Dive Report - Easter Weekend at BW

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KLJ

Registered
Messages
46
Reaction score
2
Location
Mountain View, CA
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi all,

Hope you all had lovely Easter weekends... Neil and I spent ours in Monterey and I am so glad we did.

On Saturday, we got down to BW at 7:30AM and were the only car in the lot. I was diving my new SP Ladyhawk and had newly installed spring straps so I felt less OW class and more real diver from the get go. Entry went well with biggest waves at 1-1.5 feet and long intervals. The vis was 3-5 feet with lots of stuff stirred up from the storms last week and the surge was pretty big at 10ish feet. We ended up hanging around the middle Kelp forest for about 40 minutes. I needed to reconfigure my gear a bit, but I had a nice time in the water even with the conditions.

On our SI, we met SB's KathyDee and buddy Erik kitting up. Great people and awesome BP/W set-up. Looking forward to hanging out with them again soon!

We were debating a 2nd dive, but conditions were deteriorating quickly with 3 foot waves. Actually saw a trio of new divers whose surf exit technique frightened us. While the two guys were looking for their 2nd set of lost rental fins, the girl was trying to exit fins-faced-forward with her reg dangling at her feet and her BC deflated. She fell forward and couldn't get back up. Neil literally ran in, got her up and out onto the beach, and carried her gear up to the steps. Apparently, Saturday was their first shore dive in Monterey.

In the end, I actually felt very Monterey diver since we a) called a dive and went to the aquarium and b) saw Fred and his red truck!

After the aquarium and a drive down to Big Sur, we ended up staying at Lone Oak Saturday night since I was (as Neil put it) "persistent" about the potential for diving Sunday (despite what was predicted on the forecasts).

It was the right choice. We got in two fantastic 60+ minute dives.

On the first, the entry was flat calm and the vis was around 7-10 feet. After watching SB's Gombessa's videos about dives in and around Monterey - I desperately wanted to shoot some of my own. So armed with my FLIP video camera and its underwater accessory I kept the camera going for our whole dive. Saw some very playful seals who were a bit camera-shy, but loved tugging on our fins. Headed out past the middle kelp forest and along the big pipe for a bit. Reviewed the video last night and it was more Blair Witch Project than Tour de Force. Maybe with some major editing I'll post it. Maybe.

Had a bit of an Easter miracle (or at least thats what I'm calling it - Neil calls it Excalibur). Neil lost one of his new Slipstream fins on Sunday. After ~20 minutes of looking in the surf, we were about to call the dive and "enjoy" a dejected drive home when the fin plants itself on Neil's foot. Hooray!

On the second dive, the waves had picked up a bit but still had an easy, fin-intact entry. Mostly hung out along the wall but on the swim over, we saw an amazing sand dollar patch and a foot long halibut buried in the sand.

So thus concludes my first 10 dives and I am absolutely hooked. I won't be out the next two weekends (headed home to Georgia to visit my parents), but you can be sure I'll be out and about April 24th. Hope to see you.

-Katie
 
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Very cool, good report! Hopefully you'll get some better viz and less surgey conditions. The BW can be a really amazing dive on the right day.
 
On our SI, we met SB's KathyDee and buddy kitting up. Great people and awesome BP/W set-up. Looking forward to hanging out with them again soon!
I bailed on my teammates Kathy and Erik due to the conditions. Still glad I did! Way to far to drive for crappy conditions.
In the end, I actually felt very Monterey diver since we a) called a dive and went to the aquarium and b) saw Fred and his red truck!
:rofl3:
So thus concludes my first 10 dives and I am absolutely hooked.
-Katie
Neil is a VERY lucky man, due to the fact that you dove in poor conditions, yet are still not only willing to go again, but hooked!

Thanks for the report :) Looking forward to more of your reports, and hopefully videos.
 
are you thinking of a different bw than i am? :shocked2:

I think for the next m&g i need to take some peeps to some better spots. I can show you *amazing* shore diving.

yes! Yes! Yes!
 
Are you thinking of a different BW than I am? :shocked2:

I think for the next M&G I need to take some peeps to some better spots. I can show you *amazing* shore diving.

Dan, come on dude. There are WAY better shore dives, no argument there. But the BW offers a TON of fun diving, plus all the ancillaries like: Parking, restrooms, food, gas fills, etc.

I guess I just have a special place in my heart for the BW. I almost always have fun diving there. :D
 
Are you thinking of a different BW than I am? :shocked2:

I think for the next M&G I need to take some peeps to some better spots. I can show you *amazing* shore diving.

Going to drop some site names or is it a secret club?

I love breakwater for the variety if its sites- pretty much 3 different sites with different interests- the wall, the reef/kelp forest and the pipes/metridium fields. It can be many different things on different days, and its a great place to get new divers acquainted.

Ive dived/doven/dove Macabee a couple times, Hidden Beach once (but we came round the corner from BW) and Coral street once. All are good- any dive where you get wet pretty much is though- but where should we be going for the amazing stuff, and what makes it amazing?

Note- asking purely in the interests of letting new divers know that there is more to Monterey diving than the BW. Since i cant *really* talk about many of the non-BW sites, i'll leave it up to those who can.

Cheers

PeterC- yes, he is. And knows it.
 
Katie,

From your detailed report, I can conclude that you are in fact a diver that likes to dive! Many divers here on the California coast just love diving and that means just being in the water, even if conditions are not stellar.

When and if the conditions get great, you are going to be rewarded with some of the most spectacular dives, ever. :)

On that day, I will be even more excited to read your report.

MG
 
Had a bit of an Easter miracle (or at least thats what I'm calling it - Neil calls it Excalibur). Neil lost one of his new Slipstream fins on Sunday. After ~20 minutes of looking in the surf, we were about to call the dive and "enjoy" a dejected drive home when the fin plants itself on Neil's foot. Hooray!


Neil calls it Excalibur, because once it fitted itself onto my foot, and i realised what it was, i just hoisted it into the air above my head with the beginnings of a triumphant declaration of awesomeness like it just pulled it out of the Stone of Destiny or something... right up until the foot pocket dumped its contents all over my mask free, reg free face. How much do they hold by the way-like, a gallon?
 
Haha, it feels like 10 gallons when you're lugging two filled fin pockets up the beach. I still need to drill a hole in the toe of mine.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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