rjens
Guest
renpirate,
I am by no means an expert, and will defer to others that may post. But I have done 5 dives at Lobos over the past 2 months, and had a great time. I recommend you go to the Pt Lobos site Pt Lobos and read all about the dive spots in their "DIVE SPOTS" section.
I was there yesterday and there was a group of 6 divers that wasted a day diving in the wrong spot (the southeast inner cove). They complained of 1-2 foot vis and nothing to see. The problem was that they dove inside whalers cove. What was really sad is they had an inflatable boat with a 75HP Merc, so they could have gone anywhere in the park to dive. To see anything and to truly enjoy what this site has to offer you need to get out of the cove.
Here is my recommendation for a first dive -- Swim north out of the cove following the sand channel where the kelp is thin and easy to navigate on the surface.. This is about a 30 min surface swim for me and my 15 yr old son/dive buddy. The rocks to the west (your dive destination) form a protective wall, so the surface swell should be minimal. Anyway, once you get out to where the kelp starts to thin, drop down and head due west. This is a great dive, and this time of year you can expect 35-50+ ft vis. I attached an image with lines representing the surface swim (dark grey) the dive (brown lines).
I also marked in white an area to avoid. It is at the south end of the wall. This area gets shallow and the wave/surge action can pop you up to the surface and potentially into the rocks. What I recommend is to watch your depth and when the base of the wall starts rising to 20/25fsw and vis gets worse turn back north (gas permitting) or head east back out to the sand channel, then follow the sand channel south into the cove. Alternately, if you get to this point of the dive and still have sufficient air you can cross the sand channel and return along the west face of the middle reef (I never have enough air left at this point, so I have never actually done this).
You can expect it to be pretty surgey as there is still a big swing on the tide this week (almost 8' on the 25th and 6+' on the 26th)Pt Lobos Tides This is relevant because big swings can mean heavier surge. For example yesterday it was surgey down to 65+ fsw partially because we had a 8.5' swing (from +6.89 at 8:44 to -1.65 at 4pm)
You can also check the expected wave patterns prior to your dive to get an idea what kind of swell you will be dealing with. Here is a great site for checking wave patterns pre-dive Wave Forecasts
Lastly take a light with you. There are lots of nooks and ledges with large fish hiding out during the day (especially along the wall by the parking lot) so be sure to go slow and look in holes.
Hope this helps.
RJ
I am by no means an expert, and will defer to others that may post. But I have done 5 dives at Lobos over the past 2 months, and had a great time. I recommend you go to the Pt Lobos site Pt Lobos and read all about the dive spots in their "DIVE SPOTS" section.
I was there yesterday and there was a group of 6 divers that wasted a day diving in the wrong spot (the southeast inner cove). They complained of 1-2 foot vis and nothing to see. The problem was that they dove inside whalers cove. What was really sad is they had an inflatable boat with a 75HP Merc, so they could have gone anywhere in the park to dive. To see anything and to truly enjoy what this site has to offer you need to get out of the cove.
Here is my recommendation for a first dive -- Swim north out of the cove following the sand channel where the kelp is thin and easy to navigate on the surface.. This is about a 30 min surface swim for me and my 15 yr old son/dive buddy. The rocks to the west (your dive destination) form a protective wall, so the surface swell should be minimal. Anyway, once you get out to where the kelp starts to thin, drop down and head due west. This is a great dive, and this time of year you can expect 35-50+ ft vis. I attached an image with lines representing the surface swim (dark grey) the dive (brown lines).
I also marked in white an area to avoid. It is at the south end of the wall. This area gets shallow and the wave/surge action can pop you up to the surface and potentially into the rocks. What I recommend is to watch your depth and when the base of the wall starts rising to 20/25fsw and vis gets worse turn back north (gas permitting) or head east back out to the sand channel, then follow the sand channel south into the cove. Alternately, if you get to this point of the dive and still have sufficient air you can cross the sand channel and return along the west face of the middle reef (I never have enough air left at this point, so I have never actually done this).
You can expect it to be pretty surgey as there is still a big swing on the tide this week (almost 8' on the 25th and 6+' on the 26th)Pt Lobos Tides This is relevant because big swings can mean heavier surge. For example yesterday it was surgey down to 65+ fsw partially because we had a 8.5' swing (from +6.89 at 8:44 to -1.65 at 4pm)
You can also check the expected wave patterns prior to your dive to get an idea what kind of swell you will be dealing with. Here is a great site for checking wave patterns pre-dive Wave Forecasts
Lastly take a light with you. There are lots of nooks and ledges with large fish hiding out during the day (especially along the wall by the parking lot) so be sure to go slow and look in holes.
Hope this helps.
RJ
