Mukilteo T-Dock

Mukilteo T-Dock sits at the north end of Central Puget Sound, immediately east of the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry terminal along Front Street. The entry is a concrete stair that drops from the Silver Cloud Mukilteo Waterfront hotel down to a sandy, rocky beach. Underwater, the site is defined by the pilings and cross-beams of an older dock that predated the modern ferry terminal, still standing today as the site's habitat structure. Depths run from roughly 10 to 60 feet, and the most concentrated invertebrate life clings to the shallower pilings.

The name "T-Dock" comes from the T-shaped footprint of the surviving pier, which local divers have used as a recreational site. The pilings themselves are the reason the site functions as a dive site. The old dock's pilings and beams supply the vertical surface that sea anemones and nudibranchs settle on. Sea anemones and nudibranchs colonize the pilings, and rockfish are documented across the base of the structure.

The old dock and its surrounding sand-and-rock bottom together form a rocky reef biome, with the engineered pilings standing in for natural rock along the beach. Scuba is the dominant activity here, and the site is used at a range of experience levels because the water is generally sheltered from the stronger currents at the adjacent Lighthouse Park. Ferry wash and boat traffic in and out of the terminal remain the standing hazards, and the ferry lane must be avoided on every entry.

A small paid lot on Front Street at the Mukilteo Multimodal Terminal serves the site, and it fills during ferry surges. Mukilteo residents may obtain a free annual waterfront parking permit through the city. Restrooms are a short walk west at Lighthouse Park. Marine Area 9 rules govern the water here: 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.