Les Davis Pier

Les Davis Pier sits along the Ruston Way waterfront in Tacoma, on the south shore of Commencement Bay a short drive from downtown at 3427 Ruston Way. The dive site is the artificial reef offshore of the park, built from scrapped concrete slabs of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge that were dumped here after the bridge collapsed in 1940. Structure begins in roughly 40 feet of water about 75 feet off the diver stairway and continues into deeper water past 100 feet, running east and west along the shore. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the structure as large slabs of hollowed concrete roadway gathered in large piles at various depths. A dedicated stairway leads divers straight into the water from the park.

The site has long served as Tacoma's most accessible urban shore dive, used heavily for training, night dives, and octopus observation. That reef material carries a piece of Puget Sound history: the concrete slabs are pieces of the original "Galloping Gertie" span. WDFW later designated the waters, bedlands, and tidelands in front of the park as the Les Davis Octopus Preserve to protect the resident giant Pacific octopus population that uses the concrete piles.

The dive site carries a rocky reef biome, with the concrete slabs functioning as hard bottom in the same way natural rock would; rockfish, lingcod, and a range of invertebrates gather across the piles, and the giant Pacific octopus is the flagship species that gave the preserve its name. Scuba is the only use of the site, and the pier structure itself is closed to divers because it is actively fished and carries heavy monofilament and hook hazard. A line of tires placed on the bottom by local divers marks the east boundary of the safe dive area, and divers stay west of the tire line. Trolling anglers work the diving area from boats, and divers commonly carry a knife or shears to deal with lost fishing line.

Parking is good on Ruston Way with year-round restrooms and a picnic shelter, and concessions along the waterfront sit within walking distance. Take of giant Pacific octopus is prohibited within the Les Davis Octopus Preserve, a closure WDFW has enforced under the preserve designation; the pier structure itself is closed to diving, and other species follow Marine Area 11 rules, with rockfish retention prohibited year-round and lingcod spearfishing open May 21 to June 15 under a 36 inch maximum and a daily limit of 1.