Netarts Bay Boat Ramp

The Netarts Bay Boat Ramp is the county-run Netarts Landing Boat Launch at 2065 Netarts Basin Boat Road, on the east side of Netarts Bay in Tillamook County. The dive works a hooked breakwater set immediately to the right of the boat ramp, its rock wall running out from shore in only 15 to 30 feet of water. Entry is made a few feet east of the ramp itself rather than down the ramp, which stays reserved for boat traffic. Once in the water, divers keep the rock wall on their right and study the invertebrate life packed into the crevices.

Netarts Landing is one of 21 Tillamook County boat launches, with an improved ramp, dock, and parking. One of the state's more productive clamming and crabbing bays, Netarts Bay draws visitors to the county launch for shellfish as much as for diving. The breakwater dive has earned a reputation among Oregon divers for macro photography.

The hooked breakwater sits as a rocky reef biome, its riprap wall the substrate for the dense small-invertebrate life that photographers come for. Scuba divers and snorkelers work the site for macro photography and for the community colonizing the breakwater face. Opalescent nudibranchs are the site's signature animal and are reported laying coils of eggs across the boulders.

Parking is good at the Netarts Landing lot, with restrooms on site; a Tillamook County day-use pass may apply for extended stays. The Netarts channel is narrow, and any tidal exchange above 4 feet moves a lot of water past the site, making this a high-slack-only dive; the preferred window is slack flood on small-exchange days. Surfacing inside the boat channel is unsafe, and a dive flag is mandatory. Spearfishing is legal in Oregon estuary water under standard Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife rules, but the site profile is macro and crab rather than spearfishing; a shellfish license is required for crab or clam take.