Alki Junkyard

Alki Junkyard sits at the far southwest end of Alki Beach Park in West Seattle, at the west end of Alki Avenue SW near 63rd Avenue SW. Entry is down the far southwest stairs into shallow water, followed by a swim-out over eelgrass beds. Descent typically begins around 25 feet, with man-made reef structure northeast of the descent point. The slope continues down past the debris field, where the site's well-known "junk" was filmed at about 30 feet, and levels off around 70 to 80 feet. Rockfish, painted greenling, and plumose anemones are documented at the site, alongside the occasional wolf eel.

The site's name comes from the debris field of sunken objects that has become the reef here over decades. It sits inside the Alki Beach Junkyard Octopus Preserve, 1 of 7 statewide giant Pacific octopus protection areas designated by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in August 2013. That designation followed a legal but controversial take of a giant Pacific octopus at nearby Seacrest Cove 2 in October 2012, and the resulting preserve system was directed at protecting the species along the state's busiest dive corridor.

The man-made reef and debris field together form a rocky reef biome, and the fringing eelgrass on the shallow swim-out gives the site a secondary seagrass biome inside the preserve boundary. Scuba is the dominant activity at Alki Junkyard, at an intermediate level. Current can be very strong here on miscalculated tides, substantially worse than at the Seacrest sites to the south, so the site should be dived on slack.

Free street parking runs along Alki Avenue SW and Beach Drive SW, and it fills quickly on summer days and evenings. Public restrooms are along the Alki Beach boardwalk. Recreational take of giant Pacific octopus is prohibited within the preserve under WAC 220-330-180(2)(c)(vi), and other Marine Area 10 rules apply for non-octopus species: rockfish retention and possession are closed, lingcod may be speared only from May 21 through June 15 at a maximum 36 inches and a daily limit of 1, and cabezon is open May 1 through November 30 at a minimum 18 inches and a daily limit of 1.