Z's Reef Marine Preserve
Fox Island · South Sound · Washington
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = today's forecast
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.
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Why it reads 10–14 ft
Today's forecast runs
Dawn is the clearest window. A late-morning onshore builds surface chop and gives up a few feet by the afternoon.
Medium confidence
7-Day Forecast
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.
Map and parking
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About Z's Reef Marine Preserve
Z's Reef Marine Preserve sits off the northwest shore of Fox Island in Hale Passage, on the sound side of the peninsula between the island and the Gig Harbor mainland. The reef itself is a roughly 200-yard rock-and-boulder ridge that breaks the bottom with a sudden 5 to 15 foot drop in 40 to 60 feet of water. The preserve boundary encloses the waters and bedlands from Fox Island's northeast shore out to the minus 85-foot depth contour and back, an area the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife records at 55.95 acres of subtidal ground with no intertidal component. Access is boat-only. Skippers work in from the Fox Island Sportsmen's Club ramp on the east side of the island, a private ramp with a member fee, or from the Narrows Marina launch in Tacoma, running north into Hale Passage and then west along the island's north shore. Currents run through the passage, so timing a dive to slack water matters.
Species found here
Researched habitat and range candidates. A listed species may be seasonal or depth-limited; this is not a confirmed sighting at this location.
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