Edmonds Underwater Park, I love you!!!!

[lundysd]

Poor little Edmonds Underwater Park.... abused by open water classes and promptly forgotten, EUP seems to be a black sheep among Seattle area dive spots. The tech guys think it's too shallow, the rec guys think it's too far of a surface swim... it just can't win.

I'm here to tell you that it can be one of the BEST sites in the Seattle area on a good day, and luckily today was a VERY good day indeed, including 20+ft of viz and not a cloud in the sky Our dive started with a playful harbor seal who tugged on our fins and played with us for well over 30 mins, continued with the biggest cabezon and lingcod in the Sound (several on eggs), and culminated in getting a shot I've been waiting for years to get -- a lion's mane in shallow water with a sunburst behind it.

The full photo set can be seen here:

http://www.raptureofthedeep.net/p29677116/slideshow

If you' haven't dived EUP in a while, now is the time to enjoy this site at its finest.

[Grateful Diver]

Those are some awesome pics, Scott ... love the seal shots, and the wide-angle stuff with the plumose really captures what Puget Sound diving is like (well, except we don't usually have that kind of visibility) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[LCF]

Oh, Scott, those are BEAUTIFUL! I love the one of the seal throwing himself upward and sideways, but another real favorite is the simple one of the metridiums on the frame. My first day at Edmonds was part of my AOW class, and the last dive was a scooter dive (SeaDoo!) where I vividly remember being blown away at the upside down children's tree drawings that were the metridium anemones. You captured that magic.

[Norris]

Some great shots!! Yeah I host an EUP dive every Wednesday night when tides are in our favor. The surface swim is really worth it and there is an abundance of life there. It was only a couple weeks ago that a friend and I ran into a full grown GPO out in the open and hunting on Jetty Way, slipping his arms all through the cinderblocks looking for food.
My daughter is finishing up her training with Bob and I plan to take her here first!

[Dusty2]

Awesome photos Scott!

[Fishstiq]

Sweet pictures, the jellyfish is amazing!

[John Rawlings]

Beautiful work, as always!

- John

[Joshua Smith]

Very nice pics, Scott!

[lundysd]

Thanks everyone it was a beautiful day out, and I was fortunate enough to have very patient dive buddies -- thanks a bunch to Mark and Jeanna for putting up with me.

[coach_izzy]

Awesome, awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing.

[Matt S.]

Great pics, very inspirational.

I love the park, but I have only been there a few times because it seems like the tides/currents never cooperate.

[ArcticDiver]

VERY nice

[Alexitt]

I was out there on Wed. with a buddy from Calgary to show off some of our NW diving... Great vis and not much current... He hadn't been in the water for quite some time and never up in our neck of the woods, so we took it easy and just puttered around... Saw several big cabbies and lings plus the usual assortment of wee beasties as well, needless to say he was suitably impressed... I've always liked the park and when the vis is good it's a great place for a nice long leisurely dive... Many Kudos to Bruce Higgins and all the Volunteers who've worked so hard to keep the place up so we can enjoy it and show it off to our non-local buddies...

[dwashbur]

I totally agree about EUP, I love that place! I really wish I lived closer to it so I could go there more often. Everything in life is a trade-off, and the stuff to see there is easily worth the surface swim.

[Gdog]

Wow...love those shots. very nice