Arial view of the pipeline
63rd Ave. SW and Beach Dr. SW.
Directions:
Take the West Seattle Bridge to the Admiral Way exit. Proceed up Admiral Way for 1 mile to the intersection of California Ave. Continue on Admiral Way for 1.3 miles until you arrive at 63rd Ave. Turn left on 63rd and travel 0.2 miles to Beach Drive. Turn right onto Beach Drive. Parking is free and ample on this residential street. Park on the water's side of the street for easier access. As an alternative route, from the West Seattle Bridge take the Harbor Ave exit. Turn right on Harbor Ave and continue on until it converts to Alki Avenue. Follow Alki Avenue to 63rd Ave. Turn left onto 63rd Ave and follow it to Beach Drive. Turn right onto Beach Drive and park near this intersection.
This is a great beginner's dive. For optimal conditions, I would recommend diving this site at an 8-12 foot tidal height. Maximum depth would be 35-40 feet, depending on tide conditions. Entrance to the beach is via the inclined concrete walkway, adjacent to the circular concrete park area. The circular park covers the sewage pump station. This is just off the intersection of 63rd and Beach Drive. Once on the beach, walk back East until you are in front of the circular concrete park. Align your compass due South from this point. The Alki Pipeline runs due South. The actual pipeline is buried under large boulders and rocks. The rock pile extends anywhere from a few to up to 10 feet off the bottom and marks the location of the hidden pipeline underwater. The terrain is mostly sand and there are no other notable features off to either side of the pipeline. At about three quarters the way out, the rocks pile disappears and there is nothing but open sand flats. Continue heading due South. You will spot an occasional plumose anemone in line with your compass heading as well as one of the two resident Gnomes. After about 50 yards, the rock pile will reappear. The end of the pipe is just over the last horizon and the depth drops an additional 10 feet at the pipe`s opening. Additional rock debris extend 25-30 feet beyond the end of the pipeline. Things to see: This is certainly a photographer' dive because of the great ambient light received from the shallow depth and the large variety of marine life existing among the rock. This would also be an excellent night dive due to the intensity of the colors seen. Much of the rock is buried in anemone of all sizes and shape with an occasional kelp stalk. In the open sand stretch you can find small sea pens if you look real carefully. You might see a slow moving moon snail passing through this barren area as well. Attached to rocks you will find sun stars, sea stars, blood stars, chiton, sea cucumbers and a varied selection of nudibranch. Be sure to bring your nudibranch identification book. You will see large numbers of crab and shrimp inhabiting the area. If you're lucky, you might spot an octopus den. At the deeper end, you will see schools of perch swimming about , rock fish crammed into crevices, ling cod lying about on the rock. Rat fish, skate and dog fish are known to frequent the area as well. Enter the water, 15 minutes before the adjusted slack time. Finding slack: If using Tidelog, Puget Sound Edition, daily tidal and current predictions are listed. The Tidelog uses Bush Point reference station for locations in the northern region of Puget Sound and Tacoma Narrows for the reference station in the southern region of Puget Sound. Daily predictions list both reference stations below the sine wave, denoting tidal height. The Bush Point reference is the upper line. Slack is identified as a double hash mark on this line with the time of the day directly above, noted in hours (ie, 1-12). For the Pipeline dive, use Bush Point as the initial reference. From this reference point there are current corrections to compensate for the difference in distance from Bush Point to the approximate dive site. In the back of the Tidelog, locate Alki Point in the Puget Sound section under Current Corrections. For a slack before flood, adjust the designated slack time by (minus) -0:36 minutes . For a slack before ebb, use an adjustment of (minus) -0:13 minutes . Hazards: This is a current sensitive area. Dive this site at slack tide. For best conditions, dive this site at slack when the tidal exchange is minor and the subsequent current following slack is less than 2.0 knots . This area is not protected from wind. The greater the wind, the larger the waves. Wave action creates surge. On a shallow dive, such as this, visibility may be significantly reduced. There may be boat traffic in the area so exhibit a dive flag. Remember, boaters likely won't see your dive flag in 5 feet of water so you may need to tow it to a decent depth before planting it. On a good day, at a leisurely pace, this is a 50 minute dive; out and back. This may be considered a long swim for some people. If you are not in good physical condition, either carry a large volume cylinder or make a surface swim out further into the dive before descending to conserve your air. If a current picks up in the latter part of the dive, you are better off swimming to shore underwater than on the surface, where the current is more noticeable. Other points of interest: There are no bathroom facilities on site. The closest public bathroom is about 5 blocks away on Alki Avenue near where it intersects with 63rd Ave. A large variety of eateries can be found on Alki Ave, within a few blocks of the 63rd Ave intersection. - Brian Nyenhuis 12/2004
Long abandoned sewer pipe from Seattle's past. It's a shallow dive with a long swim along a riprap rock pile covering the pipe out to the end in about 35 feet. On a day with good viz and sunlight it's almost tropical. Lots of life on the rocks and a good number of fish swimming around. Good nudibranch and poking around territory.
Depending on the tide and visibility you may be able to see a riprap rock pile (aerial photo) going out from the beach to the SW. It's important to find it and get a GOOD compass reading. If you get lost you'll be swimming around in shallow eelgrass for a long time. There has been a raft anchored very near the end of the pipeline. Find the rocks, and swim to the SW. In about 100-150 yards the pile will disappear for about 100 feet. Look for the occasional plumose anemone. They don't grow on sand and so as you are swimming in the "break" area in addition to using a compass heading you just need to follow the plumose anemone's as they are actually attached to the pipe even though it looks like only sand. Once found again the pile gets larger and ends abruptly at the end of the pipe. The pipe is about 6 feet high and easy to swim into. It's an overhead environment and should only be explored if you are trained. The bottom seems to drop off a bit more steeply from here but I haven't explored it. I could see the chain coming down from the raft.
Special HazardsLong swim and easy to lose the pipe in bad visibility. The area has a SW exposure and entrance/exit can be difficult if the wind picks up. Boats in a shallow area.
- Fritz Merkel