Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[metalheadluigi]

Agree with Elgoog. Dove the breakwater Saturday morning. Uprooted kelp and higher tide made for difficult entries and exits. My entry was fine. Ended up exiting over the rocks however and did a "Monastary crawl" on the breakwater beach to fully exit since the swell and rocks made me and my buddy lose our balance on our way out. Who knew exits with swell, rocks, LP 95s, and fins still on dont bode well?

5 ft of vis on the wall itself would be a generous call. Ended up trying out the kelp beds and vis improved slightly. Moderate surge. Had to be extra vigilant of where my buddy was due to the low vis. Stayed primarily in the 15-25 ft range. Did see a couple fish, sea urchins and many starfish, including one that appeared to be in the middle of lunch. We did decide to call it after a single dive, which was disappointing considering surface conditions were like a nice spring/summer day and I had spent a few bucks renting gear and trekking out there for the day.

There might have also been a medical incident as just before we started packing up, we noticed a fire truck and ambulance showed up. Hopefully nothing too serious. Not sure if anyone else can chime in with details.

 

[JellyMan777]

At approximately 10:20am or 2:20pm (can't remember which dive), as I was gearing up at the foot of the larger stair, I overheard a conversation between what seemed to be an instructor and a middle-aged female diver (student) who was seated immediately above me. She stated that she was feeling fatigued and mentioned some symptoms which could be construed as possible DCS. The instructor stated that they were going to place her on O2 and call an ambulance as a precaution. I left for the water and didn't see the fallout, but I would think this is probably the source of the 911 call.

 

[Rob Wilks]

Went back to monastery for a second round this AM. Same conditions on the surface, sunny and pleasant, but vis dropped from 25-30ft. yesterday, to about 20ft. Temp was 54 to 60+fsw. Saw a very large school of blues and some large lings and cabazone. Such a great place to explore...

 

[KevinG58]

Agree with Elgoog. Dove the breakwater Saturday morning. Uprooted kelp and higher tide made for difficult entries and exits. My entry was fine. Ended up exiting over the rocks however and did a "Monastary crawl" on the breakwater beach to fully exit since the swell and rocks made me and my buddy lose our balance on our way out. Who knew exits with swell, rocks, LP 95s, and fins still on dont bode well?

5 ft of vis on the wall itself would be a generous call. Ended up trying out the kelp beds and vis improved slightly. Moderate surge. Had to be extra vigilant of where my buddy was due to the low vis. Stayed primarily in the 15-25 ft range. Did see a couple fish, sea urchins and many starfish, including one that appeared to be in the middle of lunch. We did decide to call it after a single dive, which was disappointing considering surface conditions were like a nice spring/summer day and I had spent a few bucks renting gear and trekking out there for the day.

There might have also been a medical incident as just before we started packing up, we noticed a fire truck and ambulance showed up. Hopefully nothing too serious. Not sure if anyone else can chime in with details.

Definitely a lot of suspended particles in the water column, 3-5 feet every once in a while might have "opened up" to 7-10 for a few seconds. I went to 40-45 feet at a couple of points, checking out random rocks. Although surge was not all that bad I didn't want to test it near the wall. Found a few nudis on said rocks. I did almost run into a Spanish dancer in shallower water. Otherwise a lot of effort for meh. But we got in! And out.

Saw the same response kerfuffle, at about 10:20-30AM. I see a post probably ID'ing that. Hope that turned out OK.

 

[uspap]

Did two at North Monastery today. Entering the water it was 5ft vis and brown. Once you dropped below 10ft of depth it opened to 20-25ft vis and milky blue. A bit of surge but it was an awesome day. Surface temp was 70 degrees. Not bad for the dead of winter. 54 degrees at depth. Second dive vis dropped to 20 +/-. still nice. Walk in walk out. Checked out the Breakwater and it looked like soup. The gate was bent and the coast guard said it was from a massive wave.

 

[Mark413]

Did a boat dive in the bay today, viz was halfway decent (15-20' and some stirred up sediment in the water) and the weather was beautiful. The waves were too big outside of the harbor to go anywhere exposed, but all in it was a good diving day.

 

[3D diver]

Fun dive at Point Lobos this morning with RaftingTigger---Middle Reef and a loop around the end of Granite Point wall.

Bottom time: 67 minutes
Max depth: 64 feet
Visibility: 20-30 feet
Water temperature: 55F to 58.6F
Water condition: Low tide, small waves & a little surge.

The rocks at the end of the boat ramp were moved by the recent storms. I didn't notice much change in the entry, but there are some new rocks alongside the ramp.

We dropped over Middle Reef and worked our way out to the end. We saw 3 or 4 Sheephead, but only one got close enough to film. Otherwise, the fish seemed to be hiding. At the end of Middle Reef we headed to Granite Point Wall. We cruised around the end of the wall and headed back, surfacing in the shallows on the far side of Whalers Cove. My compass wasn't working...seriously, wouldn't swivel on the pin at all!!

We saw some nice Hydro-Coral at the wall, a school of Senorita's, and a big Lingcod under a ledge at the end of the dive.

 

[JellyMan777]

@Mark413 – Please provide the location and depth information with your next report. It's more useful if we know where and how deep you were when you made your observations. Thanks for the post!

 

[Mark413]

Will do.
For the dives this weekend:
D1: 60' @ Metridium Mountain: 36.622117, -121.899700
D2: 56' @ Aquarium Wall: (not sure lat/long, but right off the aquarium deck, a few hundred feet out)

 

[sea_otter]

It was an absolutely fantastic weekend of diving!

Saturday: Swam to Beto's Reef at Point Lobos. The sea was rough at the surface outside the cove but not too much water movement below. We had blue water and 20' vis. Saw a few very large sheepshead, ling and cabazon, a big school of blues, and some incredible scenery.

Runtime: 119 min
Max depth: 99 ft
Temp: 53 F

Saturday Night: Breakwater wall. I stopped by the Breakwater to say hello to friends on Saturday afternoon and somehow ended up doing a night dive and crashing on someone's spare bed at the Lone Oak - who can complain?? Saw a mermaid's purse on one of the kelp stalks, lots and lots of crabs, and chewie swam around us several times. Two octopus, both while the seal was away, so they survived... for now.

Runtime: 50 min
Max depth: 45 ft
Temp: 54 F

Sunday: Another day at Lobos... because it's Super Bowl Sunday and reservations were plentiful! We arrived after 9 am and still had no trouble parking. Did one dive to Lone Metridium with an absolutely gorgeous 40' of vis. The water was calm and clear. Usual suspects on fish. Sheepshead, a huge lingcod, various rockfish, and phenomenal scenery in clear blue water. Everything I love about Lobos. Except for the boat ramp at low tide... yikes! Some rocks have moved around and exit has become more of a challenge. Hoping it can be power washed soon. We ended up doing only the one dive because entry and exit were so difficult.

Runtime: 64 min
Max depth: 67 ft
Temp: 54 F

I hope the break in the storm next weekend brings us some more great diving!