PNW Diving Resources
Check out these resources if you're planning to dive in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and it's surroundings).
PLAN YOUR DIVES
Plan Your Dive https://planyourdive.com/ see local dive sites on a map, get basic site info, and check tide and current forecasts. Diving is usually best on a high tide near slack. High currents can be tiring at best, and dangerous at worst. Avoid them unless they are part of a carefully considered dive plan and you have experience and training in those types of conditions. Look to dive when the current is near 0 knots (slack tide) or relatively low (less than half a knot or so).
Emerald Diving https://www.emeralddiving.com/ great info about sites around the Salish Sea (a.ka. Puget Sound and its surroundings) and the marine life you will encounter here - complete with pictures
CONNECT WITH OTHER DIVERS
Marker Buoy Dive Club - https://markerbuoydiveclub.org/ MBDC has been helping divers go diving in the Seattle area for decades. The club has a nominal fee ($35 annually as of 2023) which helps ensure the membership only includes serious divers who plan to participate. They often have more than 1 dive planned every week. It is free to join most dives (except boat dives and locations that require an entrance fee) and everyone is welcome. If you don't arrive with a buddy, the club will pair you up with someone appropriate upon arrival. MBDC will reimburse you a little bit for continuing dive education (Advanced Open Water or Rescue classes for example) and if you host a dive you get a free air card (get free air fills). This makes membership a bargain for active members. The club uses Meetup as a platform to organize events. It also publishes a monthly newsletter with pics, dive stories, and advice that will keep you learning. A word of advice - if you get paired with a buddy, talk about your dive plan, safety, and go through a thorough pre-dive safety check. If you notice your buddy doesn't take your (and their) safety seriously don't do the dive and don't dive with them again. Like with any diverse organization there are members who are very careful, and some who are less so.
Rain City Scuba https://www.facebook.com/groups/204116696328668 Buy, Sell, Trade used dive gear on Facebook. (focus on technical gear, but recreational stuff is there too).
Pacific Northwest Scuba Divers https://www.facebook.com/groups/pnwdivers Geek out about scuba diving up here in the PNW. Come join the conversation. The group is hosted on Facebook.
LEARN MORE, GIVE BACK
Reef Check: Kelp Forest Program https://www.reefcheck.org/kelp-forest-program/ this non-profit is working to understand and protect our local kelp forests - which provide critical habitat for local species and have been dissapearing at an alarming rate for reasons not fully understood. Donate, get trained, volunteer.
I Love Nudis https://ilovenudis.com/ All you could want to know (and buy) about nudibranches (sea slugs). These are some of the most interesting looking and colorful creatures you'll find in the Salish Sea. I Love Nudis is a small business owned by a local diver.
Edmonds Underwater Park there is no formal organization that manages the park, instead you'll find Bruce Higgins (the park steward and multi-decade volunteer leader) and other volunteers working on the park many days of the week. They are almost always out diving on Saturday mornings. You'll often find Bruce and his truck in the parking spot nearest the bathrooms and the traffic circle. Stop by and volunteer! The park is a marine protected area (no fishing or crabbing - so the fish get big) just north of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry located on the beach in front of Brackett's Landing North. Volunteers maintain a system of trails marked by underwater ropes and buoys at intersections. The park also contains many features such as sunken boats, rock piles and even underwater obstacle courses to fine-tune your buoyancy - all maintained by volunteers. Annie Crawley, a leader in the local divec community, has a nice website describing the park here: https://www.edmondsunderwaterpark.com/