Elliott Bay - Features

Features

West Point and Alki Point are the headlands into Puget Sound recognized as the northern and southern boundaries of Elliott Bay respectively. A line drawn between these two points demarcates the bay to the east from the open sound to the west. The Duwamish River empties into the southeastern part of the bay. This area was extensively modified by human development in the 20th century to channelize the river and fill in tideflats to create Harbor Island, which was once the world's largest artificial island. West of the river delta the land juts north into the bay at Duwamish Head. To the east running north and northwest is the heart of Seattle, the Alaskan Way Seawall, the Central Waterfront, and Smith Cove.

Elliott Bay is home to the Port of Seattle, which, in 2002, was the 9th busiest port in the United States by TEUs of container traffic and the 46th busiest in the world. Cruise ship business, serving Alaskan cruises, became increasingly important in the 2000s. The bay is also home to Colman Dock, the main Seattle terminal of the state's ferry system, the largest in the country. Sailings regularly depart from Seattle to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton. The Seattle–Winslow (Bainbridge Island) route is the most heavily used in the state ferry system in terms of number of vehicles and passengers transported. The King County Water Taxi, a passenger ferry, runs across the bay, connecting Downtown Seattle with West Seattle (Seacrest Dock) and Vashon Island.

Two marinas are in Elliott Bay. The larger of them is the privately-owned Elliott Bay Marina, in the Magnolia/Interbay neighborhoods at Smith Cove, with 1,200 slips. Bell Harbor Marina, operated by the Port of Seattle, is in the Central Waterfront along Belltown. Up to 70 vessels can be moored there.

Numerous piers extend into the bay, especially along Seattle's Central Waterfront. Piers 57 and 59 house tourist destinations, including the Seattle Great Wheel and the Seattle Aquarium. On Pier 67 is The Edgewater Hotel. Pier 86 is a major grain shipping terminal operated by the Louis Dreyfus Group. Grain is carried to docked cargo ships by passing over Elliott Bay Trail and a narrow shoreline park, which also features a public fishing pier near Smith Cove. In the cove is Terminal 91, which has served a variety of purposes over the years, including storage for imported automobiles and fish, and most recently became a dock for Alaskan cruise ships. To the south, in West Seattle's Seacrest Park, is another public fishing pier and a dive site.

As a prominent aspect of Seattle's geography, the bay has frequently been referenced in media. The Real World: Seattle, the 1998 season of the MTV reality television series, was filmed on Pier 70 on the bay. The fictional Elliott Bay Towers, home of Frasier Crane on the TV series Frasier, are named after the bay. A simplified map of Elliott Bay is used as the "Maps" icon in Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Operating System. Microsoft has its headquarters in the Seattle metropolitan area.