Abalone Tips

[CalDiver101]

Need help more than just names. I mean I am a reasonably new diver and a dad. I want to introduce my son into ab diving. While I know the "hunt" is half the fun, actually finding legal ab's for a newbie stokes the fire. Have been out of the sport so former spots are very, very over harvested. Have heard of general places such as Still Water Cove, Ft. Ross but looking for specfic places, more than say "go to northern cal for the best ab diving". Mile markers, signs or any references that can be found by someone looking for the first time is appreciated. Obviously weather is a major factor, so I understand timing is important. In other words can someone say drive to______, go 1/4 mile past marker #_________________, park by the sign that says___________, walk down the path, down the cliff, enter the water at_________, and work the rock to the____________ at 5ft to 15ft______________ and you will probably find abs on a good weather day. Does this make sense? I appreciate your help in launching the career of my son and rekindling an aging diver! Thanks, Caldiver101

 

[mweitz]

CaDiver,

Drive North on 101.

Take 128 NW

Take 1 North

After a couple of miles you will hit Van Damme State Park, there is a large parking lot on the left, and campgrounds on the right.

This is a large, shallow, protected bay.

http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalN/Van_Damme/

Enter about 20 - 30 minutes before low tide, there is a large reef to the left side of the beach (you will see some kelp marking the reef). It is a short swim from the beach.

A bit of a drive from where I live (Peninsula) but fairly easy to limit out in good conditions and a bit of a workout in medium conditions. Should be a good place to start.

Make sure you chit chat with a couple of people on the beach about how it is out there before you enter ...

Good luck,

Mark

 

[BrianM]

Hi CalDiver,

Mark has a good suggestion there for Van Damme, but the two places you already mentioned are my favorite. They do get a lot of divers in all of those places...probably more at Van Damme than anywhere else, but they STILL pull nice legal abs out of all of those places, so I wouldn't really worry about that. We just got 4 abs 2 weekends ago at Fort Ross, the smallest was 8.5" and the best was over 9.5", so there are plenty out there!! BTW 2 of the abs were in less than 10 feet of water, so you don't have to go deep to find them.

If you are into scuba, you might consider doing a tank dive or two in that same area before you go freediving for abalone, so you can spend plenty of time looking around at where they are and what they look like. In fact, that's how I got hooked on abalone! I went on a tank dive at Stillwater and I was amazed at how many abs were down there and I thought "this will be simple" haha.

To get more specific on dive sites, try looking at the link Mark included, for shorediving.com all of the good spots are mentioned. Van Damme, Stillwater and Fort Ross all have areas that are very protected and there are plenty of abs there...make sure you bring a float so you can rest on it if you get tired.

I think the best piece of advice is to always think of your weight belt as disposable!!!!

 

[mweitz]

I have only been to Van Damme, so don't know about the other places. I'll try them out as I do more.

Just a quick note. In general you would want to freedive before SCUBA if you are going to do it on the same day. When ab diving, the rangers may get suspicious of what you are doing for the first dive on SCUBA, and in general I believe that there are some bubbling (as in your blood) issues with freediving after SCUBA. I don't know how much loading you could do in those shallow waters though ...

EDIT: Yeah, I spent a lot of time hanging on my float ... good place to catch your breath, especially if it is a bit choppy.

Mark

Hi CalDiver,

Mark has a good suggestion there for Van Damme, but the two places you already mentioned are my favorite. They do get a lot of divers in all of those places...probably more at Van Damme than anywhere else, but they STILL pull nice legal abs out of all of those places, so I wouldn't really worry about that. We just got 4 abs 2 weekends ago at Fort Ross, the smallest was 8.5" and the best was over 9.5", so there are plenty out there!! BTW 2 of the abs were in less than 10 feet of water, so you don't have to go deep to find them.

If you are into scuba, you might consider doing a tank dive or two in that same area before you go freediving for abalone, so you can spend plenty of time looking around at where they are and what they look like. In fact, that's how I got hooked on abalone! I went on a tank dive at Stillwater and I was amazed at how many abs were down there and I thought "this will be simple" haha.

To get more specific on dive sites, try looking at the link Mark included, for shorediving.com all of the good spots are mentioned. Van Damme, Stillwater and Fort Ross all have areas that are very protected and there are plenty of abs there...make sure you bring a float so you can rest on it if you get tired.

I think the best piece of advice is to always think of your weight belt as disposable!!!!

 

[CalDiver101]

Thanks to Mark and Brian for the good advice for ab diving locales, it is much appreciated! We will check out those site when we get a weekend together. He is a college student, out of state, but comes home semi-regularly, depends upon his cash flow.

I don't want to sound ungrateful and maybe I am just being too picky but is there someplace that is maybe 2-2.5 hours from the Penisula where we can go for the day, his school schedule is tight. Again, much appreciated, I have always known, divers are the friendliest folks out there and are always willing to help a dive buddy!

 

[JustinW]

CalDiver, did you get my PM?

 

[BrianM]

........is there someplace that is maybe 2-2.5 hours from the Penisula where we can go for the day.........

CalDiver,

I just measured the distance on my GPS software and it shows a total distance of 86 miles from downtown SF to Fort Ross State Park...it breaks down to 40 from SF to Petaluma, and 46 from Petaluma to Ft Ross. Stillwater is only about 4 miles past Ft Ross, so both of those places are within 2.5 hours drive from the bay.

Brian

 

[D_O_H]

CalDiver,

I just measured the distance on my GPS software and it shows a total distance of 86 miles from downtown SF to Fort Ross State Park...it breaks down to 40 from SF to Petaluma, and 46 from Petaluma to Ft Ross. Stillwater is only about 4 miles past Ft Ross, so both of those places are within 2.5 hours drive from the bay.

Brian

It took a little under two hours to get to Stillwater from the Marina last weekend. That was with some moderately aggressive driving once off the 101 (I think my girlfriend only complained twice). It sounds like Cal is a bit down the peninsula, though.

The abalone recipe recommended by Justin was excellent, by the way (as were the cleaning and tenderizing tips on that page), though something a little lighter might be better next time to be able to taste more of the abalone and less of the fried breading and oil.

 

[CalDiver101]

Again, many thanks to my fellow divers for their very timely replies to my queuries. That's what happens when you spend too many years working and not enough time diving, you lose touch. Without revealing my ancient past too much, the last time I went ab diving was when it was legal to dive at Lighthouse or Pigeon Point. Not to far to drive, but there were ab's if you could work in shallow in surf or go far and deep. Thanks again, as now I have a good idea where to start when we go north and how long to get there. I do live on the Penisula in San Mateo County.

 

[JustinW]

if you want to really bring out the abalone flavor and tone down the oil and batter, switch to peanut oil and then leave some of the black on the abalone steaks, they have a more concentrated flavor without being overpowering.