Bandon South Jetty

Bandon's south jetty runs west from the base of the Coquille River mouth out to the Pacific, with Bandon South Jetty Park sitting on the sheltered inner side just west of Old Town Bandon. The entry is a shore scramble across the jetty rock at the base of the structure, and reported maximum depth on a high tide runs in the neighborhood of 25 feet. Reported visibility is around 15 feet on a typical day and drops to essentially zero in storm swell. On a high tide, the inner-side rock often sits just below the surface, forming the protected pocket where most of the diving takes place.

Bandon South Jetty Park is a municipal shoreline park at the mouth of the Coquille that draws most of its foot traffic for beachcombing and for views of the offshore rock stacks, including Face Rock, Table Rock, and Wizard's Hat. Documented dive use of the site is thin: the record contains a single detailed dive writeup plus a brief user comment confirming diver use. Anglers use the jetty for rockfish and lingcod, and the site sits about 28 miles north of Port Orford, the nearest public air-fill point.

The jetty rock and its intertidal cover put this in a rocky reef biome, and the outer face of the structure is exposed enough to Pacific swell that a surf zone biome sits along the same shoreline. Scuba is the documented diving use, and spearfishing is legal here under standard Oregon rules. Timing dives so that the tide is still rising during descent keeps any residual current pushing water into the Coquille rather than out toward the bar.

Free paved parking is available at Bandon South Jetty Park, with restrooms and water access on site. No marine reserve overlay applies at the jetty, and take is enforced under standard Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recreational marine rules. The same offshore rock formations are part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and a 500-foot standoff advisory covers any surface swim or floated approach toward them; landing on any refuge rock is prohibited year round.