Candice Landau
Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by Candice Landau
Image: You can just about see the buoys in the water behind the foreground boat in the water. That’s where the Comet lies. Shallow!
Type of dive: Saltwater; shore dive
Diving level: All (be familiar with diving near boat traffic)
Current: Dive any time, when water is calm
Average depth: 15 – 40 feet
Location: Port Hadlock, Port Townsend Bay
GPS coordinates: 48° 01.9852′ N 122° 45.0570′ W
Nearby beer: Discovery Bay Brewing; Port Townsend Brewing Company; Propolis Brewing; Finnriver Farm and Cidery (for ye cider drinkers!)
Would I dive the Comet again?
Totally. This time around I’d walk up the beach until I hit the “Clam Farm, Keep Out” sign, get in the water and then head out directly to the Comet, on about a 15-20 feet contour. I’d spend much more time with a macro lens photographing all the critters living in the nooks and crannies of the boat. I’d also make a concerted attempt to identify the parts of the boat. Afterward, I’d visit a couple of the local breweries, assuming, of course, I was done diving for the day.
What is the Comet?
The Comet is a small wreck located just out of Port Hadlock. If you own a copy of “Northwest Wreck Dives,” the name may sound familiar. It’s one of the few wrecks in the book you can dive from shore. It’s in super shallow water (15 to 40 feet from bow to stern) and, I am told, the bow is even sometimes visible at low tide. For this reason, it’s actually marked off with buoys so that boats know to avoid the area. In turn, this makes it a great place for divers because it lowers the risk of injury by boat. Having said that, there are a LOT of boats in the area. If you’re following a shallow contour to get to the Comet, be aware and make sure you have a surface marker buoy at hand, in case you need to make a safe ascent.
According to “Northwest Wreck Dives,” the Comet is a 127 foot-long tug boat that fell into neglect and eventually sank in 1976. Naturally, in such shallow water, most of the important bits were salvaged. That said, there’s still quite a lot to see. Because the Comet lies on its side, you get the feeling you’re diving along a wall. When I last dove here in 2019 I saw a ton of plumose anemones, rockfish, lingcod, gunnels, and various sculpins. At the time I took only an old GoPro so any pictures I have are pretty poor, though I’ve still added one anyway. The visibility was also not fantastic, in the order of maybe 6 feet, and there was quite a bit of silt to kick up.
That said, if you’re a Hood Canal junkie like most of us PNW divers are, you’ll want to check out the wreck of the Comet. Surprisingly, most people who regularly dive the Hood Canal don’t bother making the trek up to do so. I’m not sure why as I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I still love Sund Rock and Flag Pole just as much as anyone else.
How to find the Comet
As mentioned above, the Comet lies between 15 and 40 feet of depth. It’s about 200 feet south of the Port Hadlock public boat ramp. You can either get in the water or walk out until you hit the “Clam Farm, Keep Out” sign, then get in and head the rest of the way south. You may find some debris from the Comet before you actually come upon it—we did.
Parking and amenities
We parked right in front of the public dock and geared up right there. It was a super easy walk to the site. There was a nearby port-a-potty, and nearby food, though we did not sample the local fare. We did have someone ask if we could help them grab something that had become twisted under their boat. Sadly we had to decline as the surge was pretty rough and the boat was slapping hard against the water as the waves tossed it—a very dangerous situation, unless you like the idea of having a 30-foot boat come down on your head.
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