3D diver
Contributor
Two dives at Point Lobos today. Wave model looked sketchy & there were some dramatic breakers on the rocks between Bluefish and Whaler's, but the surge wasn't too bad and the vis very good in deeper water.
First dive: Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium
Buddies: Raftingtigger and sea_otter
Bottom time: 66 minutes
Max Depth: 66 feet
Visibility: 5-10 feet on the surface, 35+ feet in deeper water
Water temperature: 52.2 to 56.5F
Surface conditions: sunny with a good breeze. Big swells breaking on the rocks, but pretty flat in Whaler's.
We surface kicked well out 'til we got into the chop from the swell and descended. Viz at the ramp was 3 or 4 feet. The surface vis improved to about 10 feet by the time we dropped and opened to 20+ feet in about 40 feet depth. We soon reached HITW & I was far enough ahead I thought I'd be clever and race around to the other side to be there when my buddies arrived to shoot some video of them. Sea-otter had a similar idea and was above me as I rounded the point, then realizing what I was up to headed back the way she came. By the time I reached HITW and pointed my cameras through it they were nowhere to be seen. I headed back around the point and spotted them milling about HITW wondering where I was. LOL Should'a told them what I was up to. D'Oh!
We continued on to Lone Metridium which was in full bloom, looking in good health. Having the least air, I signaled return, and back we went, checking out a cabezon and lingcod on the way. We turned south in one of the channels, then worked our way out to the sand channel. We did a moving safety stop and surfaced well in Whaler's with in an easy swim to the ramp.
Second dive: Middle Reef
Buddy: Raftingtigger
Bottom time: 65 minutes
Max depth: 64 feet
Visibility: 20 feet along the reef
Water temperature: 5.2. to 58.6F
Surface conditions: sunny with less wind. Swells seemed to have picked up a bit, surgy along Middle Reef.
We dropped a bit sooner, cruised along the edge of the sand channel for a wile, then cut over to Middle Reef proper at the "other" hole in the wall. The surface vis was about the same as mentioned above, but only opened to 20+ feet along the reef. There seemed to be more big rockfish and some nice schools of tubesnout. We worked our way to the end of the reef, turned around, and cruised over the rocks about midway between the reef and sand channel. I spotted a nice Cabezon, not particularly well camouflaged, that decided swimming under me while I was filming it was a good idea. A little after passing the Worm Patch I spotted a nice Thornback Ray hiding in the loose kelp bits. It had no particular objection to us pulling the kelp away from us while we filmed. Another swimming safety stop put us near the ramp where I got a close clip of the seagulls on the adjacent rock.
First dive: Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium
Buddies: Raftingtigger and sea_otter
Bottom time: 66 minutes
Max Depth: 66 feet
Visibility: 5-10 feet on the surface, 35+ feet in deeper water
Water temperature: 52.2 to 56.5F
Surface conditions: sunny with a good breeze. Big swells breaking on the rocks, but pretty flat in Whaler's.
We surface kicked well out 'til we got into the chop from the swell and descended. Viz at the ramp was 3 or 4 feet. The surface vis improved to about 10 feet by the time we dropped and opened to 20+ feet in about 40 feet depth. We soon reached HITW & I was far enough ahead I thought I'd be clever and race around to the other side to be there when my buddies arrived to shoot some video of them. Sea-otter had a similar idea and was above me as I rounded the point, then realizing what I was up to headed back the way she came. By the time I reached HITW and pointed my cameras through it they were nowhere to be seen. I headed back around the point and spotted them milling about HITW wondering where I was. LOL Should'a told them what I was up to. D'Oh!
We continued on to Lone Metridium which was in full bloom, looking in good health. Having the least air, I signaled return, and back we went, checking out a cabezon and lingcod on the way. We turned south in one of the channels, then worked our way out to the sand channel. We did a moving safety stop and surfaced well in Whaler's with in an easy swim to the ramp.
Second dive: Middle Reef
Buddy: Raftingtigger
Bottom time: 65 minutes
Max depth: 64 feet
Visibility: 20 feet along the reef
Water temperature: 5.2. to 58.6F
Surface conditions: sunny with less wind. Swells seemed to have picked up a bit, surgy along Middle Reef.
We dropped a bit sooner, cruised along the edge of the sand channel for a wile, then cut over to Middle Reef proper at the "other" hole in the wall. The surface vis was about the same as mentioned above, but only opened to 20+ feet along the reef. There seemed to be more big rockfish and some nice schools of tubesnout. We worked our way to the end of the reef, turned around, and cruised over the rocks about midway between the reef and sand channel. I spotted a nice Cabezon, not particularly well camouflaged, that decided swimming under me while I was filming it was a good idea. A little after passing the Worm Patch I spotted a nice Thornback Ray hiding in the loose kelp bits. It had no particular objection to us pulling the kelp away from us while we filmed. Another swimming safety stop put us near the ramp where I got a close clip of the seagulls on the adjacent rock.
