Directions:  

From I-5 take exit 177 to Highway 104 westbound, follow the signs to Edmonds city center. Continue on to Main Street and take a left towards the water. Cross the railroad tracks and stay in the right hand lane (other wise you will get on a ferry headed for Kingston). Once across the tracks look for a big sign on the right "Brackett's Landing Park" and a big anchor. Park wherever you can.

 

 



At 7:45 AM on a very bright Saturday morning in late June, I was driving my truck towards Edmonds Underwater Park. Now as many of you know, driving through a major metropolis during the week at 7:45 AM is basically hell on earth, but this fine Saturday was quite the opposite. The sun shone off the Seattle skyline and gave it an eerie luminescence similar to something you might see in a science fiction movie called "The Emerald City". The biggest difference of course was being able to fly past the beautiful metropolis at 65mph because there was, quite strangely, no traffic. All the while thinking of how nice the next few hours underwater were going to be.

As I arrived in Edmonds the first thing I noticed was that, already, a line of cars had formed, winding down the road, to take the ferry to Kingston on Whidbey Island. It was only 8:15 AM so I was able to pull right into a parking spot. This being a major relief, as all of you divers know, because walking ANY distance loaded down with dive gear is your basic pain in the butt, (legs, back, arms, feet, torso etc...) and therefore avoided at all cost. It was an absolute gorgeous day, and I felt like that little kid that just got out of the car in the Disneyland parking lot! As it turns out, that really was not too far from the truth.

Edmonds Underwater Park is just that, a huge wonderful park that began in 1935 with the sinking of the 300 foot DeLion Dry Dock. Even though I have done this dive before, can a person ever really become tired of Disneyland? So anxious as ever, I hurried my buddies into their gear and started the walk out to the gates of "DeLion Way" as it's called. The tide was out so the walk to the water was fairly long, however the trade off was a shorter surface swim, this was fine by me. One of the great things about this dive site is the depth, or lack thereof. At 35 ft even the most novice diver can usually last 45min on an 80cuft tank. Not to mention the natural light is pretty darn fabulous in shallow water. I was pleasantly surprised by the 20 foot visibility that I encountered upon descent. Early summer is noted for plankton blooms and generally poor visibility in the Puget Sound region.

As I dropped down to the bottom I nearly landed on a 4 foot long Lingcod. I am sure the poor creature must have thought that the sky was falling as four divers descended upon him like eagles on a fresh Salmon. Nevertheless he just sort of moved away in casual indifference knowing that this Marine Protected Area protects him and his whole family from being harmed in any way. The worse thing that could happen to this guy would be for his "picture" to end up on someone's wall.

As the ride through the DeLion Dry Dock began I saw HUGE copper rockfish and lingcod everywhere, it looked as if all the marine life were on steroids. When compared to fish in other NW diving areas these puppies dwarfed them. Red Irish lords and giant cabezon roamed the dry-dock like guards of a royal fortress. The DeLion Dry Dock was teaming with life. Purple tube worms and plumose anemone made for very colorful and exotic looking walls to glide in, on, and around. I knew that this was just the first of many things to see in this "Park" but somehow I just could not bring myself to leave and move on to the next attraction. I guess when you have a ride that's your favorite you are willing to go back again and again. After nearly an hour of poking around, chasing fish, and harassing Dungeness crabs until they assumed the "Ya wanna piece of this?!?" pose, I decided to come in to shore. Of course the whole way was covered in eel grass so I had to stop occasionally to look at the shield back kelp crabs, or the flounder, or the gunnels, well you get the idea. With 400 PSI left in the tank I finally broke the surface and snorkeled the rest of the way. As luck would have it the tide came in a bit so I did not have as far to walk, fine by me. By the time my buddies and I were finished with all the "Did you see the size of that _______?" It was time to dive again. Like kids at Disneyland everyone wanted to visit the "Mouse" just one more time.

"I promise just ONCE more then we’ll go.... PLEASE!!"

HiTek Scuba
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Revised: March 05, 2008