Florida divers coming to NorCal

[humanFish]

Whew! I think I am a little dizzy from reading the post above. The cliff-note version of my buddy's post is this: We will be up near the Sacramento area on the weekend of November 27th. Any suggestions for diving, kayaking, hiking, mountain-biking, sight-seeing, etc.? Thanks ahead of time!
Rebecca

Lover's Point Cove is really nice and usually doesn't have the crowds that the Breakwater have. Both are calm beach entries. Both have a bathroom close by. You probably won't be able to get a reservation at Point Lobos. Your other option is to go with a boat charter....try Cypress...

 

[CALI68]

PM sent.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Pt. Lobos has openings on Nov. 28.
http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/scuba/Calender.html

Pt. Lobos State Reserve only covers Pt Lobos and a tiny
bit on either side. You can only dive Whalers Cove and
Bluefish Cove (which requires a boat). Most of the park
is closed to diving. None of the other Monterey dive
sites requires a reservation. Is that Thanksgiving weekend
they are going to be here? If so, it's like that that the
Breakwater won't be very busy -- there are a lot fewer
classes on holiday weekends.

No sea caves to speak of (there is a nice cavern at Pt.
Lobos, but can be surgy if the swell is up).

 

[simbrooks]

Pt. Lobos has openings on Nov. 28.
http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/scuba/Calender.html

Pt. Lobos State Reserve only covers Pt Lobos and a tiny
bit on either side. You can only dive Whalers Cove and
Bluefish Cove (which requires a boat). Most of the park
is closed to diving. None of the other Monterey dive
sites requires a reservation. Is that Thanksgiving weekend
they are going to be here? If so, it's like that that the
Breakwater won't be very busy -- there are a lot fewer
classes on holiday weekends.

No sea caves to speak of (there is a nice cavern at Pt.
Lobos, but can be surgy if the swell is up).

Yeh that was the only date i saw open too. Are all the sites shown on the Pt Lobos SP covered by the reservation system (ie beyond this patch either side of Pt Lobos itself)? It is thanskgiving weekend that we will be out there - good detail to know, same with the springs here and classes.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

I don't understand what sites you are talking about. All
the sites on the Pt. Lobos website are in the reserve, in
either Whalers Cove or Bluefish Cove, and covered by
the reservation system. Sites outside the reserve, such
as Monastery, Butterfly House, and points north, and
Honeymoon, Grey Zone, and points south, do not
require reservations.

How about a URL and some site names?

 

[simbrooks]

Ok, gotcha now. My misunderstanding, i thought you were saying something else about those sites that werent right on top of Pt Lobos itself. Something to continue to look into i guess.

 

[mossym]

Simon
one thing to remember about these sites, if monastery isn't diveable, and you don't have a lobos reservation, that you can be at another of the dive sites in roughly 10 minutes, most of the sites in Monterey are very close to one another

 

[--tom--]

I'm still catching my breath after reading your first post. If you have 5 or 6 months, we could cover most of your list, but since it's for a few days I'll try to cover some things you'd like to do, but this will be long. First, for my money, if you fly into San Francisco, check on landing in Oakland or San Jose, they're all within 50 miles of each other but often one is $50 or $60 cheaper than the others....don't know why. San Jose is closest to Monterey.

Monterey has a dozen or so well known beach dives and probably twice that many that have been forgotten or ignored for other reasons (like no bathroom or shower).
Many have been mentioned, Breakwater (San Carlos Beach), Mcabee, Lover's (both sides), 13th street sand channel, or Coral Street. Those are just off the main road in the Monterey/Pacific Grove area. There are a number of dive shops in the area, two right next to Breakwater, they are both nice stores.

The water is slightly warmer in November but low 50's (52 or 53) are the norm. I'd die without at least 7mil and hood. I live with 5mil gloves but it gets cold. November weather can be stunning, but it is unpredictable. If you want to dive in marginal conditions, Breakwater if very forgiving, but CROWDED on the weekends.

After you dive there is lots to do. Monterey has a world class aquarium. I like to dive and then figure out what I just saw. The biodiversity is amazing.

There is an easy bike path right that runs right through cannery row all the way to Sand City and a number of shops that rent bikes.

If you choose to mountain bike instead of diving, Big Sur is great, but it adds to the drive (another 45 minutes or so). If you land in San Francisco, I'd recommend heading north over the Golden Gate into the Marin headlands to the birthplace of mountain biking. Lots of miles to cover there. If you’re heading south from San Francisco, about 40 miles south on highway 1 is Wylder Ranch which gives good climbs, breathtaking descents and great views right along the beach. 15 miles south of that park is the town of Aptos with a small park called the Forest of Nisene Marks which has some easy bike trails, great picnic grounds, and the epicenter of our 1989 earthquake. You've got hurricanes, we get rock-and-roll.

Another 15-20 miles south brings you to Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough. This is known for its kayak rentals to view the bird life; the walking portion is worthwhile also. This happens to be the only place I've seen sea otter on land, that's really rare! Other people have mentioned Lover’s as a dive site but during the summer they rent kayaks there, but I don’t know about the winter time.

I figure one long-winded post deserves another. What ever you do on this trip, I hope you have a great time.