btroxell
Registered
So people have expressed interest in the dive sites south of Lobos so here is my trip report from yesterday.
The ocean forecast showed flat seas and little wind so my wife and I decided to try Waterfall Beach in Garrapata, about 4.5 miles south of the Point Lobos entrance (Monterey Dive Infomation- Waterfall Beach site). When we arrived, there were 4 fishermen setting up to haul their kayaks to the beach so they said they would help us with our two kayaks. Its a moderate walk to the cliff where you lower your boats about 25 off a steep drop-off. We then hauled all our other equipment down a goat path and setup our boats and paddled toward the 2 islands.
There is a pinnacle just east of the island that tops at 40 and I dropped the anchor there. There was a slight current when we first stopped but when we started our decent, it was noticeable stronger. We stayed on the pinnacle and came up the anchor line. There werent many fish on this site, some hydrocoral, but lots of low-lying kelp (sea palm, laminaria ).
For our second dive, we dove the kelp beds off the point just south. There was a slight current through out the dive so we again made sure we came up by the boats. This site was teaming with life, many big schools of fish, hydrocoral, and kelp.
We took our time hauling our equipment back to the car, which was not as bad as I was dreading.
Im not sure how good of a beach dive this place is. It stays shallow for a while and according to a couple of freedivers I met, there wasnt many fish. It is a nice place to kayak dive. Bring rope to lower your boats down and watch the currents. I was warned prior to going there and they were correct, there are strong currents in this area. In spite of the extra work in getting to this place, my wife and I will be going back when the conditions are nice again.
Ben
The ocean forecast showed flat seas and little wind so my wife and I decided to try Waterfall Beach in Garrapata, about 4.5 miles south of the Point Lobos entrance (Monterey Dive Infomation- Waterfall Beach site). When we arrived, there were 4 fishermen setting up to haul their kayaks to the beach so they said they would help us with our two kayaks. Its a moderate walk to the cliff where you lower your boats about 25 off a steep drop-off. We then hauled all our other equipment down a goat path and setup our boats and paddled toward the 2 islands.
There is a pinnacle just east of the island that tops at 40 and I dropped the anchor there. There was a slight current when we first stopped but when we started our decent, it was noticeable stronger. We stayed on the pinnacle and came up the anchor line. There werent many fish on this site, some hydrocoral, but lots of low-lying kelp (sea palm, laminaria ).
For our second dive, we dove the kelp beds off the point just south. There was a slight current through out the dive so we again made sure we came up by the boats. This site was teaming with life, many big schools of fish, hydrocoral, and kelp.
We took our time hauling our equipment back to the car, which was not as bad as I was dreading.
Im not sure how good of a beach dive this place is. It stays shallow for a while and according to a couple of freedivers I met, there wasnt many fish. It is a nice place to kayak dive. Bring rope to lower your boats down and watch the currents. I was warned prior to going there and they were correct, there are strong currents in this area. In spite of the extra work in getting to this place, my wife and I will be going back when the conditions are nice again.
Ben
