Scuba Diving The Oregon Coast

Hi I’m Greg from Scuba Happy

If your a die hard diver, then you will at some point have to Scuba Dive the Oregon Coast. From Port Orford in southern Oregon to Garibaldi up north is a wonderful dive experience awaiting you if you venture out. Get your dive gear ready!!!

The water temp will change from one day to the next but its all cold. A diver should have a minimum of a 5mm whether its a mens wetsuit, or womens wetsuit, for a comfortable dive because there’s nothing worse than getting cold under water and suffering the whole dive.

Make sure to select the proper mm of urethane between you and the water.

The visibility of the water is for most divers on the Oregon coast the main complaint, because there is always the possibility the you won’t be able to see your hand underwater. I’ve had to cancel many dives because of black or limited visibility.

Safety Note: Always check your dive gear before a dive and consult you dive gear checklist before water entry, and your scuba diving buddies too.

Being able to configure the tides is very easy for diving on the Oregon coast, typically you must enter the water 1 hour to 30 minutes prior to the tide change, sometimes you must adjust your entry or exit time a bit depending on the weather or other external environmental oddities, like surge, wind, ect….

With the weather changing from wind to rain so fast around this area, it’s always a challenge to get a quality dive, but when you have the opportunity to get one it’s some of the best scuba diving there is.

Be sure and check with local dive shops in the area your diving for tips on where to go and stock up on dive gear you will need. what the best entry and exit point may be.

One very good spot for beginners and seasoned scuba divers alike is in the small city of Winchester Bay (or Windy Bay as the locals call it), at a place called Half moon Bay, Google it and you will find several references and photos.

To find the exact location you go west after you enter Winchester Bay on the main road way, with the boats and the water on the right keep going until you see the road start to go left and you will see a dirt/rock road and a building to the right (used for sand dune rescue so don’t park in front of it), there you will find several parking spots, this is also your staging area where you will put your gear on and ready for the dive.

Work your way slowly in full gear to the rock jetty and across the sand to the large jetty rocks, you will find a series of flat rocks to enter the water into the mouth of the bay from. It gets kinda slippery on the rocks and the water surge can get bad so watch your self, be sure and take a compass heading at this point. Once your on the large flat entry rocks get your regulator in and be ready for anything in case a wave knocks you in.

Once you are in the water drop down to the rocks and follow them all the way to the bottom about 40ft to 60 ft depending on the tide and swell.

You will mostly find small fish and crab at the bottom, if your spear fishing then you will have to work your way in a zig zag up and down the rocks from 10ft to 25ft and flush them out of the rocks, you should find a lot of crab along the way.

You must remember to put on your bucket list to enjoy scuba diving the Oregon coast.

Always dive this on the tail end of the incoming high tide about 30 minutes before the tide flip or change to outgoing low tide, that way you can ride the tide to the end of the rock jetty and around the end into Half moon Bay itself, look out for the boats that are servicing crab pots in that area, This is one of my local favorites and I look forward to seeing you there. Thanks, Greg   @ Scubahappy.com