New with a goal to dive in Kelp Forest

[mdb]

Slow is the key word in diving in a kelp forest.

Very slow and easy, if your equipment gets entangled stop.

Sink lower slowly for a few seconds.

If you are diving with a buddy they can help.

Some of the most majestic diving in the world IMHO.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I haven't used a snorkel with scuba gear in more than 25 years. I kick on my back until I get to the drop point. It's much easier. If I need or want to look down along the way I either hold my breath or use my reg. At Marineland, my typical beach dive involved a quarter mile surface swim from the cove to Long Point. I have more than 375 dives there, 350 of them without a snorkel.

What's it like getting down to the water at Marineland? I've been diving many times next door at Pt. Vicente but at my age it might take me two hours to get back up Cardiac Path. Do you have to pay for parking there?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There is a free public parking lot with about 100 spaces. It fills up on the weekends with lots of people going to the restaurants/bar and the beach. The walk down is somewhat long but much easier than it used to be. It is paved halfway and crushed dirt the rest. There is a public restroom and freshwater shower at the midway point. You still have to climb over rocks to enter the water at the cove or at Long Point and the exit can be deadly if the surf is higher than two feet, but the facilities are much nicer. It's not as long nor steep as Cardiac Hill, which is now called Pelican Cove.