Dive Carnelian Bay

So named because of the lovely red rocks found along the shoreline, Carnelian Bay is a great place for beginners. Not only does it stay shallow for quite a ways here, making difficult to get into too much trouble, there’s also a bunch of cool stuff scattered throughout the bay to look at. You’ll find old barges, engine blocks, disintegrating fishing boats, enormous logs, and other semi-historic bits spaced healthily out across the very, very gradually sloping bottom.

Carnelian West Beach is a public beach with facilities open year round (albeit just porta-potties in the off season), so it does get quite crowded during the warmer months. Patton/Waterman’s Landing is another option about a 1/4 mile away and essentially the same diving.