spotted another and another.  Air was running low at this point, so we went over the pipe and ascended up the other side and spotted another octo.  They were all pretty good size, but not in the mood to come out and play. 

I'm thinking this would be a neat place for a night dive.  Definitely cool to see the octos.

Home

Training

Gear

Dive Buddy

Dive Sites

Critter List

Resources