Edmonds Underwater Park/Bruce Higgins Underwater Trails
Recently renamed in honor of the man who has long headed the efforts of local divers to develop and maintain it, Bruce Higgins UW Trails is one of the area’s most popular sites for good reason. Amongst small wrecks and man-made structures covered with invertebrates, you are guaranteed encounters with lots of large, even huge, lingcod, cabazon and rockfish and can easily see the best of what Puget Sound has to offer. As a Marine Protected Area, it has afforded these fish many years to mature and reproduce without interference. They are easily approached by divers; making this a great photo site.
Access is from Brackett’s Landing Park, with easy parking next to the water, benches, tables, rinse showers, changing areas and restrooms.
Check out the site map by the restrooms, and then walk down the broad sandy beach in the middle or near the jetty to enter. Swim out to one of the numerous buoys and simply follow the rope trails to your chosen destination. Popular areas are along Jetty Way to The Cathedrals, one of the small wrecks like The Triumph, or any number of various man-made structures like Tube-Henge.
Swimming back to the beach on the north of the jetty can be rewarding as amongst the eel grass you’ll find many small animals like moon snails, crabs of all sorts, small flounder, and various nudibranchs, including the somewhat rare Hooded Nudibranch at certain times of the year.
Depths are fairly shallow. It’s hard to go much deeper than 40’ anywhere in the park, making this a great beginner’s site. Currents can be strong on the surface at times, so be sure to have enough air for a lengthy swim back to the beach. Check for slack on the posted tables near the site map. Windy conditions can stir up a large surface chop in the water that makes swimming hard and visibility poor. Diving at the old dry docks on the south side is prohibited, as it is too close to the ferries. The park is very busy with classes on weekend mornings, so parking can be hard to find. If lot is full, you can leave gear and park on the street, or wait at the turnaround at the end for someone to pull out. The park closes at dusk; night dives are allowed until then.
Edmonds has many attractive places to eat and nearby dive shops can supply air fills, equipment or guides.
This is a great place to do numerous dives, as it will take you many days to explore. Just when you think you’ve seen everything that it has to offer, it will likely have new attractions. Volunteer divers are constantly improving and maintaining the park, creating new and exciting areas for all divers to enjoy for many years to come.
