Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[lattehiatus]

So full of interesting features; and I especially liked that CTH setting (Closest Tim Horton's) while on the first safety stop and countdown; but alas, the closest 24 hour location was 1694 kilometers away . . .

I'll get the coffee if you bring the donuts!

 

[Thrutch]

Dove North Monastery both days this weekend, six hours over four dives. Until my final exit yesterday, which got a little sandy, it was calm enough to essentially just walk in and out like it was a normal shore dive, which was fantastic. Vis wasn't great shallower than 30 feet on every dive, and the depth at which things cleared up varied from 30 feet down to 100 feet. When it did clear up, vis was around 35-40 feet. Pretty solid 50° down to 100 feet or so, and 48° below that.

I usually miss calm conditions like this on my trips to the area, so this was a real treat even without consistently stellar vis.

 

[the other lincoln]

Dove San Carlos beach yesterday, First dive at the coast guard pier, Poor visibility (3~6') and overcast skies made for a dark dive but saw lots of critters, a couple of different nudibranch (dorids), cleaner shrimp, a pretty large octopus tucking its self back into the rocks.. water temp was 50F

Cloud cover had burnt off by the second dive at metridum field, visibility was worse and water was 47F,

 

[lattehiatus]

Lovers Point on Saturday April 15:
Only 2 - 4 ft waves but unfortunately coming from NW. About 5 -7 ft visibility in the morning around Lovers 3, and less than 5 ft by afternoon. It definitely got colder as reported by other lincoln - morning temperature was 52 degrees at 30 ft, afternoon was 50 degrees at the same depth.

One eagle-eyed member of our group spotted a whale from shore but no sightings in the water.

Parking enforcement of the 2-hour limitation was lax, our surface support never saw anyone come by to take license plate photos. A wedding started in the mid-afternoon on the grassy area right when the wind picked up, we decided against photobombing the bride and groom's happy day with us all geared up.

 

[Bigbella]

Both Carmel and Monterey -- green and miserable; about a meter or so of visibility, within the lime jell-o -- that, along with a compulsory, heh, heh, full-immersion course of navigation skills.

Looks to worsen within the week; take in a re-run of Sea Hunt; or better yet, a showing of Creature from the Black Lagoon . . .

 

[Bigbella]

Yep, same green color, a week out; visibility less than a meter with an odd shimmering from a diatom bloom (whose densities can on the order of 15 million cells per liter), in both Carmel and Monterey -- like diving at dusk.

Suit and other gear took an overnight soaking . . .

 

[Brett Hatch]

Thanks for the reports, wish the conditions were better. I haven't been diving locally in months, and would like at least a non-zero chance of 10+ foot viz before I haul myself down there. I'm up in Santa Cruz now, and the traffic on weekends is... well, you know how it is.

 

[wnissen]

Yep, same green color, a week out; visibility less than a meter with an odd shimmering from a diatom bloom (whose densities can on the order of 15 million cells per liter), in both Carmel and Monterey -- like diving at dusk.

Suit and other gear took an overnight soaking . . .

Thanks for the reports, wish the conditions were better. I haven't been diving locally in months, and would like at least a non-zero chance of 10+ foot viz before I haul myself down there. I'm up in Santa Cruz now, and the traffic on weekends is... well, you know how it is.

I second what Brett said, it has just been brutal for what feels like six months. What was the last time there was a weekend day with better than 10 ft / 3 m viz? Thanks for the report, we all appreciate it.

 

[lexvil]

Going Saturday, tides are favorable, good enough for two dives??

 

[Bigbella]

I second what Brett said, it has just been brutal for what feels like six months. What was the last time there was a weekend day with better than 10 ft / 3 m viz? Thanks for the report, we all appreciate it.

A friend who works in water treatment credited, in part, the massive amounts of nitrogenous "materials" from the January storms, which entered the Bay, including the hundreds of thousands of gallons of "partially-treated" sewage. I went with him on a sampling run, a while back, near the mouth of the Salinas River and the bacterial count made the Tijuana River look like a cascade of Perrier . . .