Seacrest Park

Seacrest Park runs along Harbor Avenue SW in West Seattle, and it is the most-dived shore site in Seattle. Three designated diving coves, numbered 1, 2, and 3, line a roughly 400-yard shoreline, with stairs at either side leading down to the rocky beach entry. Cove 1 has a gentle slope with calm water and serves as a common training area. The anchor of the site is Cove 2, which holds the sunken remains of the old Seacrest Marina and several small fishing dories on a slope descending gradually to about 90 feet before dropping past the recreational limit near 130. West of the fishing pier, Cove 3 includes a sunken dory and additional training terrain.

Cove 2 is one of the most heavily used training sites in Seattle, hosting open-water, navigation, rescue, and specialty classes year round. The Seacrest Coves 1 through 3 preserve was 1 of 7 giant Pacific octopus protection areas designated by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in August 2013, following the legal but controversial take of a giant Pacific octopus at Cove 2 in October 2012. Its rule specifically excluded the waters within 150 feet of the Seacrest Public Fishing Pier, so recreational rod fishing off the pier remains open under standard Marine Area 10 regulations. Surface buoys and a sea-floor perimeter line demarcate the exclusion.

Across the three coves, the sunken marina, dories, and slope structure define a rocky reef biome, engineered rather than natural. Scuba is the dominant activity here. The coves' protection from currents by the pier and marina remains gives them a notably low-current profile for a Puget Sound shore dive. Cove 2 holds giant Pacific and red octopus alongside lingcod, spotted ratfish, and harbor seals. Sixgill sharks are a rare but documented visitor to this stretch of Central Puget Sound in summer. Boat traffic in and out of the water taxi and boat launch is the primary hazard.

Seacrest Park has an on-site Seattle Parks lot with restrooms, picnic tables, and a play area. Park hours run 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The site is the West Seattle terminus of the King County Water Taxi, so weekday-morning parking pressure is real. Recreational take of giant Pacific octopus is prohibited within the Alki Beach Seacrest Coves 1, 2, and 3 Octopus Preserve under WAC 220-330-180(2)(c)(iv), except within 150 feet of the Seacrest Public Fishing Pier. 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.