Alki Beach Cove 2 – Washington

Site Overview

Alki Beach Cove 2 in Seattle is one of Washington's most accessible and productive cold-water shore dives featuring reliable giant Pacific octopus encounters, wolf eels, and colorful invertebrate communities in the heart of Puget Sound. The rocky reef slopes from shallow entry to 20 meters supporting dense plumose anemone gardens, sea cucumbers, and diverse rockfish species. Giant Pacific octopus are resident and frequently approach divers with remarkable curiosity making this one of the few urban dive sites worldwide where you can encounter these intelligent animals. The site's accessibility from downtown Seattle makes it perfect for training dives, night diving, and repeated visits to observe the seasonal changes in marine communities. The site features multiple distinct reef areas at different depths providing varied experiences from shallow training areas to deeper walls with colorful invertebrate communities. Lingcod patrol the reef edges while decorator crabs and nudibranchs inhabit the smaller crevices among the boulders. The proximity to Seattle means divers can combine world-class urban diving with city attractions making it one of the most convenient cold-water destinations in the Pacific Northwest. Seasonal changes bring different species with autumn offering the best visibility and spring bringing new cohorts of juvenile fish to the shallow reef areas. The site has been extensively documented by local dive clubs serving as a reference site for long-term marine ecosystem monitoring.