Candice Landau
Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by Candice Landau
About Fox Island West Wall
Type of dive: Saltwater; shore dive
Diving level: Beginner to advanced; recreational and technical
Current: Minimal
GPS Coordinates: 47° 14.35′ N 122° 37.95′ W
Dive site overview
Fox Island West Wall is a great dive site for beginners and advanced divers alike. Although the site is easy to get to from Tacoma, it’s still further than many of the well-known sites on the Sound, making it a more peaceful (and often, less peopled) getaway.
The first time I showed up, a local diver gave me the “surface” tour. He told me that his friend (a technical and rebreather diver) used this site to log hours on his rebreather and that otherwise, he used it as a second dive after a more tide-sensitive first dive at another location.
The best thing about Fox Island West Wall is that it is easy to dive regardless of the time of day, and can be dived outside of high and low slack as there is minimal current off this point.
If you dive it at low tide, just be aware that the slope is pretty steep from the get-go. You’ll want to make sure your BCD is inflated before you get in the water so that you can get fins on without standing on the silty bottom.
What’s there to see?
The most prominent feature at this site is a small wall. That’s probably what you’re going to want to head toward. To find it, simply head out straight from the parking lot, into the water and then drop down until you’re at about 50 feet. You’ll want to swim in a more SE direction (parallel to shore), approximately 180 – 200 degrees. You can also head out to the buoy almost directly in line with Kamus Drive, and drop down on that, before heading approximately SE.
If you can grab a copy of Northwest Shore Dives by Steve Fischnaller, I highly recommend it. Steve will give you the lowdown on how to get to the very end of the wall, or the middle. He’ll also give some information on currents that can be useful if you like to play it safe and dive at the slack tide.
It’s worth noting that when I dived this site, the wall was a bit shallower (43 feet) as the tide was out. If you miss it you may want to make a few sweeps at different depths to see if you can find it.
The site is perhaps best known for the large number of purple sand dollars that inhabit the shallow water. Beyond sand dollars, I’ve seen Pacific Spiny Dogfish (very curious fellows that come right up to you to check you out), rockfish, various sea stars and sculpins, crab, very large nudibranchs (some of the largest I’ve seen in the sound) and some pretty big jellies. Striped nudis and orange peel nudis were my favorites. I’ve been told there’s an occasional octo or wolf eel in the wall, though I’ve yet to see them.
If after diving the wall you head directly up into the shallows, you may find you come upon the eelgrass beds (they’re SE of the entrance/exit point). A good place to hang around if you have some extra time, though do be careful of boat traffic!
Parking at the site
So, this one is interesting. I’m glad I read a few online reviews before heading out as although the road dead-ends and does not look like it appears on private property, the locals have set up “no parking at any time” signs. We parked right under the signs and had no problem.
I have been told that these are not official/legal signs, though I couldn’t tell you whether or not that is true. We were of course respectful of the area and didn’t make a noise, so hopefully, if every diver continues to behave this way, we can continue to dive the site in peace.
The road down to the water is pretty steep and narrow so just be warned. Drive slowly.
Other popular, nearby dive sites: Fox Island East Wall (current sensitive); Fox Island Bridge (current sensitive); Titlow Beach (current sensitive); Sunrise Beach (current sensitive).
When you’re done, head into Gig Harbor for a meal or a brew. Wet Coast Brewing is my personal favorite for beer, but the downtown area is really cute and well worth checking out.
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