Dove off the Cypress Sea Sat. It was a last minute thing when my buddy for Sat bailed. Full boat but still plenty of room to move around. Mike captained the ship.
Got paired up with a guy visiting from Pittsburg. His first dive in Monterey but had a decent amount of experience diving around the Seattle area. Had a great first dive at Outer Pinnacles. 104', 46 degrees, 30 min. Very square profile. My SAC rate was pretty bad as well. Lots of colorrful nudibranchs and a few sponges. Pretty much all invert life. I don't remember more than a few fish.
Second dive was mono lobo. 100min SI, 77' for 44 min at 47 degrees. Lots of big fish and a big crab. The body was ~10" wide. Also saw 2 decorator crabs that were hiding while I was checking out a fish. Saw a star eating what was left of a rather large crab claw.
Dove point lobos on Sunday. Got there around 8:05 and was the second car in the parking lot. Only Tom (I think) in his blue PT cruiser was there earlier. First dive was through the sand channel and around middle reef.
A lot of snails in the kelp but not much else. ...or if there was I couldn't see it. Vis was around 5' for most of the dive. 31' for 46 min at 48 degrees. Called the dive early for lack of vis with over 1300 in the tank.
Took a long SI and hoped it would clear up a bit. Decided to dive the rocks on the west side of the cove. Not sure what the official name is but from the ramp you follow the wall all the out until it ends then keep going for another ~30-40yds. Near the rocks that stick out of the water on the northwest side of the cove. Better vis here and a LOT to see including a playful harbor seal that kept swimming with me and my dive buddy like the drunk friend of a girl you just met at a bar. Did get to watch it catch and eat a fish; the seal not the allegorical girl. Saw a white spotted rose anemone (thanks to everyone who pointed out it's not a strawberry anemone) about twice the size of my fist. Some big fish about 2-2.5' long that I don't know the name of. Looked like ling cod but vis still wasn't too good. They didn't seem to mind me shining a light on them. Really fun dive despite a bit of surge around the rocks. 44' for 49 min. Turned back early as neither of us knew the area that well. Despite going under the kelp the whole way, ended up at the ramp with 800psi in the tank. I really wish I'd brought a camera.
Really great weekend of diving! I'm headed to Roatan in 2 weeks. Not sure if I'll have a chance to dive locally again before then. I'm finishing up my last chapter on a tech book (Exchange 2010 Unleashed) and that takes priority until it's done. Might get out with the Aquatic Discovery crew on Sunday the 26th for their monthly shop dive.
Also will pick up an ID book so I don't misidentify virtually everything I see
Got paired up with a guy visiting from Pittsburg. His first dive in Monterey but had a decent amount of experience diving around the Seattle area. Had a great first dive at Outer Pinnacles. 104', 46 degrees, 30 min. Very square profile. My SAC rate was pretty bad as well. Lots of colorrful nudibranchs and a few sponges. Pretty much all invert life. I don't remember more than a few fish.
Second dive was mono lobo. 100min SI, 77' for 44 min at 47 degrees. Lots of big fish and a big crab. The body was ~10" wide. Also saw 2 decorator crabs that were hiding while I was checking out a fish. Saw a star eating what was left of a rather large crab claw.
Dove point lobos on Sunday. Got there around 8:05 and was the second car in the parking lot. Only Tom (I think) in his blue PT cruiser was there earlier. First dive was through the sand channel and around middle reef.
A lot of snails in the kelp but not much else. ...or if there was I couldn't see it. Vis was around 5' for most of the dive. 31' for 46 min at 48 degrees. Called the dive early for lack of vis with over 1300 in the tank.
Took a long SI and hoped it would clear up a bit. Decided to dive the rocks on the west side of the cove. Not sure what the official name is but from the ramp you follow the wall all the out until it ends then keep going for another ~30-40yds. Near the rocks that stick out of the water on the northwest side of the cove. Better vis here and a LOT to see including a playful harbor seal that kept swimming with me and my dive buddy like the drunk friend of a girl you just met at a bar. Did get to watch it catch and eat a fish; the seal not the allegorical girl. Saw a white spotted rose anemone (thanks to everyone who pointed out it's not a strawberry anemone) about twice the size of my fist. Some big fish about 2-2.5' long that I don't know the name of. Looked like ling cod but vis still wasn't too good. They didn't seem to mind me shining a light on them. Really fun dive despite a bit of surge around the rocks. 44' for 49 min. Turned back early as neither of us knew the area that well. Despite going under the kelp the whole way, ended up at the ramp with 800psi in the tank. I really wish I'd brought a camera.
Really great weekend of diving! I'm headed to Roatan in 2 weeks. Not sure if I'll have a chance to dive locally again before then. I'm finishing up my last chapter on a tech book (Exchange 2010 Unleashed) and that takes priority until it's done. Might get out with the Aquatic Discovery crew on Sunday the 26th for their monthly shop dive.
Also will pick up an ID book so I don't misidentify virtually everything I see
