Seacrest Park (Cove 2)West Seattle, WA

Visibility is an estimate — wind, rain, tide & water alerts.

Getting in

Shore access, stairs down to the water

Depth

10 to 90 ft

Who it suits

Best with some experience

Best conditions

Diveable on almost any tide thanks to minimal current, and winter gives the best visibility; summer plankton blooms can push visibility down toward the 5 to 15 ft range operators describe as typical. Local shops run classes here most weekends, so a weekday dive avoids both the crowd and the water taxi's busiest hours.

Getting through the gate

Seattle Parks and Recreation lists no entrance fee and park hours of 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Parking

Free street parking on Harbor Avenue SW, or the restaurant and water taxi lot; both fill early on weekend mornings.

Protection

Alki Beach Seacrest Coves 1, 2, and 3 are a Washington Octopus Protection Area under WAC 220-330-090, which bans recreational octopus harvest inside a boundary that excludes the water within 150 ft of the Seacrest Public Fishing Pier.

On site

restrooms, rinse showers

Watch for

The King County Water Taxi docks immediately north of the cove; dive guides mark the boundary with buoys and warn divers to stay outside it and out of the wider Elliott Bay ferry lanes, Puget Sound water runs 45 to 55 F year round; local operators call a drysuit standard, with a thick 7mm wetsuit, hood, and gloves as the minimum alternative, The slope keeps descending well past 90 ft into deep, dark water, so divers need to actively track depth rather than follow the bottom down, Old pilings and other sunken structure can snag gear, and stray fishing line turns up around the wreckage, Very low tides expose a steep, slippery slope at the stairs entry

Checked 2026-08-28. Sources: Seattle Parks and Recreation: Seacrest Park, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: Octopus protection areas in Puget Sound, Washington State Legislature: WAC 220-330-090, PNWDiving.com: Seacrest Cove 2 site briefing, Seattle Dive Tours: Seacrest Cove 2 site guide, PickADive: Seacrest Cove 2 dive guide, Zentacle: Seacrest Park Cove 2, Zentacle: Seacrest Park.