Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Alki Beach Park is one of the best and biggest sandy beaches in Seattle. There's a rollerblade/bike/walking path along it for miles and the beach itself is always busy and fun. Great views of the city, the ferries and the Olympics. There are several great cafes and coffee shops right across the street. Good place for barbeque as well as many outdoor recreations. It has one of the best night view of Downtown Seattle and the city light.
Alki Beach Park is a 135.9-acre (55.0 ha) park located in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle, Washington that consists of the Elliott Bay beach between Alki Point and Duwamish Head. It has a 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of beachfront, and was the first public salt-water bathing beach on the west coast of the United States. It is open daily from 4am to 11:30pm.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The small replica toward the west end of the beach area is much beloved in the neighborhood. West Seattle has a peculiar affinity to New York City, where a few influential early settlers were from.
53.1 acre Schmitz Preserve Park has old growth forest, walking paths and an urban stream.
Historic Lighthouse on Alki Point a short walk from Alki Beach sometimes offers public tours but can at be at least partially seen from the road.
Hamilton Viewpoint Park rests above the beaches of Alki facing downtown Seattle. Located adjacent to the Seacrest Ferry Dock.
seasonal guided sea kayak tours for beginners and experts exploring the natural & human history of Elliot Bay and Puget Sound. They also offer a range of rentals along Alki beach – including stand up paddle boards, quad and inline skates, bicycles and fishing boats.
Seacrest Cove 2 is a local dive site in West Seattle, Washington. The site is within Seacrest Park. Cove 2 is often used as a training site for Open Water, Navigation and other scuba classes. The site has a moderate slope leading down to depths greater than the recreational limit of 130 feet (40 meters). Because of the easily reached deep areas Technical Divers also use Cove 2 for training. The site has a silty bottom, but many submerged logs and pilings and sunken boats (the Honey Bear) that are well decorated with Pacific Northwest Marine Life. There are restrooms in the pier building and a great little Fish and Chips bar within easy walking distance. The site sports a nice view of the Seattle skyline across Elliot Bay. There is an exclusion zone of 150 feet around the walk-on ferry dock. Other sites (Coves 1 and 3!) are just to the north and south respectively. Most parking is curbside on the street.