Dive Review of Pacific Adventures/Glen Ayr in
The Continental USA/Hood Canal, Washington State

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Pacific Adventures/Glen Ayr: "Great Boat Diving- Pacific NW- Hood Canal", Oct, 2015, by Gregory S Bruce, OR, US ( Sr. Contributor 23 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 8529.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Pacific Adventures is a dive boat operation owned and operated by Don Coleman and his family. The name of the boat is the Down Time. Don takes groups of 2-6 out for 2-3 tank boat dives on Saturday and Sunday. 2 tank dives are $85 and 3 tanks are $105. The boat accommodates 6 divers comfortably. Don is very safety conscious and the boat has all requisite safety equipment. There is a toilet on board and warm fresh water for rinsing self and equipment. Hot chocolate, warm cider, coffee and tea and water are available at all times. 2 different soups and hot dogs or pulled pork sandwiches and chips are typically served during surface intervals. Entry is a giant stride off the back of the boat and reentry is also at the back. Take off fins and hand them up and climb up a very sturdy ladder. Typically cruise on the surface to the bow of the boat and drop down the anchor line to the top of the dive sites. The diving is done at most of the best dive sites in the Hood Canal (part of the Pugent Sound)- these sites are only accessible by boat and are done on pinnacles and large walls. A group of us went out for a 3 tank boat dive this past Saturday 10/23/15. Conditions were outstanding. Calm surface conditions, overcast skies in the morning gave way to sunshine in the afternoon. As is typical of the Hood Canal diving, we had no currents or surge. A bit of a mucky/algae bloom layer existed in the first 15-20 feet of the water column and then opened up to a solid 35-40 feet of emerald green visibility. Nearly everyone dives in dry suits, but you can dive with 7mm wetsuits with hood and gloves and booties. First dive of the day was at a site called 3 fingers. A sloping wall with 3 spines that begins in 40 feet of water and gently slopes down to below recreational limits. Dive 2 was at a site called Pulali Point (west wall) which is another wall dive that begins at 45 feet and extends down to 90+ feet. There is opportunity to come up into the shallows near shore and hang around in the eel grass in 15-20 feet to do a safety stop. Dive 3 was at a site called The Pinnacle. A completely circular pinnacle that starts at 30 feet and slopes down to 100+. All dive sites are close to one another, but offer very different structure and experience. What they have in common is sea life. All of your normal Pacific NW critters in abundance. Various types of nudibranch and anemones, large and prolific numbers of various types of rockfish, including the very beautiful and bright orange vermillion rock fish. Plenty of crabs and Massive Ling Cod in the 4-6 feet range perched on rock outcroppings. Various types of sculpin and greenling. 6-7 foot long wolf eels (also known as wolf fish) and the occasional Giant Pacific Octopus. It is not uncommon to see Dogfish Sharks at these sites also. If you will be visiting the PNW, particularly the Olympic Peninsula, then you would do well to contact Don and do some Hood Canal diving from his boat. There are various accommodation options in the area. There is an Inn right at the Marina; there is Mike's Beach resort about 10 minutes south on Highway 101, which is also a dive resort. I usually stay in Hoodsport, which is 30-40 minutes south of the marina. Hoodsport is a quaint and historic town on the shores of the Hood Canal, with the Olymipc Mountains set as a backdrop behind. Hoodsport has a good number of restaurants, grocery store, gas station and boutique shops. I normally stay at the Glen Ayr. They have rinse facilities for dive gear and a drying room with secured lockers. They have double queen rooms, king rooms, suites and many RV hook up spots. They also have washers and dryers and a large recereation room with billiards and TV and tables for dining. Popular with dive clubs and dive shops bringing students up for their open water weekend. Hoodsport also has a full service dive shop in town called Hoddsportndive. You can rent tanks, weights, wetsuits, drysuits, get air fills and directions to all of the great nearby shore diving. Here is URL for Pacifc Adventures: [pacadventure.com link] and her is the one for the Glen Ayr: [glenayr.com link]
Websites	Pacific Adventures Glen Ayr
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Pacific NW, Channel Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, Fiji, Southern California, Florida keys
Closest Airport	Seattle or Portland, OR	Getting There	If coming from other parts of the USA, fly to Portland or Seattle and drive from there
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	50-53°F / 10-12°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	25-40 Ft/ 8-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No dive restrictions. A thorough dive briefing is conducted prior to the dive. Everyone buddies up and dives their own profile with no time limitations. Dive your tank. Back on the boat with 500psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Bucket of fresh water set aside for those with cameras

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Dive Review of Pacific Adventures/Glen Ayr in The Continental USA/Hood Canal, Washington State

Pacific Adventures/Glen Ayr: "Great Boat Diving- Pacific NW- Hood Canal", Oct, 2015,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Pacific Adventures/Glen Ayr in
The Continental USA/Hood Canal, Washington State