Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 7376h ago)
Max Depth
35.1 ft
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Octopus Hole
Like the close-by Sund Rock area, Octopus Hole is very popular with Scuba divers who enjoy diving the wall to view various underwater creatures, including but not limited to Lingcod, North Pacific Giant Octopus, Wolf Eel, and nudibranch.
The most popular wall to dive in this area is about 200 yards long and starts at roughly 40 fsw, going down to roughly 50-60' fsw, depending upon the tide. Many divers use a large tree that has partially fallen out towards the water to help find the beginning of this wall. Once they have done the surface swim out to this tree, they can then drop down to the wall. Another, smaller wall is accessible, at roughly 90 fsw. This wall is nearly straight out from where most divers climb down from highway 101.
Because Octopus Hole is a conservation area, no hunting or gathering of any kind is permitted. The area also has very limited parking. Essentially, parking areas are nothing more than small turnouts on the highway. There is no formal trail or pathway. Getting gear down and back from the water requires good balance as you walk down on large irregular rocks to the water. Sometimes two trips is better, remove weights or camera gear on one trip. In spite of this, the Octopus Hole is quite popular. Access is always free of charge.
This area is not current sensitive. Source: Wikipedia.org
Octopus Hole is a designated conservation area on Washington's Hood Canal. It is located right off Highway 101 just over three miles from Hoodsport.
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Ed Kenney
Feb 6, 2005, 12:00 AM
scuba
Since '98 I have seen so many fluctuations at this popular site. At first so many people were grousing about the lack of octopi, supposedly due to this dive op or that tribe poaching. The biggest factor in the fluctuations appears to be annual late summer/early fall oxygen depletion due to lack of natural circulation in this narrow fjord, aided and abetted by human contributions of nitrogen pollution. In any case, I have seen a high of 21 octopi on two dives in the summer of 2002 and several low counts of none at all. I have never failed to see a wolf eel at this site. Sometimes millions of shrimp in early fall are in a narrow band a few feet thick, perhaps gobbling up the remaining oxygen. Squid eggs often decorate the shallow kelp, especially in December. I have not found the tire reef very interesting, but you can reach it by following the line down the north side of the floating wooden platform just offshore. If you get to Octopus Hole when no one is there, you may get to dive with sea lions, something which has happened twice for me. A friend saw orcas there this winter. If you need to change clothes, just north of the site on the cliffy side of the highway there is a cave. I don't know why someone has cut down a lot of the brushy growth that used to protect this spot from the highway.