Les Davis Pier is a shore accessible salt water dive site, located at Ruston Way, Tacoma, WA. This dive site has an average rating of 3.42 out of 5 from 19 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 121-130ft/37-40m. The average visibility is 5-10ft/2-3m.
Great site for new and experienced divers. Ample parking, concessions and restrooms on site. Artificial reefs with a variety of life for photographers. Beach entry via new concrete stairway.
It’s a very popular site, and has many of the scrapped pieces from the old Tacoma narrows bridge dumped there creating a nice artificial reef. Lots of classes going on here but its still not to bad. It also makes a nice place for night diving. As a side note, you do need to be aware of the currents in the Hood Canal, on high exchanges the current can unexpectedly pick up rapidly.
Directions: The Les Davis Pier is located in Perce County in the city of Tacoma near the Dalco Passage. Take I-5 to Hwy 705, exit northwest to Ruston Way and follow it past the old fireboat station to the Les Davis Pier.
This site exhibits a healthy marine environment and the pier (to the east of the divers’ entry point) is popular with sport fishermen. Divers should have no difficulty avoiding the pier. Access to the beach requires climbing down a pile of concrete blocks that have settled and now provide uncertain footing for a heavily burdened diver. Soon after entry, the diver may see moon snails, sea pens, sunflower stars, blood stars, alabaster nudibranchs, and a great variety of Northwestern marine life. In deeper water, there are sections of concrete roadway that provide hiding places for many vulnerable species and a fortunate diver may find a shy octopus. You will certainly find rockfish, lingcod and cabezon. As the diver moves away from shore, the bottom slopes more sharply and depths will exceed 100 feet. This is a deservedly popular site for recently certified and advanced divers alike.
First time I dove this site, it was right after the big rain storm and vis wasn’t all that great. About 15’ the first dive and at high tide the sediment seemed suspended and vis went down to about 10’ or less. H2O temp was 50 degrees. There was a class of about eight people and other than visiting with them on the beach I didn’t see them on either of my first two dives. We did two dives during the day and two after it got dark. Didn’t notice anything difficult about the current or surf that hindered us. Started out at the stairs and headed out on a 20 degree bearing. There’s a bench out at 30’ that’s about 50’ to 75’ wide. After that the bottom starts dropping. The deepest I got was 97’ the deepest in our group was 112’. Right around the 30’ mark at the end of the bench old concrete pieces of Tacoma Narrow Bridge are there, aka Galloping Gerty. Lots of perch and lingcod, on, around, under, and hiding inside the holes in the concrete. Bring a back up light in the day. Anenomies, starfish, rockfish, shrimp, and crabs are everywhere. Saw my first octopus on my first dive. It was at 60’ about 100’ out, and 200’ west of the stairs. Look for crab bodies in a pile. It was hiding in its den. The suckers were about the size of a quarter. We were daring each other to stick our hands in the den and yank it out. No takers. There’s a lot around Les Davis Pier for relaxing after diving. Dozens of people were jogging on, lots of restaurants and parks. We did a lot of goofing off between day and night diving. Parking was not an issue all day. The lot was less than half full all day long. It wasn’t raining either.
I went in November, an the visibility was horrible, probably 3 feet. I lost my buddy twice. Other than that, the dive was good and full of life. We found lots of sea stars, crabs and perch. This is a good beginners dive. Don’t let the cold weather fool you. The Water Feels GREAT.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM199G_Les_Davis_Park_Tacoma_Washington