A dark dive at Bluefish Cove

[Gombessa]

I guess I've been lucky enough never to have seen Lobos like that -- that looked like Puget Sound diving! But the huge school of fish was worth it. I couldn't tell what they were, do you know?

Ever since diaper duty has reduced the frequency of our diving, it's been a while since I've seen a fantastic viz day. In a way, it's really struck home how much difference it makes to just get out there a lot; great visibility can and does happen on almost any day.

That's why it seems as though all the divers in Monterey eventually get scooters. If there is anywhere I've ever dived where scooters were PERFECT, it's at Lobos.

It's one of those places where you can legitimately debate, "should I stage the scooter or just carry it into the water?" And so much outside of kick range that's well within recreational (and tech) depths that I still feel I can get it all with a scoot.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Is there a good online guide on how to dive from a kayak? Everytime I see people at Lobos unloading kayaks I think to myself, "How the heck do they do it?" I'm liable to flip over in a sea kayak without gear, let alone with!

 

[Keith.M]

Is there a good online guide on how to dive from a kayak? Everytime I see people at Lobos unloading kayaks I think to myself, "How the heck do they do it?" I'm liable to flip over in a sea kayak without gear, let alone with!

I have yet to try it myself, but there is a lot of data available.

I had a place bookmarked but it is now gone. I did another quick search and came up with How To Scuba Dive | Scuba Diving Training & Certification | Scuba Diving

Seems to go along with what I had already learned.

 

[zf2nt]

The entry at Lobos is *almost* perfect. It's a paved boat ramp 10ft from the parking spots straight into a protected cove. We locals love to moan about how it's too slippery or too steep...

This is a reasonable description at other than full low tide. But at full low tide, when the ramp hasn't been power washed in a few months, that ramp really IS too slippery and too steep. Even exercising all the care I could, I still went down on that ramp a few years ago and broke my right shoulder. That's the one that needs to work correctly in order to be able to reach up and back to grab your drysuit zipper.

Bruce

 

[Peter_C]

Kenn thanks for sharing

I have been reading the "Death And Life of Monterey Bay" (Lots of time spent on the trains here in France so i downloaded a few books) and last time I dove with Brian at Lobos we also saw the YOY which is nice to see...or is it? Maybe they should be getting eaten by bigger fish?

As to scooters vs kayaks vs a boat I can say with confidence a scooter is hands down the best means of transportation at Lobos. With launch wheels I can pull my boat a pretty much any tide, but dealing with it is stil a pain. The only nice thing with a boat is we can easily fit four people that don't own scooters and go diving. Bluefish Cove is one of my favorite dive sites and makes for a simple recreational dive since you can start in calm water 30ft deep, then casually head out deeper.

kayaks work okay and other than the paddling part are not really any harder to dive off of than a small boat. Wetsuits tend to work a little better though than a drysuit.

 

[astrofunk]

Is there a good online guide on how to dive from a kayak? Everytime I see people at Lobos unloading kayaks I think to myself, "How the heck do they do it?" I'm liable to flip over in a sea kayak without gear, let alone with!

I found the book sold here to be incredibly useful:

KAYAK DIVING & FISHING, Surfing, Exploring, and Play!