Mill Beach is located in Brookings. It's a large, sandy beach with rocky outcroppings that people hike on when the tide is out, and call for a helicopter when it comes back in. It's a public beach, but kind of hard to find. Take the road behind the A & W Rootbeer restaurant and head towards the beach. Follow the road and veer to the left, where it will end at a small, sandy, parking area that fits about 6 cars. From here, it's about 50 yards to the water, depending on the tide. Many people dive here, but I'm not sure why. I've never had a good dive here. The cove is protected somewhat, and some say there's good size lings at the outer edge of the cove. In 20 or so dives here, I've never seen more than about 5' visibility and 30 feet of depth. Can someone out there fill me in?
48-52 degrees all year. A full wetsuit or drysuit is absolutely necessary. I've seen classes doing dives here, and under very calm conditions it's probably fine for beginners. If it gets rough, everyone should get out and go get a pizza in town. Surf, low visibility, cold. Sand in your regulator. 0-5 feet when I was there, someone once told me 30 feet, but since divers lie a lot about vis, that's probably around 10. |
