Ok...so first thing...if you can, shut down your computer and go to Monterey NOW. Trust me, just go.
Did three (5, according to my computer) awesome dives yesterday with Raftingtigger---2 at Lobos, and a night dive to the Metridiums.
Sea conditions: FLAT...GLASSY FLAT. Lots of kelp at Lobos---boat channels have not shaped up yet
Weather: Overcast in the morning, sunny and clear after that.
Visibility: 25 to 60 feet, depending on the dive, see below
Water temperature: 53F to 63F, depending on the dive, see below
First dive: Bluefish Cove
We did a surface swim out to between the second and last Cannery Point rocks, dropped into 10 to 20 foot deep water, crossed into Bluefish Cove, then popped up to get surface video to prove we were there. We dove on a west heading 'til we got to about 50 feet, then veered left cruising in the deep rock channels.
There were lots of fish, feather duster worms, and dense clouds of small jellies or salps(?) that would dart away if you touched them. I had a Canary Rock fish follow me around for a while, filmed a couple of big Lings, and raced after a gnarly looking male Sheephead trying to get some video.
The viz was awesome---60+ Feet---except in the jelly clouds.
We popped up in the middle of Bluefish and scouted out our return. It was pretty surgy crossing back, but we had enough water under and around us to keep things safe. We continued for a bit on the Whaler's side, then surfaced and wound our way back through the kelp to the ramp.
Bottom time: 70 Minutes
Max Depth: 60 Feet
Visibility: 60+ feet
Temperatures: Air 69F, Water 53F to 59F
Second (3) dive(s): Cross Whalers 17 minutes, through the Coal Chute caves and across Whalers 58 minutes, short cut under the kelp to the ramp 8 minutes.
The kelp has filled in a lot since my last dive a couple of weeks ago. There is no clear channel across the cove so we took a bearing on Coal Chute and dove across Whalers till we ran out of water. Raftingtigger showed me (again) how to find the upper entrance to the cave. There was a surprising amount of water movement, considering how flat it was, but it calmed for a moment and into the cave I went. About 3 feet down I realized I had my snorkel in my mouth, replaced it with my regulator, and continued into the cave.
After we toured the caves, we followed (we thought) a reciprocal heading toward the ramp but ended up way out where we'd started our first dive!?!?! Raftingtigger declared we'd earned an F on navigation. But it didn't matter, it was awesome. The small jellies were so dense at times it was like diving in tapioca. There were wonderful schools of rockfish feeding on the jellies so my dive profile is a zigzag as I rose up to swim through them and film.
We returned on the surface for a bit, but got tired of shoving our way through kelp and dropped under the canopy for another 8 minutes, surfacing near the ramp.
Total Bottom Time: 83 minutes
Max Depth: 39 Feet
Visibility: 40 Feet
Temperatures: Air 92.5, Water 54F to 63F
Third dive: Night dive to the Metridiums
After dinner, a futile search for coffee, and a nap we reconvened for a night dive at the Metridiums.
The surface was still flat. We followed the pipe to the end, headed north to the Metridiums, then returned to the pipe and followed it back. A harbor seal joined us at the Metridiums and snagged some big fish hunting in our lights. There were big shrimp on the pipe, crazed schools of bait fish racing around (one hit me in the face!), and I spotted two large (for here) octopus about the size of my fist. The harbor seal stuck with us all the way to the beach. I spotted a nice ray of some sort in the shallows just before exiting the water.
Bottom Time: 76 minutes
Max Depth: 48 feet,
Visibility: 20 to 25 feet
Temperatures: Air 60.3, Water 57F to 59F
