Diving wolf point

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Hi all, I'm almost embarassed to say that I've never dove Point Lobos but I plan on remedying that this friday. I was hoping to get some dive site pointers from those of you who have frequented the site, specifically whaler's cove. I did my homework and have a concept of the depth that it reaches (60-130 right?), but is that a gradual slope? I watched some divers go out and it seems like they kick all the way out to the sand channel in the kelp, is diving inside the cove itself not worth it? Seems like a pretty good size surface swim. Needless to say, I won't be swimming to Bluefish cove, I'll just be doing Whaler's. So if any of you could give me some tips on what to expect I would greatly appreciate it. I've been to the cove once and it was on a beautiful calm flat day so I'm not sure how to evaluate the conditions at the site as dive-able or not? As always, your help is appreciated and dive safe and happy!

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Yes, it's a relatively gradual slope. The kelp begins at about 20', ends at about 65'. The kelp beds
are a nice dive, as is the area beyond the kelp which has beds of purplish gravel, and lots of little
critters trying to look like purple gravel. The area inside the kelp bed is 10-20', and pretty
boring. Best bet is to surface swim out the sand channel and Take a compass heading back, and
drop at the far end of the kelp.

Friday's forecast is nice and flat.

 

[Gombessa]

I was hoping to get some dive site pointers from those of you who have frequented the site, specifically whaler's cove. I did my homework and have a concept of the depth that it reaches (60-130 right?), but is that a gradual slope?

I'm not sure if it gets deeper than 20ft inside Whaler's Cove. Also, whatever the viz happens to be in Middle Reef, it will typically be half that inside the Cove (read: it's usually murky no matter what).

When people dive the cove, they're typically diving Middle Reef. It starts just inside the cove, and extends northward. I would follow the sand channel until you're just outside the mouth of the cove (lined up with the other smaller cove to the east). That'll drop you in about 30ft, right on Middle Reef. Since the cove runs North to South, if you ever get disoriented or are ready to turn around, you can pretty much point your compass South and you'll end up back in Whaler's Cover.

And yes, it's a very gradual slope. You won't be over 20ft one minute, and 60/100ft the next.

I hope the conditions hold out for you, this last weekend was phenomenal for Lobos.

 

[Ben_ca]

Here's some more info for you...

MoCal DIR - Dive Sites

as the winter storms roll in the sand channel will become less defined and harder to pick out from the surface... Hiking up the hill and refreshing your memory before gearing up is a good strategy

 

[bbianchi]

I'm not sure if it gets deeper than 20ft inside Whaler's Cove. Also, whatever the viz happens to be in Middle Reef, it will typically be half that inside the Cove (read: it's usually murky no matter what).

When people dive the cove, they're typically diving Middle Reef. It starts just inside the cove, and extends northward. I would follow the sand channel until you're just outside the mouth of the cove (lined up with the other smaller cove to the east). That'll drop you in about 30ft, right on Middle Reef. Since the cove runs North to South, if you ever get disoriented or are ready to turn around, you can pretty much point your compass South and you'll end up back in Whaler's Cover.

And yes, it's a very gradual slope. You won't be over 20ft one minute, and 60/100ft the next.

I hope the conditions hold out for you, this last weekend was phenomenal for Lobos.

As a reference, if you follow middle reef until it ends you will be in about 70fsw depending on tides.

 

[zf2nt]

When people dive the cove, they're typically diving Middle Reef. It starts just inside the cove, and extends northward. I would follow the sand channel until you're just outside the mouth of the cove (lined up with the other smaller cove to the east). That'll drop you in about 30ft, right on Middle Reef. Since the cove runs North to South, if you ever get disoriented or are ready to turn around, you can pretty much point your compass South and you'll end up back in Whaler's Cover.

One suggestion I would add: When you go down on middle reef, swim on a course of 030 across the reef to the eastern edge of it. Once you see sand stretching out in front of you, then hug the edge of the reef as it goes northward. When you get to the tip, follow it around and then keep hugging the edge as it goes south. In this way, you have toured around the reef in a counterclockwise direction. The reason for doing it that way is that when somebody runs low on air and you need to come up, you are right on the main sand channel and you can surface in the clear. If you go clockwise around middle reef, then you're likely to surface in the middle of the kelp and have a long way to go through the kelp to get back into the clear.

I take lots of "tours" (a.k.a. "Discover Local Diving") in Point Lobos, and I always try to plan my routes so that when somebody comes up and gives me that classic dumb look and shows me a pressure gauge with 500 p.s.i., I can bring them up in the clear.

Bruce

 

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Thanks very much everyone for the advice! Friday can not come soon enough!!!