Scuba Diving Mike's Beach Resort: Dive Site Review

Last Updated on October 13, 2024 by Candice Landau

Type of dive: Saltwater; shore dive
Diving level: All levels
Current: Dive any time. This site experiences little to no current, making it accessible at all hours. There can be chop if the wind is up so be aware.
Average depth: 15 – 100+ feet (steady slope)
Water temperature: Ranges from 45°F in winter to 55°F in summer (7°C to 13°C)
Location: Hood Canal, Lilliwaup, Washington State, USA
Nearby beer: Potlatch Brewing Company
Reserve your dive spot: If you’re staying at Mike’s Beach Resort, you do not need to reserve a spot to dive. Guests can dive any time with direct access from the resort, and you can purchase air fills on-site too. However, if you’re not staying at the resort, access to the dive site may be restricted since it’s on private property. Non-guests might need to obtain permission or pay a fee to dive there. Call or email the resort.

Dive site overview

Nestled along the serene shores of the Hood Canal, Mike’s Beach Resort is one of Washington State’s most popular dive sites. Known for its all-hours accessibility and diver-friendly amenities, this site (and resort) is perfect for both beginners and seasoned divers. New divers and diving instructors alike come here to learn and teach. The gentle slope makes it easy to navigate and keep track of depth. A lot of diving instructors teach here so be sure to call in advance to ask if a class will be there. It can be busy when that happens and you might want to adjust your plans, especially if a university class is heading up. When I lived in Oregon, we’d use this site too (a 4.5 hour drive from Eugene).

The easy navigation and often excellent visibility make it an ideal training ground, while the abundance of marine life offers endless exploration opportunities—keep an eye out for giant Pacific octopus under the boats but be sure not to shine your lights in their eyes or stay for too long. They get a lot of “fin” traffic! Staying at the resort adds an extra layer of convenience—you can purchase air fills directly on-site, eliminating the need for trips back to Hoodsport or the local dive shop.

Dive professionals sitting outside the air fill station at Mike’s. On the right, a couple of people head for hot apple cider after a dive.

Would I dive Mike’s Beach Resort again?

Absolutely. I have dived for fun here. I’ve taught here. I’ve taken classes here. It’s a wonderful site for just about everything and is especially convenient because you can dive it no matter the tide. The combination of accessibility, diverse marine life, and on-site facilities makes it a must-visit spot in the Pacific Northwest. Outside of GPOs and wolf eels, I’ve seen gunnels, cabezons, lingcod, rockfish, pipefish, tons of crabs and shrimp, and everything in between.

What you can see at Mike’s Beach Resort

One of the standout features of Mike’s Beach Resort is the incredible variety of marine life. Here’s what you can expect:

Sea Whips at Depth: You’ll spot these guys once you hit about 90-100ft. They look like slim white pipes standing straight out of the sand. Very cool!
Wolf Eels: Often found peeking out from rocky crevices, they may look like ugly old men but they are the sweetest things you can find. Gentle and curious.
Giant Pacific Octopuses (GPOs): Majestic and elusive, spotting one is always a highlight. Look under boats! Sometimes they’re out, but usually they’re tucked away hiding.
Red Octopuses: Smaller but just as intriguing as their giant cousins. Look for them in the shallows on night dives.
Gobies and Shrimp: Probably the marine life you’ll see the most of. There are tons of them.
Tube Snouts: Slender fish that weave through the underwater vegetation.
Sailfin Sculpin: Known for their impressive dorsal fins.
Grunt Sculpin: These adorable fish look like they’ve had half their body lopped off. They’re tiny, so keep an eye out for little boxes with eyes!
Nudibranchs and Dorids: The PNW is a hot spot for nudibranchs and dorids. At this site I often see frosted nudis, red flabellina nudis, monterey dorids, nanaimo dorids and sea lemons. If you need help identifying them, buy this book.
Plainfin Midshipman: Unique fish often recognized by their humming sounds.
Plumose Anemones (Metridiums):Tall, feathery sea anemones with a fluffy, frilled crown of tentacles that resembles a delicate underwater flower.

