Pt. Lobos In Late May / Early June

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To get a look at Carmel go to the top of the map and select regional swell, then select Monterey Bay.

I don't think I can answer all of your questions, but what you've posted indicates the Breakwater and nearby sites should be fine. The regional forecast for Saturday still looks iffy for Lobos, but it's improving...tomorrow will tell.

wave%20model%20051716_zpsnpclgvd0.jpg
 
The local swell forecasts only go out four days, but if you look at the larger maps, there may be some calmer stuff showing up on Sunday. Here's a link: Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance
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Saturday does not look great for Lobos (if you already have reservations it is worth checking, but be prepared with a plan B). Monterey will definitely be diveable, as it tends to stay a lot flatter within the bay. Visibility won't be great, but Breakwater is fun even in the muck. If you hug the pier wall, you'll see blankets of strawberry anemones, little critters lurking in the rocks, and sea lions jumping in to say hello. It is shallow, protected, and impossible to get lost. The other nice thing about that site is that you'll find showers just down the pier (behind the bathrooms) where you can wash all your gear after the dive.

Sunday (if you can trust a 5 day forecast - got a crystal ball?) might be pretty good! The one nice thing about Whaler's Cove is that it is a protected spot with an easy (though often slippery) entry. The Middle Reef can be a decent dive even in less than perfect conditions if you are comfortable with a bit of surge.

Conditions can be a challenge around here! It is always tough to make plans well in advance. I can tell you that even if the diving turns sour, Monterey and Carmel are fantastic above water. Point Lobos has spectacular walking trails, downtown Carmel boasts some great wine tasting rooms, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best in the world. A couple weeks ago after one mediocre dive, I spent the rest of the day at the aquarium, and it was fantastic! Well worth visiting. One of these days I need to head down that direction for something other than diving...
 
The local swell forecasts only go out four days, but if you look at the larger maps, there may be some calmer stuff showing up on Sunday. Here's a link: Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance
bd8Ag3E.png


Saturday does not look great for Lobos (if you already have reservations it is worth checking, but be prepared with a plan B). Monterey will definitely be diveable, as it tends to stay a lot flatter within the bay. Visibility won't be great, but Breakwater is fun even in the muck. If you hug the pier wall, you'll see blankets of strawberry anemones, little critters lurking in the rocks, and sea lions jumping in to say hello. It is shallow, protected, and impossible to get lost. The other nice thing about that site is that you'll find showers just down the pier (behind the bathrooms) where you can wash all your gear after the dive.

Sunday (if you can trust a 5 day forecast - got a crystal ball?) might be pretty good! The one nice thing about Whaler's Cove is that it is a protected spot with an easy (though often slippery) entry. The Middle Reef can be a decent dive even in less than perfect conditions if you are comfortable with a bit of surge.

Conditions can be a challenge around here! It is always tough to make plans well in advance. I can tell you that even if the diving turns sour, Monterey and Carmel are fantastic above water. Point Lobos has spectacular walking trails, downtown Carmel boasts some great wine tasting rooms, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best in the world. A couple weeks ago after one mediocre dive, I spent the rest of the day at the aquarium, and it was fantastic! Well worth visiting. One of these days I need to head down that direction for something other than diving...

Thanks for the pointers! Yeah, I got Pt. Lobos reservations for both Saturday and Sunday a long time ago (2 months?). One problem I have is that my parents grew up in Monterey, so I've seen all the sights...I must have been to the aquarium 25 times. It is always fun to go to no matter what. The forecast has been improving, so I'm hoping that the Sunday southern swell in the model you shared moves into Saturday as well. I know viz isn't going to be great with the rough water this week, but as long as the dives are 'average' I'll consider it worth the trip.

We'll of course check out Lobos because we have the reservations, but my buddy and I will be smart about it and won't dive if it looks bad. Breakwater is a good backup, I've been reading up about diving away from the breakwater on the other side of the beach as well along the pipe there and the sail boat at Del Monte beach as other backups I just really hate dealing with crowds and parking

I can deal with a bit of surge, I just don't want to be diving in a washing machine.
 
It is almost summer. It will be crowded everywhere. :)

One thing to note is the sandy bottom sites tend to get stirred up pretty quickly when conditions are rough. You'll get somewhat better vis in the kelp. The metridium fields on the left side of Breakwater beach are nice.

I just don't want to be diving in a washing machine.

Don't go to Monastery, then. :)
 
Ok, I talked with my buddy and we're going to give it a go this weekend. Saturday is looking to be the worse of the two days this weekend so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that conditions continue to improve. If Lobos is washed out, we'll find an alternative site to dive (Carmel River North?, Breakwater)...any others to consider?

Any other pointers, tips, or tricks?

Thanks again!
 
Breakwater and Metridium fields is a nice pair of dives. Park once, dive twice. Show up early for best parking.

I just looked at the wave model Saturday looks good for BW and Sunday is looking good for you at Lobos, BTW.
 
Avoid other Carmel sites if Lobos is too rough. They only work in calm conditions.

McAbee Beach is another option which is similar to Breakwater (only a few blocks away). Be sure to check the parking signs. The meters on each side of the street have different time limits. I'm not sure if El Torito still lets divers park in their lot for $10 - they didn't seem to the last time I was there, and I did not want to take my chances.
 
Thanks for the great tips Sea_Otter and 3D! Because I've only dove Monterey twice before, I decided to play with the models and pull up the conditions on those previous dives so I had a point of reference...

Here was what my first dive at Breakwater looked liked (actually my very first dive ever!) when I was doing my check-out certification dives. There were 6' waves breaking on the beach, about 2-3' viz, and a good 10' back and forth movement under the water. We didn't do any drills, just sank to the bottom and hung on, we were the only class to actually make it into the water, all the others got washed up on the rocks....

200510291030.png




By 2nd trip a couple of years later to Pt. Lobos conditions were great, 30' or so viz and I don't remember or have recorded any swell / surge issues. This is what it looked like....
200808230733.png


I know past conditions are no predictor of future conditions, but at least this last one looks a bit more like what's expected this weekend, and I know I've been in much rougher conditions...I didn't like it, but I did it!! Anyway, it was fun to go back in time and see what things were like back then and to compare, what a great website!
 
sunday looks better right now. probably will try to head down myself if i can
 
Well, I started this thread so I figured I'd wrap it up with a short report on how things went....

All in all we had a great time. Saturday was rougher than Sunday for sure, but still good diving. We really were just getting to know the site and on the first day misjudged just how far out you need to swim to be in deeper water. So our first dives had no so great viz and a bit of surge around Cannery Point and Middle Reef just off the point. Sunday was much better and we worked the wall north of Cannery Point in our first dive, but turned around too soon using 1/2 of our tanks to reach the boat ramp under water. We decided for our next dive to surface swim back so we'd have more time in the good viz, so we dove farther out and made it to "hole in the wall" where we turned around and surfaced near the 1st set of rocks off the point. A really great dive with lots to see.

We overall had a really great time and are looking forward to our next trip to Monterey, whenever that will be. Thank you again for all of the great advice, the community here on the board is great and very helpful! Feel free to ask me any specific questions about our dives, I put together a map (attached) of where I "think" we were during each dive, but of course without a GPS I can't be 100% sure (except when we made it to "hole in the wall").....so be sure to take this with a grain of salt.....

Dive Map.jpg
 

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