Saltwater State Park

Saltwater State Park in Des Moines, King County, Washington, occupies a forested ravine that descends to a protected cove on central Puget Sound—one of the Sound's most accessible state park diving sites and a beloved resource for the King County diving community that lies between the better-known Edmonds complex to the north and the Tacoma-area sites to the south. The park's forested character, old-growth cedar and alder framing the approach to the beach, creates a naturalistic setting that distinguishes it from the more urban diving environments available in Seattle and its immediate suburbs. At intermediate difficulty, Saltwater State Park offers a progression beyond the basic beginner pier and beach sites while stopping well short of the current-dominated advanced sites of exposed Puget Sound locations. The park's cove provides some protection from the main Sound's tidal flows, creating conditions that intermediate divers can manage while developing the skills they'll need for more current-exposed environments later in their Pacific Northwest diving development. The sandy and rocky bottom transitions offshore into the mixed substrate that supports a diverse marine community without the dramatic vertical terrain of wall dive sites. Marine life at Saltwater State Park reflects the productivity of central Puget Sound's cold, nutrient-rich water. Skate—the flattened, diamond-shaped relatives of sharks—rest camouflaged on sandy sections of the bottom, practically invisible until a diver passes directly overhead and they launch into a brief defensive flight before settling again a few feet away. Bat stars, leather stars, and blood stars inhabit the rocky sections, their colors vivid in the green-lit water when a dive light restores the wavelengths that water absorbs. Dungeness crab move across the bottom with the businesslike purposefulness that makes these animals perennially entertaining dive companions. Nudibranchs are present at Saltwater State Park in the diversity that Puget Sound's cold water sustains throughout the year. Hermissenda, Tochuina, and various dorid species move across encrusting surfaces at the patient pace of animals that rely on chemical defense rather than speed—their brilliant colors a warning to potential predators of their toxicity. Finding nudibranchs requires the slow movement and close observation that rushing divers miss entirely, and developing this observational approach at intermediate park sites builds the skills that produce consistently rewarding macro encounters across all Pacific Northwest diving. Giant Pacific octopus inhabit the park's rocky areas, drawn by the crab and fish populations that the mixed substrate sustains. The park's established diving community has documented GPO sightings across multiple seasons, and divers who search the rocky sections with appropriate technique find encounters of the quality that defines Puget Sound's international diving reputation. Bald eagles sometimes patrol the surface from the park's tree line while divers are below—surfacing to see one of these birds holding its position above the water before launching into a steep dive creates a rare double wildlife experience that Puget Sound's Pacific Northwest setting makes possible.