Divers turn out for February King Tides

By Richard Anderson | February 25, 2015 | Comments Off on Divers turn out for February King Tides
Chase & Riley try scuba diving along with PADI Instructor Richard Anderson during king tide weekend

Divers Chase & Riley along with PADI Instructor Richard Anderson

Our last full weekend in February featured lots of happy divers and some of the highest tides of the year, also called a “King Tide”.

Tides are the vertical movement of water across Earth’s surface caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of Earth which manifest in the local rise and fall of sea levels. Tides are driven by the relative positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, the orbits of various planets, land formations, and relative location on Earth. In the lunar month, the highest tides occur roughly every 14 days, at the new and full moons, when the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun are in alignment. King tides are the very highest tides in the year and are naturally occurring, predictable events.

The king tides in Seattle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last weekend were each over 13 feet, 3 feet higher than a normal high tide. King tides in previous years have been over 14.5 feet! Luckily, we had no storms or high wind to push the tides up even further. Next we’ll have to wait until early July to see some of the lowest tides of the year- perfect for combing tide pools.

Highest tide of the year (King Tide) at Alki Seacrest Cove 2 in Seattle, WA

King Tide at Alki Seacrest Cove 2 in Seattle, WA

Our divers didn’t seem to mind the king tides as we had flat, calm water and clear visibility to make for great diving and wildlife viewing. On Friday, we had Chase & Riley from Eastern Washington & Montana come out to try scuba diving with a PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience. Then we David from Los Angeles try a night dive Friday evening. Saturday we had David again plus Stephan from the United Kingdom for our Saturday guided dive tour. Sunday we had Colleen Norcott and her son, Kendall both our for a scuba refresher. My favorite memory of the weekend was hearing Kendall underwater on Sunday hollering into his regulator as he saw his first Giant Pacific octopus.

Ready to schedule your guided dive tour, scuba refresher, or PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience? Book your tour online, call us at (206) 265-0006, or e-mail to get started today!

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