Whidbey Island West Side

Checked out a patch of bull kelp off one of the beaches on Whidbey Island. This was not a scuba dive, but more a snorkel/free diving exploration. Did not venture out far from shore since I wasn't sure of how the water moved in this area, but the viz was pretty bad and that kept me close as well. Water movement wasn't that bad at all as the tide was coming in as well.

Not sure if this is could be a potential dive site, but looking forward to checking it out again in the near future.

Being amongst all that bull kelp was a lot of fun and saw some very large Lepastarias sea stars (the six-rayed stars) - some of biggest I have seen. My fourth or fifth descent, I dropped down right on top of medium-sized GPO. I think we really surprised each other. Pretty dang cool to just sit and look at each other until I need to ascend for air, which wasn't long. I went back down to see if it was still there and it either propelled away or ducked into a crevice of sorts.

Anyway, it was fun to get out and explore a new place. Here's looking forward to checking it out again with hopefully more ideal conditions. When I go again, I'll make sure to get coordinates for the area. It would be a long walk in full dive gear and it could possibly be a boat dive depending on conditions.