Mid-Winter Meet and Greet?

[micboucher]

Great idea Sarah! I'll be there. How about McAbee?

 

[sarita75]

Sounds fine to me, if everyone else is okay with Macabee...

 

[Anti-Hero]

Macabee works for me.

 

[sarita75]

How about for the rest of you?

 

[valleykat]

I've never dived McAbee - but I'm up for a new adventure! This is the one where you have to drop off your stuff and park a block or so away, right?

 

[sarita75]

That's about right although you can pay to park at El Torito.

 

[micboucher]

Yes, El Torito only charges $7 to park right there next to the beach. It's well worth it.

 

[Hepcat62]

McAbee sounds fine to me.

 

[sarita75]

And I still owe you Michelle for parking last time! :doh:

 

[Gombessa]

I've never dived McAbee - but I'm up for a new adventure! This is the one where you have to drop off your stuff and park a block or so away, right?

MacAbee is a great site - it's well suited to novice divers but IMO has a lot more variety than Breakwater. It's a huge seal/sea lion hangout; our best seal interactions were at Macabee. Otters hang around the area too (the washrocks near the shore are great sunning spots for the mammals). You can find patches of metridium out there from 45-60ft. There are several well-defined reef structures, from 20ft to 50ft. It's hard to go "too far" - when you hit 60ft, the reef structure ends and there's nothing but flat sand so you turn back. A straight-out, straight in profile makes for a great dive, but there's some cool stuff if you head NW in front of the Spindrift Inn.

Parking is convenient. If El Torito is full, there's also a $10 all day lot right across the street. Public restrooms are about a block away but still easy to get to. About the only thing missing are hoses/showers.