I've only been diving off the end of Bonito Crescent once before (2009). At that time, a note was left under my windshield wiper saying that by accessing the water I was trespassing. I had used the Land Title Act's public right-of-way trail which is shown on the zoning map. Even though I was sure I wasn't trespassing and I could have pressed my rights by continuing to dive there, I reasoned that I wasn't a local and I wanted to avoid creating conflict between divers and residents so I avoided coming here again. Since that was 10 years ago and since the area is a retirement community, I figured that whoever left the note has passed away by now and it would probably be safe to try diving here again. I finally returned on Sept. 6, 2019. I parked at the end of Bonito Crescent and walked down the muddy trail along a seasonal stream to the pebble beach. The trail seemed to be well-worn, indicating that other people were using it to access the shore. There were also posts with orange surveyor's tape tied to them marking the trail's start and end.
From the beach, I followed the bottom straight out from the tip of the rocky point. It gradually sloped down to a rocky reef that dropped to about 80' deep.
I followed this rocky area out to the right (East). The rocky area ended and there was a sand/gravel slope. I kept swimming and another large rocky area showed up. I followed it down to about 105' deep, but it continued deeper. The marine chart shows it going down to around 120' deep or so. Visibility was a bit murky in the shallows, but below 30' deep it was about 40-50'. There were lots of feather stars and some boot sponges, crimson anemones and Puget Sound king crabs. I remember when I dove here 10 years ago, I saw some clusters of plumose anemones. I saw them again today so I must have been diving the same area as last time.
I had swam pretty far from my entry-point. I was using a 119 cubic-foot tank. If I was using a standard 80 cubic-foot tank, I probably wouldn't have been able to reach this area and have enough air to swim back. I swam up the slope to a shallower depth and headed back to the entry-point beach.
I don't think this spot is quite as good as nearby Dolphin Beach or Blueback Park (Tyee), but I think it's worth coming back to eventually. Next time I come here I might try to visit another rocky area a bit farther offshore (visible on a sidescan sonar image).
