Dive Profile:  Cape Lookout is an impressive ridge of rust colored basalt extending 21/2 miles from shore.  The south side is preferred for diving because of the calm waters found there.  Visibility can vary from 10-30 feet.  A great place for hunting, sightseeing, photography, and gaining dive experience.  The long rocky shoreline produces a variety of habitat to explore.  Near shore there are some impressive kelp beds providing home to rockfish and lingcod.  Further out toward the tip scallops begin to adorn the shear vertical walls that plummet to the ocean floor.  Small caves can found in the wall.  Large enough for a diver to enter and providing shelter for scallops and a vast array of invertebrates.  Boulders and rocks cover the bottom and give way to sand the deeper you descend.  Dungeness crab scurry along this transition zone; sometimes buried in the sand, sometimes feeding among the rocks.  Bring a camera, a goodie bag, and a sense of wonder, Cape Lookout is an inspiring northwest dive experience.

Directions: The Cape is a boat dive with launch access from Tillamook Bay, Netarts Bay, or Pacific City.  Launching from Tillamook is the safest route due to the secure ocean channel produced by the jetties.  Launches from Netarts Bay should only be attempted by experienced boat captains; the channel is unprotected.  Boats entering the ocean from Pacific City launch off the sandy beaches and must be designed and equipped for such procedures.  Normally flat bottom dories or light inflatables are the only boats attempting such a launch.  Qualified dive charters from Doug's Diving and U.S.I.A. can provide a wonderful day of diving on the Cape.