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NauticalNickVisibility Report

San Juan County Park

Friday Harbor · San Juan Islands · Washington

Spearfishing here is conditional
The short answer is Limited · MA-7 rules. The exact rule, who enforces it, and what it covers are written out in the field notes below.
Diver reports today · zones from today’s forecast

Visibility Breakdown

Updated through the day · times PT

Visibility by position

Post Break
headline zone
18ft
today’s forecast
Open Water
22ft
today’s forecast

Solid = diver report · outlined = today's forecast

Cross-section from the sand out to open water, split into 2 visibility zones: Post Break (0-200 ft from shore), Open Water (200+ ft from shore).
Shore
Post Break
0-200 ft from shore
Open Water
200+ ft from shore

Post Break: The range past where any waves are forming, where the water starts to have a significant increase in visibility. There might be some sediment here, but swell energy is diffused and the water is calmer.

Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.

Through the day

Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.

Every bar is a reading for the Post Break zone.

This chart shows measured diver reports only.

No measured readings today

Did you dive today?Please share the visibility to make our algorithm more accurate.

Report visibility
Entry type
Shore
Parking
Free day-use
Spearfishing
Limited · MA-7 rules
Difficulty
Beginner–Intermediate
Popular activities
Scuba · Snorkeling
Today's forecast

Why it reads 16–20 ft

Updated 6:10 AM PT today · October 27, 2026
Regional clarity baseline
Neutral
20ft
Moderate impact
Calm seas
Helps vis
0.1 ft
Minor swell
Short-period chop
Hurts vis
1.0 s
Moderate chop
Light wind
Helps vis
3 kt
Minor wind
Typical conditions for this spot
Neutral
+0.2 ft vs normal
Minor impact
Light rain 2d ago
Hurts vis
0.19" 2d ago
Minor rain
Stale source data
Neutral
1 source cached
Minor impact

Today's forecast runs

6 AM
18ft
Morning run
10 AM
—
Pending
1 PM
—
Pending

The clarity holds through the day, with a light afternoon onshore the only disturbance to the entry shallows.

Medium confidence

Ocean Oracle

7-Day Forecast

Days 2 to 7 are Pro

Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.

Today · Tue
Oct 27
16–20ft
Excellent
Open Water 22 ft
Swell under 1 ft at 1 s, wind 2 kt at 10 AM. Rain forecast, 0.2 in.
Wed
Oct 28
14
Good
Open Water 21 ft
Thu
Oct 29
9
Fair
Open Water 14 ft
Fri
Oct 30
16
Excellent
Open Water 24 ft
Sat
Oct 31
19
Excellent
Open Water 27 ft
Sun
Nov 1
11
Good
Open Water 17 ft
Mon
Nov 2
13
Good
Open Water 20 ft
Unlock days 2 to 7
7-day forecasts come with Ocean Oracle Pro · $5/mo
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Getting there

Map and parking

48.5420° N · 123.1636° W
Map of San Juan County Park
Address
San Juan County, WA
Parking
Free day-use

County-run day-use lot inside the park; picnic shelter, flush toilets, drinking water, small boat and kayak launch, and 20 campsites reservable via reserve.sanjuanco.com. Day-use is free; overnight vehicle parking for kayakers and boaters is $20 per night.

Field notes

About San Juan County Park

San Juan County Park sits at Smallpox Bay on the west side of San Juan Island, about 10 miles from Friday Harbor along West Side Road. Divers enter from the sandy park beach, generally the most convenient shore launch on the island. The bay's bottom is sand and eelgrass to about 20 feet, and boulders begin near that same depth. Along the north side, the substrate steepens into a boulder wall with ledges and caves down to roughly 50 feet, while bull kelp grows along the perimeter of the cove just outside the sheltered water.

From the Nautilids who hunt it

Spot strategies

Ocean Oracle Pro
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How other Nautilids actually hunt San Juan County Park: the biome they worked, the gear, the tide and time of day, and what they were after.
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