Waldport 

Dive Type:  Shore or Boat

Experience Level:  Beginning to Intermediate

Dangers: Most bay dives should be made during slack tide.  Waldport is small and the channel narrow.  The tidal exchange can produce fast currents that pick up speed quickly.  Always take a compass bearing before entering the water.

Dive Profile: Waldport bay is small and has beach access if you're willing to pack your gear 1/4 mile.  There are several "holes" in the channel that can be identified by color on a clear day.  The "holes" are actually gullies found between ridges of rock found along the south shore.  On a low tide the top of each ridge can be seen at the edge of the beach.  The rock fingers slope downward into the channel until they bottom out around 50 feet.  This dive can be tricky; eddy currents can become confusing, and navigating the fingers results in constant course changes (a compass is a must on this dive).  The bay is great source of crab with some divers having taken a limit of huge Dungeness within 20 minutes. There are always crab here of nice size, but most often the large ones are female and currently illegal to take in Oregon. This dive can be enjoyed from a boat but you must be cautious.  Sandbars change from season to season and the main channel can become very shallow on some low tides.