Sunrise Beach County Park

Sunrise Beach County Park sits on the west shore of Colvos Passage north of Gig Harbor, an 82-acre Pierce County park with 2,135 linear feet of shoreline. From the dirt lot at the head of the property, a steep trail runs more than 100 yards through the woods down to the water; the descent is slippery when wet and hard work with full scuba gear. Below the tideline, a sandy shelf slopes gently out and gives way to rocky reef in about 25 to 30 feet.

The site's underwater identity is a wall about 75 yards long, running parallel to shore and standing 10 to 25 feet tall from a 30-foot lip down to about 60 feet. Boulders and smaller rock formations cascade past the wall's base and continue downslope past 105 feet, though recreational profiles typically work between 60 and 90 feet. Local divers call the site the Zoo for the density of resident wolf eels here, with as many as 8 documented on a single dive.

The 75-yard wall makes Sunrise Beach a rocky reef biome, and the ledges along it shelter documented wolf eels and giant Pacific octopus. Scuba is the site's working use. Current is the dominant variable. Diving is considered manageable only when the maximum current at the Tacoma Narrows is 2.2 knots or less on both sides of the exchange, and the slack before an ebb is regarded as a more predictable window than the slack before a flood.

The dirt lot holds about a dozen cars, with a porta-potty, garbage can, picnic table, and public beach access on hand; the gate closes at dusk. The 300-foot by 500-foot Colvos Passage Marine Preserve lies immediately south of the park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is explicit that the preserve's restrictions do not extend inside the park itself. Marine Area 11 rules are enforced within the park, with retention of all rockfish species closed year-round to fishing, retention, or possession, and lingcod spearfishing permitted only from May 21 through June 15 at a maximum size of 36 inches and a daily limit of 1.