Schooling fish will often hang out under the pier (seen at a low tide here)

Underwater features:

If you head out from the dock directly southeast, you’ll find a rope leading down to a platform at around 85 feet, constructed from milk crates. This deep platform is frequently used by scuba classes for deep dive training. There’s also another deep platform to the northeast that’s a bit deeper, offering more for the adventurous diver. Both are used for training purposes (I believe one was built by OSU and one by a few people from Eugene, OR). Sometimes there are cloud sponges growing under them. Look for life in the vases and please don’t touch! They’re very delicate. I don’t believe the platforms are on the map below.

There are also plenty of wrecks dotted around, mostly in states of decay, and mostly pretty small. The Perfect Dive used to host a dive map of the site but the website has since been taken down. I do have a copy of the map packed away somewhere and a poor photo. I’ll include the poor photo here for now so that you have something to reference.

The tire reefs exist in a few spots too and they’re usually teeming with shrimp and metridiums/plumose anemones. I don’t find them very captivating personally but that’s me…

This is a map that used to be hosted on The Perfect Dive (which is, alas, no longer).

Next to the dock on the South West side, the shallow water usually contains eel grass beds. This is a great place to poke around for small life like pipefish, Alaskan skeleton shrimp, gunnels and the occasional red octopus.

The one thing I’ll say is be CAREFUL of boat traffic. Though there isn’t a lot here, I do see it sometimes, and sometimes it’s crazy stuff with boaters who clearly aren’t divers, roaring back and forth. A lot of people are diving shallow here or don’t use DSMBs when ascending so watch out. I wish they’d rope off the area, or have more signs for boaters here but it is what it is.

Conservation and regulations

While Mike’s Beach Resort isn’t a designated marine sanctuary, it’s crucial to practice responsible diving:

Buoyancy Control: Maintain good buoyancy to avoid damaging the delicate marine environment. I’ve seen many a student barrel through the plumose anemones. Stay off the bottom if you’re a newer diver.
No Touching: Observe marine life without touching or disturbing it. Please. I know you want to poke the squishy-looking sea cucumber but please, don’t.
Leave No Trace: Take all trash and personal items with you when you leave. I don’t tend to find a whole lot of it underwater but it does happen every so often.

A view from one of the cabins at Mike’s Beach Resort.

How to dive Mike’s Beach Resort

Accessing the dive site:

One of the biggest perks here is the ease of access. As a guest at Mike’s Beach Resort, you’re just steps away from the shoreline. No reservations are needed for diving, and you can dive at any time that suits you—even night dives are a go!

There are two primary entry points. One is the boat launch ramp (easy to walk in), though be careful of slipping—it can get slick with algae. The nice part about entering here is it’s right next to the fill station and has gear setup space.

The other entry point is next to the fire pits. You walk down the stairs there and then have an entire beach to enter from (just walk right in). You can also access this beach from the boat ramp area too—there’s a small staircase to the right of the pier.

Looking north from the boat ramp. You can dive in this direction, though in my experience, there isn’t too much to see beyond plumose anemones.

Facilities:

On-Site Air Fills: Conveniently available for guests. You might occasionally have to knock on the office door, or even the house door to find someone to get those fills from (especially if it’s not hopping) but you can always get them.
Gear Rinse Stations: There’s a hose and a big bucket you can rinse gear in right near the gear station. If it isn’t full of water yet, you can get it filled.
Parking: Ample parking close to the entry point. There’s an overflow parking at the top too. If I have to use that, I usually drive my gear down to the dock or to my chalet, unload, and then drive the car back to the overflow.
Camp Stoves: There’s a really nice area to sit that has stoves. You’ll need to buy wood and have a way to light the stoves but it’s always fun doing this at night during the summer, perhaps with a beer and a BBQ.

What’s nearby

Accommodation:

Mike’s Beach Resort: Stay right on-site for maximum convenience. More on the website on that front.
Sunrise Motel: Another nearby option offering lodging tailored to divers.
Airbnbs: There are Airbnbs in the area so look out for that too if you’d like a little more room away from it all.