Lincoln Park (Fauntleroy Cove)

Lincoln Park sits along the West Seattle bluff at 8011 Fauntleroy Way SW, its shoreline stretching north from the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal into a shallow cove of the same name. Divers park at the first lot inside the park, follow the paved bluff path down to the beach, and gear up near the bathhouse. The nearshore shelf carries a bull kelp bed at depths under 20 feet, anchored on cobble that gives the stipes their holdfast. Swimming straight out from the bathhouse for roughly the length of the ferry pier brings divers over sandy bottom at about 45 feet, where a documented field of orange sea pens sits on the sand.

The cove's underwater forest is a documented recovery story. Citizen-science video work led by diver Laura James for the West Seattle Blog identified Fauntleroy Cove as one of the last substantial bull kelp beds along West Seattle's shoreline, with regrowth evident starting around 2016. A 30-year-old research paper describes historically much denser kelp across the whole bay. The rebound has been attributed to reduced stormwater toxicity from the Barton Street outfall project, the end of beach nourishment along this stretch, and lower roadway runoff.

A kelp forest biome anchors the cove, with the shallow bull kelp bed on cobble as the reason divers come here at all. The inshore shelf inside the cove also holds a seagrass biome. Scuba divers and snorkelers work the shallows for the kelp itself and swim out to the sea pens for the deeper leg. The Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal is immediately south, so the ferry approach lane has to be given a wide berth, and kelp entanglement and private-boat traffic round out the standing hazards.

The free lot inside Lincoln Park is a short paved walk from the beach, with restrooms nearby, though divers have reported vehicle break-ins and are best served leaving valuables at home. Under Marine Area 10 recreational rules, rockfish retention is prohibited, yelloweye rockfish take is banned statewide, and lingcod may only be speared from May 21 to June 15 at a 36-inch maximum, 1 per day. Giant Pacific octopus and wolf eel are no-take under Washington state rules and are never speared.