Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[Rob Wilks]

Got out to south Monastery toward Mono Lobo this morning. Much like what uspap experienced. Pretty calm, I walked out with no issues. Got to 70fsw. Huge lings lurking around, with big schools of blues. Saw some abalone as well. Also saw an OLD anchor. Id seen it before years ago. It was fun to see it again. Was happy to get out before the swell gets big again.

 

[stilldivin]

We dove Monastery today. Nice dive. 25 feet of vis. Mostly calm. 53 degrees. Sun shown down nicely on the kelp and critters. Got some nice video.

 

[3D diver]

Awesome, Stilldivin. I thought you were a goner for sure, when we spoke this morning.

I did two at Point Lobos today with RaftingTigger and another buddy, whose SCUBA board handle I don't know.

The wave model suggested calm seas for the morning and a building swell as the day progressed...it was right. RaftingTigger suggested we reverse things and do a shallow dive first, while conditions are nice, and head deep for the second dive.

First dive: Coal Chute Cave & Granite Point Wall

Bottom time: 80 minutes
Max depth: 56 feet
Visibility: 30 feet
Water temperature: 52.9 to 58.6F
Surface conditions: Sunny, minimal waves, comfortable depth on the ramp...not sure which way the tide was going

We wound through the kelp about halfway across the cove, then dove for about 16 minutes the rest of the way. We popped up and swam over to the top entrance of the cave. There was a bit of water motion, but once I got the air out of my wing I dropped right in and filmed my buddies following me. We went through the cave, then headed 330 magnetic to the Granite Point Wall area. Tooled about for a while and returned due south. Lots of fish, some krill, and nice topology. My drysult leaked at the left ankle.

Second dive: Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium

Bottom time: 65 minutes
Max depth: 65 feet
Visibility: 30 feet
Water temperature: 52.2 to 60.1F
Surface conditions: Building swell breaking on the outer rocks and increasing wind.

The waves and wind convinced us to drop early. We cruised along heading toward Bird Poop Rock (well... that's what I call it). I wasn't quite sure where we were 'til we passed a sunken log I saw two weeks ago & we arrived at Hole in the Wall. We continued around to Lone Metridium, which did not look well. Backtracking I noticed some mixing layers of colder and warmer water. Lots of fish. Followed a nice Sheephead for a while. Surface was pretty rough when we surfaced, but it was still calm at the ramp. Fortunately, I had my other drysuit and old undies with me, so was warm this dive too.

 

[metalheadluigi]

2 Dives at Pt. Lobos Saturday morning.

Foggy morning, but the sun came out for the 2nd dive. Mostly calm entries/exits. However, I did learn the hard way that the boat ramp is hella slippery! Thankfully, no injuries to myself or my gear, just a bruised ego

Temps: 55F at surface, 48F at depth

Great vis, easily the best I've ever had diving in Monterey at 20-25ft.

Saw: Sculpin, blue rockfish, anenomes, sea stars, brittle stars. No harbor seals mid dive, but some greeted us in by the boat ramp.

It was both my buddy and I's first time at Lobos. For whatever reason, one of his HP100s only had a 2/3 fill so we decided to do a shallow dive first to get our bearings and just take a longer surface interval before attempting a deeper dive. Since it was our first time out, we weren't quite sure on when to start our descent to middle reef. We underestimated the distance to surface swim to the end of middle reef, ended up dropping close to the opening by worm patch. We ended up exploring the cove for the first dive. Shallow dive to 30 ft but still plenty to see!

Dive 2, We swam out a lot farther trying to correct for missing middle reef dive 1, and ended up dropping at around 40-45 ft. We swam along the North wall until about 65-70 ft before my buddy hit his turn-around pressure. Ascended for a quick safety stop and had a long surface swim back to the ramp. Had to do the kelp crawl for a bit and came to realize how exhausting that can be. I had originally wanted to try and find HITW or Lone Metridium but wasn't too sure about how to go about navigating to those landmarks.

I'm definitely going to go back and work on my navigation skills. I feel like there is so much to see here and I've only just scratched at the surface. Overall, it was a great day of diving.

 

[uspap]

North Monastery had 10 ft vis today. 53 degrees. South Monastery had a bunch of red flags on the signs. Not sure why. Second dive was Breakwater. 10-15+ vis. 51 degrees. The baby seals are on the boat ramp again.

 

[slingshot]

Nice vis at Outer Chase reef this morning, 40+ feet at depth. Very calm surface conditions. 25-30 at Aumentos.

 

[metalheadluigi]

2 Sunday Dives,

1. South Monastery Group dive (5 divers total)
Wave height: <1ft in surf zone
visibility: 15-20ft
Bottom Time: 52 min
Max depth: 40 ft
Surface temp:55
Bottom Temp:52

My first time diving S. Monastery. This site is gorgeous. Easy entry around 9:30a, walked in without fins, donned after the surf zone. A little surge that increased slightly throughout the dive. Rougher exit since the surf had picked up during our dive, but crawled out without incident. Nice dive with plenty of highlights: ling cod, rock fish, a spiny crab, nudibranchs, anemones, sea stars, sea urchins.
It was a little later, so 2 of our group called it for the day while 3 of us decided to take dive 2 to San Carlos.

2. Metridium Fields
Little to no surf
visibility: 15-20ft
Bottom Time: 40 min
Max depth: 55 ft
Surface temp:55
Bottom Temp: 52

Great dive at the fields. Had a seal briefly circling us on the way over. Saw a field of these barnacle-like things in the sand with white hair-like protrusions flicking in and out. No idea what they were but it was really cool to watch. Also saw several holes in the sand that would intermittently shoot out sand or some other particulate matter out of the hole. Some baby flat-fish/halibut no larger than the palm of my hand and lastly we also spotted a spiny crab.

Overall an amazing set of dives on the Peninsula this Sunday.

 

[dshorwich]

Saw a field of these barnacle-like things in the sand with white hair-like protrusions flicking in and out. No idea what they were but it was really cool to watch.

Acorn barnacles, most likely.

Some baby flat-fish/halibut no larger than the palm of my hand

Spotted sanddab.

 

[metalheadluigi]

Acorn barnacles, most likely.



Spotted sanddab.

Thanks for the critter ID's. A quick google image search has you correct on both counts!

 

[slingshot]

About 25-30 in the clearer parts of Octopus Reef on Memorial Day, and maybe 25 on MacAbee pinnacle. 51 degrees on my computer.