Edmonds, Washington, United States

Edmonds Underwater Park

Edmonds Underwater Park is a 27-acre marine reserve immediately adjacent to the Edmonds ferry terminal in Puget Sound, Washington. Established in 1970 and protected as a no-take area, it is the largest underwater shore park on the US west coast. The bottom is mostly sand and rubble at 4 to 12 metres, but volunteers have placed dozens of intentionally sunken structures across decades — small boats, dry-dock fragments, the wreck of the DeLion Tug, the Triumph and the Diaper Barge — to provide habitat and dive interest. The park is famous as one of the most reliable places anywhere to encounter giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), the world's largest octopus species. Wolf eels live in the structures and lingcod, cabezon, painted greenling, kelp greenling, copper rockfish, perches and Puget Sound king crabs are common. Currents are weak inside the no-go zone but ferry traffic dictates a strict surface boundary. Best in winter when visibility opens up.