Humpback Convention at Monastery today

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Chavodel8en

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Location
Oakland, CA
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I saw whales on the drive down, just north of Monterey. I hoped they would be at Monastery. Got to S. Monastery and there was a pod of them. One even breached, of course right when I had turned my head, but the splash was impressive. They were there for the hour + I was waiting and setting up, but had gone when we entered the water

So on the SI, they came back very close, maybe 4-5 hundred yards off the beach. So buddy wanted to swim to Middle Reef (which I didn't even know existed - I guess it's to the right of S. Monastery, in the middle of the little bay). However, once we got in the water, the whales were gone. Buddy still wanted to swim out to Middle Reef, but I nixed it - too long to swim for the off chance of diving with whales, and I was already tired.

So we did S. Monastery again. Upon surfacing, still pretty far out, there were 2 whales about 150 yards away - right around where my buddy wanted to dive! Now I'm kicking myself. Oh well, maybe I'll get another chance to dive with whales!

Dives were good. 50 deg water, 20-25 ft viz, lings and a big cabezon.
 
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So...There's a middle reef somewhere in the Monastery bay? That's pretty close to the whalers cove middle reef...
 
So...There's a middle reef somewhere in the Monastery bay? That's pretty close to the whalers cove middle reef...

I had never heard of it -- and I did not dive it (so cant attest to it), but according to my buddy that day, there is a site called "Middle Reef" more or less in the middle of Monastery Bay. It is not the same Middle Reef at Whalers, bc that was the first question I asked.

I was curious about it, so I tried to internet search for a Middle Reef located in Monastery and all I got was a bunch of stuff about Whalers Cove.

So, do any folks know of "Middle Reef" located in Monastery bay?

My buddy described it as ~90-100' deep & "not much of a reef." However, he wanted to head out there into deeper water in hopes of encountering a whale. We swam out pretty far from the South Monastery beach, to beyond the kelp, but before turning left to head towards the Mono-Lobo direction -- he said that if we swam another ~100 yards diagonally out into the bay, we would reach it.

Maybe its unknown because it sounds like a whole lot of work (long swim, deep water) to get to "not much of a reef." Unless ive got an opportunity to dive with whales, I would just as soon stick to South or North Monastery.
 
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I believe what you are referring to is sometimes called metridium rock. If one is looking at the kelp at south monastery, it's the furthest string of kelp to the right about 150m from shore. The rock is not huge and has some life on it, hence the name. It drops quite quickly into the canyon so be mindful. I could be wrong, but other than that, I've not known of any middle reef at monastery. Anybody else know of it?
 
Update:

Apparently, Monastery Middle Reef does exist. You think you know a coast, but there are hidden wonders everywhere.

Top 5 Beach Dives in Monterey County

Excerpt:
2. Monastery Middle Reef
Monastery Middle Reef is a submerged string of pinnacles covered in fish-eating anemones, metridiums, and kelp that runs to the North from the south end of the beach. ...
 

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