Mountain Point

Mountain Point near Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska is a celebrated beginner dive site that introduces divers to the extraordinary richness of the Pacific Northwest's cold-water marine ecosystem, where the nutrient-dense waters of the Inside Passage support a marine community of bewildering diversity and abundance. This accessible site has earned a devoted following among Alaska divers and visitors who discover that the cold, dark waters of the north contain some of the most spectacular marine life available to recreational divers anywhere in the United States. Ketchikan sits at the southern end of Southeast Alaska where the Inside Passage — the sheltered waterway between the mainland and the outer islands — concentrates the currents that deliver nutrients from the open Pacific into Alaska's coastal waters. Mountain Point benefits from this extraordinary biological productivity, with the underwater terrain off this rocky headland supporting an ecosystem that rewards exploration at every scale from the microscopic to the magnificent. The marine community at Mountain Point is dominated by the cold-water species that thrive in the Pacific Northwest's nutrient-rich conditions. Giant Pacific octopus, among the largest octopus species on earth with arms spanning several meters in the largest individuals, inhabit the rocky reef and are encountered with a regularity that makes them one of Alaska's signature diving attractions. These intelligent animals often approach divers with apparent curiosity, the interaction between human and octopus creating moments of genuine inter-species encounter that experienced divers consistently rank among the most memorable of their diving careers. The rockfish community at Mountain Point includes species that would be familiar to California divers relocated northward, with quillback, copper, and various other rockfish species occupying the rocky reef in colorful profusion. Kelp greenling, lingcod of impressive size, and the various other cold-water fish species of the Pacific Northwest create a fish community quite different from any tropical reef in its species composition but equally impressive in density and character. Invertebrate life in the cold, nutrient-rich Alaskan water is particularly spectacular. Sea stars in multiple species range from the tiny to the enormous. Nudibranchs in cold-water Pacific species navigate the substrate with the same vivid coloring that their tropical relatives display. Sea anemones of extraordinary size and density cover the rocky surfaces, their tentacles extended in the current in carpets of living color that photographers find irresistible. Mountain Point in Ketchikan delivers an encounter with Alaska's magnificent cold-water marine world in a format accessible to divers of beginner level, provided they have appropriate thermal protection. For those willing to don dry suits and discover the Pacific Northwest underwater, it offers one of America's most rewarding diving experiences.