Learn more. Dive safer!
Kirk McGettigan is a PADI-certified Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) who has been diving since 1996. He is insured by Divers Alert Network (DAN). He is an independent instructor who partners with Underwater Sports in Bellevue and Seattle.
Kirk teaches PADI Open Water Diver (beginner scuba), PADI ReActivate (scuba refresher), PADI Dry Suit Diver, and PADI Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) programs. He also can take you on a guided tour of a local dive site (PADI Discover Local Diving).
With a master's degree in education Kirk is passionate about educating safe, competent divers. Learn more and dive safer!
Reach Kirk and other PADI professionals at Underwater Sports in Bellevue or on Instagram @KirksDiving
Why dive in the PNW? Isn't it too cold?
The Pacific Northwest is one of the most accessible diving regions in the world due to its sheltered (usually) calm waters and many drive-up, walk-in, shore dive sites just minutes from Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, and surrounding communities.
Here in the Salish Sea we have an abundance of life in our cold, rich waters. Local site environments range from sandy bottomed eelgrass beds, to clay walls, and bull kelp forests . On a typical dive you might see rockfish, lingcod, ratfish, colorful nudibranchs (sea slugs), crabs, sea anemones, giant pacific octopuses (GPOs), red octopus, wolf eels, sea stars, shrimp, barnacles, jellyfish, or harbor seals.
Water temperatures in the sound range from the low 50s Fahrenheit in late summer to the mid to low 40s in the winter. Most divers wear drysuits, gloves and hoods to stay warm in these temperatures. A few brave warm-blooded souls are comfortable in thick (7mm) neoprene wetsuits. Ask Underwater Sports about enrolling in a class if you're not already drysuit certified.
Before you go out diving here in the PNW, get an orientation from an experienced local diver and be sure to check the tide, weather and current predictions. The combination of tidal currents, cold water, deep sites, and variable visibility require experience and good dive planning to stay safe and comfortable.