Photos of Mono Lobo July 5th

[sarita75]

Lovely images Robin!

 

[micboucher]

I think the Sanctuary is great! I love that it only takes 6 divers and Capt Mike is awesome. He's very accommodating, knows all the best dive sites, and has a great eye for spotting whales and dophins. Oh, the crew is pretty good too.

 

[Jim Ernst]

The Cypress Sea with a full boat can be a little crowded but once people spread out it isn't that bad. I did a three tank charter off the Cypress Sea and after the first dive you had people sitting with their gear, others in the cabin area, and some standing around on the deck so it didn't feel that crowded. If you aren't eager to suit up and be the first in the water then you can let a few groups get in and then go to your gear and it isn't that crowded. If you get a day (not likely during the summer) where the Cypress Sea is only taking 12ish people then it isn't crowded at all.

I've only done the Sanctuary once. Was a nice boat but the deck was a little small for my taste. As strange as it sounds the cabin area was too nice. The seats had cloth covered foam seats that, while comfy, meant you couldn't sit down on them when wet. Having only 6 divers was nice as you could talk to everyone and it was pretty quick to get everyone on and off.

I did the BH2 once a few years back and I remember it was a good boat with a nice captain and crew member (iirc we had the husband and wife combo). But I don't remember enough to give further details.

Outstanding Pictures Robbin!!!

I have to agree with Mike on the Boat though!

 

[DocWong]

Nice photos. Can you describe the site a bit?

Depth range?

Were you able to swim around the pinnacle?

I'm planning on doing an underwater scooter from Point Lobos-Whaler's Cove to Mono Lobo Wall on Saturday.

 

[ryssyr]

Nice photos. Can you describe the site a bit?

Depth range?

Were you able to swim around the pinnacle?

I'm planning on doing an underwater scooter from Point Lobos-Whaler's Cove to Mono Lobo Wall on Saturday.

I've dove the site 3 times now, but each time is very different since I've taken different headings from the boat each time.

The most interesting was swimming around the large pinnacle. (towards shore from our boat--left-ish. I forgot to jot down the compass heading!) The bottom was at about 75-ish feet according to my gauge, and I didnt get to the top of the pinnacle but there was a lot to see from top to bottom. At the beginning of the dive we were at 75 fsw checking out the hydrocoral gardens and critters along the cracks, but as air and bottom time was decreasing we made our way up to mid-wall/pinnacle ~45-50 feet and the life at that level conisisted of a lot of the red cabbage looking kelp and strawberry anenome's. The sand at the bottom has a lot of urchin shells but I didnt see one live urchin.

On an earlier dive I headed away/parallel from shore towards point lobos. (to the right when facing shore) It was a much more rocky topography with lots of structures and kelp beds. Lots of fun with tons and tons of blue kelp fish. Depth there was 75-80 feet, most of the things to see were along the bottom. This dive was a solo dive so I didnt want to get too far from the boat. ~50 min breathing nitrox on all dives.

 

[Ouvea]

I can just kick myself for not diving that weekend. I brought a bicycle to Monterey instead of my scuba gear. From the road I could easily see the bottom and Coral Street was flat flat flat. These pictures just add to the to the remorse of not diving that weekend.

Next time, someone please flatten my bicycle tires if I do something this stupid.

Claude

 

[DocWong]

Thanks! That description matches the point where I think Mono Lobo Wall is. Saturday we attempted to get there from Whaler's Cove on long range scooters. We never got that far, but had a blast looking for it. That whole area is absolutely stunning!

I've dove the site 3 times now, but each time is very different since I've taken different headings from the boat each time.

The most interesting was swimming around the large pinnacle. (towards shore from our boat--left-ish. I forgot to jot down the compass heading!) The bottom was at about 75-ish feet according to my gauge, and I didnt get to the top of the pinnacle but there was a lot to see from top to bottom. At the beginning of the dive we were at 75 fsw checking out the hydrocoral gardens and critters along the cracks, but as air and bottom time was decreasing we made our way up to mid-wall/pinnacle ~45-50 feet and the life at that level conisisted of a lot of the red cabbage looking kelp and strawberry anenome's. The sand at the bottom has a lot of urchin shells but I didnt see one live urchin.

On an earlier dive I headed away/parallel from shore towards point lobos. (to the right when facing shore) It was a much more rocky topography with lots of structures and kelp beds. Lots of fun with tons and tons of blue kelp fish. Depth there was 75-80 feet, most of the things to see were along the bottom. This dive was a solo dive so I didnt want to get too far from the boat. ~50 min breathing nitrox on all dives.

 

[ryssyr]

you scooter guys are killing me.

 

[PKHamrick]

hahahahaha, Robin, I would love to see you scooter with your Big Ole Camera ig!

 

[DocWong]

you scooter guys are killing me.

I know, but we do pay for it in a ridiculous amount of gear we bring to do these dives.

Cleaning up after the dive, tourists are convinced we're involved in some kind of commercial or research operation!

Then they ask: "What do you see down there?" And an answer I now give is "It's like the Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but much much better."