3D diver
Contributor
Did a couple of fun dives today at Lobos with Raftingtigger. From the recent reports I had my expectations pegged at about 15 feet of pea soup viz, but had some new cameras to test & had to get wet. I was pleasantly surprised...
Quick summary for the day:
Viz: 15 to 40+ Feet!!!
Water temperature: 51.4 to 65F
Air Temperature: 73 to 77F Overcast at first, then sunny.
Surface conditions: flat, with thick Kelp & no boat channel
Low tide when we arrived, about 4+ feet higher by the end of our second dive.
First dive: Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium.
Very low tide made entering the water a leap of faith from the end of the boat ramp. We kicked out as far as the boat channel lasted, then Raftingtigger lead us, along with Stilldivin and another guest, on a kelp crawl through about 35 feet of kelp to reach clear water. We continued out a bit further and dropped on the inside of Cannery Point wall just shy of Hole in the wall. We continued on toward Lone Metridium, with Stilldivin and his buddy turning around before we got there. There were lots of fish about & Lone Metridium was looking good. I spied the Treefish on the way back. We headed south in the next channel west of HITW and continued on that heading 'til surfacing in the middle of Whalers.
Bottom Time: 66 minutes
Max Depth: 63 feet
Temperature: Air 73.2, water 52.2 to 63.7F
Visibility: 15 to 40+ feet, better the further out you go.
Second dive: Middle Reef
The rising tide made the ramp much easier to navigate for this dive.
We surface swam 'til the kelp channel gave out and dropped to Middle Reef. There were a couple of big schools of Blue Rock fish that teased me up into the water column & let me film them closely. There a number of lingcod, lots of Vermilion and/or Canary Rockfish, a Cabezon or two, and a male Sheephead toward the end of the dive. Raftingtigger tried to turn us when we got the the end of the reef, but I ducked into the deeper water hoping to locate the Wolf Eel I saw last time I was there. (no luck) We then backtracked and added some west to our heading, surfacing fairly close to the ramp.
Bottom Time: 68 Minutes
Max Depth: 65 feet
Temperature: Air 76.8F, Water 51.4 to 65F
Visibility 15 to 40+ feet.
Oh, my new cameras run hot and this caused some fogging, in spite of the anti-fog strip. I'm going to try multiple strips & see if that helps.
Quick summary for the day:
Viz: 15 to 40+ Feet!!!
Water temperature: 51.4 to 65F
Air Temperature: 73 to 77F Overcast at first, then sunny.
Surface conditions: flat, with thick Kelp & no boat channel
Low tide when we arrived, about 4+ feet higher by the end of our second dive.
First dive: Hole in the Wall and Lone Metridium.
Very low tide made entering the water a leap of faith from the end of the boat ramp. We kicked out as far as the boat channel lasted, then Raftingtigger lead us, along with Stilldivin and another guest, on a kelp crawl through about 35 feet of kelp to reach clear water. We continued out a bit further and dropped on the inside of Cannery Point wall just shy of Hole in the wall. We continued on toward Lone Metridium, with Stilldivin and his buddy turning around before we got there. There were lots of fish about & Lone Metridium was looking good. I spied the Treefish on the way back. We headed south in the next channel west of HITW and continued on that heading 'til surfacing in the middle of Whalers.
Bottom Time: 66 minutes
Max Depth: 63 feet
Temperature: Air 73.2, water 52.2 to 63.7F
Visibility: 15 to 40+ feet, better the further out you go.
Second dive: Middle Reef
The rising tide made the ramp much easier to navigate for this dive.
We surface swam 'til the kelp channel gave out and dropped to Middle Reef. There were a couple of big schools of Blue Rock fish that teased me up into the water column & let me film them closely. There a number of lingcod, lots of Vermilion and/or Canary Rockfish, a Cabezon or two, and a male Sheephead toward the end of the dive. Raftingtigger tried to turn us when we got the the end of the reef, but I ducked into the deeper water hoping to locate the Wolf Eel I saw last time I was there. (no luck) We then backtracked and added some west to our heading, surfacing fairly close to the ramp.
Bottom Time: 68 Minutes
Max Depth: 65 feet
Temperature: Air 76.8F, Water 51.4 to 65F
Visibility 15 to 40+ feet.
Oh, my new cameras run hot and this caused some fogging, in spite of the anti-fog strip. I'm going to try multiple strips & see if that helps.