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Titlow Beach
 Tacoma, WA
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Max Depth: 36-40ft/11-12m
Average Viz: 5-10ft/2-3m
Entry Type: Shore
Bottom Composition: Rock
Aquatic Life: Plenty To See
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Rating: 3.71 by 17 divers
Spring: Under 50°F/10°C
Summer: Under 50°F/10°C
Fall: Under 50°F/10°C
Winter: Under 50°F/10°C
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Titlow Beach is a shore accessible salt water dive site, located in Tacoma, WA. This dive site has an average rating of 3.71 out of 5 from 17 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 36-40ft/11-12m. The average visibility is 5-10ft/2-3m.
Site of the old Ferry Dock service when "Galloping Gertie" Narrows Bridge went down in the 40’s. Abundant life on the pilings. Protected Marine Sanctuary. Beach access, parking, bathrooms, tavern, restaurant and view dock. A great place for artifact hunting, Titlow Beach offers pilings, walls and crevices to explore. Directions: Titlow is found on the shores of the Tacoma Narrows. Head North on Highway 16 from I-5 in Tacoma as if you are heading to Gig Harbor. Just before the ol’ Galloping Girdy (The nickname of the previous bridge span look it up on the Internet!), exit and take a left on Jackson Ave. Turn right on 6th Street, and wind your way down to the park. Great site to dive if planned in advanced. I used tide charts from www.freetidetables.com and planned dives around high and low slack tides. I brought my son along with me on a business trip to Tacoma so we were able to hit the high slack on Thursday. This was a great dive on a lovely sunny day. The visibility was over 20 feet and currents were really low. We found many fish and crabs around the pilings and my son took some great pictures. The next day we dove the low slack and other than the long walk down to the waters edge this dive was also great. We went out quite a bit farther on this dive and did go slightly deeper, but did not see any new sea life than we did the day before. This trip was a great experience and helped us to refresh our skills. Titlow has been astonishing on every one of my dives there. There is a great little restaurant right on the water where you will be parking called Steamers. It is great to do multiple dives and as you wait between dives, you have a place to relax and socialize. Out of respect, before we park in their parking lot, we always ask permission to park their. This is a great shore dive because of the life. If you want to learn about different species of life under the sea, this is a great place to go and learn. I also recommend more than just a team of two divers. Not only are you sharing your experience with more divers, but you are playing it safe because of the current. We finish gearing up and walk down to the water. The air temperature is 32 degrees and dropping so I recommend a dry suit this time of year, but I like my wetsuit. There are a total of 4 of us diving. The newest member to our group hasn’t dove since he received his basic open water certificate. In other words, he is real new. We dropped in and followed the yellow rope to the bundle of pilings. The tide was out so we only hit 30 feet at the piling. There was hardly any noticeable current as we journeyed out. On our way we found multiple Sunflower and Molted Sea Stars. There were Kelp and Dungeness crabs everywhere. (Sorry but there is no crabbing or taking of any of the marine plants and animals from Titlow, which is a good thing so there will always be life there.) The White Plumose Anemones are spectacular. Our goal was to swim out and around the bundles of pilings. As we went to the left of the bundle and started to venture out and behind the pilings there were schools of Tubesnout Fish. I was just waiting for our Pacific Harbor Seals to be feeding there but they never came. We swam through the school of fish. I was surprised they were not scared of us. Back home if we sat in the river, the minnows would come and nibble on you. It was just annoying because you had to keep moving in the river. Well these Tubesnout Fish would start nibbling at your suit here and there. If you aren’t use to it, the situation might be a little uncomfortable but you are completely safe. After swimming past the school we hit the right side of the piling. The current picked up out of nowhere and we went through the piling pretty quick (it was safe). The current carried us back to the left side of the pilings. So we surfaced and headed back to shore. The water temperature was 38 degrees so we were about to call the dive. We talked it out and noticed the current let up. We were going to swim out and around the single pilings (Bone Yard). As we were at the end, one of the divers noticed a baby Red Octopus hiding in the Kelp. After we watched him scurry and swim off we decided it had been an hour and it was time to warm up. It was a great night dive and our beginner had a time of his life. If you want a place where you will never be disappointed, come over to the dark side, Titlow Night Dive.
Located along the Tacoma Narrows, Titlow Beach is a protected marine park set amid the pilings from an old ferry dock. A great site for all divers, it’s full of all sorts of life and relatively shallow.