Another Monterey virgin deflowered.....

[ChrisM]

After 5 years diving so cal and elsewhere, was finally lured to Monterey last weekend, seems the timing was fairly good as you guys have been getting hammered until last week.

Drove up Friday from Santa Monica (not bad, 5 hours), met a couple friends, staying at Lone Oak. We passed on a breakwater night dive after checking conditions and dove into some pasta and beer instead at Caruso's. good choice. And no , I did NOT honk my horn in the Cannery tunnel, although I could hear others doing it.

Saturday hooked up with a couple others and headed to Pt. lobos. 2 Lobos dives - Middle Reef and the Wall. Brrrr... 52 degrees, about 20 foot viz, quite surgy. BUT how was it here in L.A. accdg to reports? 52 degrees, 5 foot viz, quite surgy So I did have it better up there

Impressions - I was surprised at the lack of fish life and kelp at Lobos, other than the HUGE behemoths you guys call ling cods up there. I know Montereey is known for its color, and it was definitely more colorful than so cal, but conditions were not the best. I guess several weeks of 25 foot surf'll do that to the kelp beds. The topside scenery was amazing though. Beautiful country.

Sun a.m., we headed to Monastery Beach. I have heard of Monastery's reputation (mortuary beach, the monastery crawl, etc....) but have no idea how to read the surf at that break, so I let the others decide. It clearly has a very steep beach, and the wave power coming in is deceptive. A small swell can kick up to 10 feet very very fast. The slope of the beach also causes a tremendous backwash that looked like it could suck you right back out. Although I did have an "eh" feeling about diving there, wasn't keen on charging anything big, or even that challenging. I had a long drive ahead of me that day Any other beach I would have dived that swell, but not there. Also, on such a beautiful day, there were hardly any cars there. If you guys ain't diving it, I sure ain't

Ended up at the Breakwater for a nice 30 foot 50 minute dive along the wall and back. Lots of crabs, huge lemon nudies, not too many guppies. Warmer at 54.

Ended the day with an almost 6 hour drive home.

The topside weather was gorgeous. The diving was a bit disappointing, after hearing so much about Monterey, but you get the conditions you get, so I am not complaining. Just another reason to go back

Chris
www.underwaterplanet.com

 

[scubajunkee]

Chris,

Glad you enjoyed your trip to Pt. Lobos and Monterey. In the winter time, the kelp around Pt. Lobos and most of Monterey break off during the winter storms. Be glad that you dove Lobos in the winter time. During the summer, the kelp can be really thick in Whaler's Cove of Pt. Lobos. You could almost walk on it.

Have a good day!

Ericson

 

[drbill]

Oh my goodness, Chris. What happened. Did they slip a dive rape drug into your beer to get you to do something that silly! 52 degrees? Heck, you can hit that between 150 and 180 here... or just go down to San Diego! Actually Casino Point had 51 F two weekends ago.

 

[mech]

Chris,
You named 2 of my favorite dive sites Lobos and Monastary.

My favorite N.Monastary plan is drop down a bit after the wash rock follow the reef then turn back and cruise the kelp bed back toward the beach.
I walk in "fins in hand" and I walk out "fins in hand".
If I don't feel like I can do that I won't dive it.

When I dive Lobos I like to kick way out toward that white rock and explore the reef.
My buddy Carol and I saw a Giant Pacific Octopus in the reef about half way to the white rock last December and it was way COOL.
Lobos gets way better if you kick out a bit.

So what did you do at Monastary?
Andy

 

[mech]

oops... My bad
It just dawned on me that you didn't dive Monastary.
That sounds like a good judment call.
My main concern about that place aint so much the waves but them frigging "monsterberries".

 

[Ishie]

Not to mention the military trek over the hill. Yeesh. Nothing like sludging through knee deep pebbles after an invigorating dive.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

How deep did you get a Lobos? The good stuff doesn't start until at least about 50
feet. And the REALLY good stuff is in Bluefish Cove, which requires a boat.

 

[Ishie]

Don't the sharks and seals hang out shallow though? I'm usually in 60-80 at Lobos and was thinking of sitting closer in the cove next time to try to see them.

 

[ChrisM]

Yeah, got a taste of the monsterberries checking out the surf. They hurt bad enough in my tevas. That's a really interesting site -- neither the walk nor the surf are much for any other beach dive, but there, things are just..... different.

I was just following along at Lobos, don't think we broke 40 feet. There was a harbor seal hanging out but didn't see him at depth. I would have loved to see a GPO... that and a wolf eel. We have a couple here in so cal but still have yet to see a wolfie. Maybe next month in Quadra.

Chris

 

[scubajunkee]

Chris,

Some of the best sites to see at Lobos is outside of Whaler's Cove. The viz usually opens up to 30+ fsw and some really cool critters can be found. The next time you're in Monterey, try one of our local dive boats, like the Cypress Sea. They'll take you to some great spots and you'll most likely see the wolfies or a GPO.

Ericson