What is the water temperature in Puget Sound & Hood Canal?

The water is usually between 5 °C and 13 °C over the year.

What marine life can you see in Puget Sound & Hood Canal?

Divers regularly see seals, rockfish, crustaceans, nudibranchs, octopus and lingcod.

Puget Sound & Hood Canal

Diving in United States

7 documented dive sites, 2 of them for Open Water divers. Known for seals, rockfish and crustaceans.

Best months: Oct–Feb
Water: 5–13 °C
Levels: Open Water, Advanced, Experienced
Nearest airport: SEA
One dive: €78–132

When to go

Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.

Pick a month

Best
Good
Possible
Closed
Not documented yet

Puget Sound & Hood Canal in November

Best season

Air: 10 °C; 6 °C at night
Rain: 170 mm; one of the wettest months
Wind: 12 km/h; on average

Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.

Compare with another destination

Diving is year-round (in drysuits); best Oct–Feb, when late fall and winter bring the best visibility (20–50 ft). Spring and summer plankton blooms reduce visibility, but summer has the best topside weather and sixgill sharks (Jul–Aug).

Source: seattlemet.com

Dive sites in Puget Sound & Hood Canal

From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.

Open Water friendly

usual dive down to 18 m2 sites

Wreck

down to 14 m

Edmonds Underwater Park (Bruce Higgins Underwater Trails)

Rope-marked trails link man-made reefs and sunken vessels in a city marine preserve and sanctuary established in 1970.

Open Water
Rockfish

Wreck

down to 29 m

Redondo Beach (Des Moines)

Down the slope lie small boat wrecks and other man-made reefs, new divers practise buoyancy in a pipe obstacle course, and the sandy slopes are a good place to spot large skates.

Open Water
Sixgill sharks

For Advanced divers

usual dive down to 30 m4 sites

Wall

down to 30 m

Sund Rock Marine Preserve (Hood Canal)

Two major walls at 70-80 ft in a conservation area where lingcod, giant Pacific octopus and wolf eels live.

Advanced
Sixgill sharks

Jetty / pier

down to 18 m

Keystone Jetty (Fort Casey, Whidbey Island)

A sloping boulder jetty in a protected underwater park where large lingcod, wolf eels and giant Pacific octopus are seen.

Advanced
Octopus

Kelp forest

down to 24 m

Sunrise Beach County Park

A kelp-forested wall from 35 ft drops to a second wall at 80 ft in a high-current marine protected area.

Advanced
Octopus

Wall

down to 30 m

Day Island Wall (Tacoma Narrows)

Ledges and walls between 40 and 100 ft shelter many wolf eels, and giant Pacific octopus are seen out of their dens.

Advanced
Octopus

For experienced divers

usual dive down to 40 m1 site

down to 18 m

Deception Pass

Tidal water runs through Deception Pass at up to 8 knots, so divers wait for the few favorable exchanges each year to drop under the bridge.

Experienced

Marine life

When the big encounters happen, month by month.

Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sixgill sharksSource: dan.org

Peak season
Seen

Also reported here, season not documented yet:

Seals
Rockfish
Crustaceans
Nudibranchs
Octopus
Lingcod
Wolffish
Anemones
Rays
Lumpsuckers
Squid

What diving costs here

Here a dive costs between €78 and €132 and an Open Water course between €604 and €1052, depending on the dive centres we checked.

One dive (certified diver)packages counted per dive: €78–1322 centres
Open Water course: €604–10524 centres

The cheapest and the most expensive of the dive centres we checked, from the prices on their own websites in October 2026. Prices change: confirm with the centre before booking.

Converted to euros at the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026; for currencies the ECB does not publish, the official rate of the country's central bank.

Sources (6)

Where is Puget Sound & Hood Canal?

View on OpenStreetMapLocation: Puget Sound (Wikipedia)Map: Natural Earth

Nearest airport: SEA

Puget Sound & Hood Canal: frequently asked questions

When is the best time to dive Puget Sound & Hood Canal?: The best months to dive Puget Sound & Hood Canal are Oct–Feb. Diving is year-round (in drysuits); best Oct–Feb, when late fall and winter bring the best visibility (20–50 ft). Spring and summer plankton blooms reduce visibility, but summer has the best topside weather and sixgill sharks (Jul–Aug).
Is Puget Sound & Hood Canal good for beginner divers?: Yes, partly: 2 of the 7 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Edmonds Underwater Park (Bruce Higgins Underwater Trails) and Redondo Beach (Des Moines). The others need more experience or a higher certification.
What is the water temperature in Puget Sound & Hood Canal?: The water is usually between 5 °C and 13 °C over the year.
What marine life can you see in Puget Sound & Hood Canal?: Divers regularly see seals, rockfish, crustaceans, nudibranchs, octopus and lingcod.
How do you dive Puget Sound & Hood Canal?: The nearest airport is SEA.

About this page

Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.

All destinations

Your next dive is somewhere out there.

Find my next dive trip

Photo: Sarah Lee on Unsplash

Photo credits

Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash