KVI Radio Tower - Vashon Island
March 13th, 2006
site name: KVI Radio Tower
location: Vashon Island, WA
directions (via Michael Parker):
- Take the West Seattle Ferry to Vashon Island.
- Once off the ferry, follow the main highway through 2 small towns.
- At the second town, turn left at the IAMS pet store and follow this road all the way down to the water.
- At the water, turn left and you should see the tower ahead of you. You’ll wind your way there (it’s pretty simple).
- Park near the gate that blocks the entrance to the tower and proceed the 1/3 mile “death march” with all your gear.
A sign says “no parking” so park at your own risk (but we didn’t get towed).
dive site summary:
This was a challenging dive, both in terms of the long walk to the entry point and the intense current conditions. The hard work is well worth it though as this site is different than most other sites in the area. Head out to the radio tower from the car, about 1/3 mile walk :(. Head directly out from the radio tower, due East, toward a small sand bar (exposed during low tide). You’ll head out from the sand bar, staying at 90° East. at around 60′ or so you’ll start to notice a number of concrete formations, on which a variety of colorful and healthy anemones grow. You’ll find schools of rockfish, juvenile octos and even some soft coral. Be careful of the rip currents when surfacing, I recommend taking a compass heading for the tower just prior to descending and following that back, along the bottom. We had two friends run low on air and they had to surface early and had quite a tough time fighting the current to get back to shore.
Entry Filed under: Puget Sound, SCUBA