birdman27
Contributor
Finally got back into the cold NorCal waters. All of my diving in the past few years has been tropical vacation diving, which I do love. However, diving my backyard just makes so much sense. Other than abalone diving last year (sad the season was closed this year), I havent gotten in the water here since my wife got certified 4 years ago. So when a friend asked if I wanted to go to Point Lobos, I jumped on it. It ended up being a group of 7 of us, but we did not all dive together. Trying to keep 7 people together in water with that kind of vis is a bit of a challenge.
The first dive I was majorly over weighted and, along with the anxiety of the vastly different conditions, caused me to breathe much faster than normal and I ended up giving myself a bit of a headache. But, overall, the dive was still nice. Vis outside of whalers cove got up to 20-25 feet. The geology made for lots of nooks and crannies in which to find critter. On this dive I found a few different species of nudibranch, lots of the normal fish species, a crab eating an abalone (either dungie or red rock), a big decorator crab and a very large sea hare. We also found a cabezon that was well over 30" and the biggest I have ever seen.
Dive two, after I got my headache under control, was much more pleasant. I got my weighting under control and my breathing in line and was able to really enjoy what this ocean has to offer. I took my camera and below are some of my favorite photos. We tried to find the swimthrough cave across the cove, but no luck this time. What we did find were some big lingcod, more decorator crabs, lots of fish and a plethora of nudibranchs.
My overall feeling on the day were mixed. I was annoyed with myself for how much I stressed myself out on the first dive, and happy that I was able to work through it on the second. Cold water diving is a lot more work, so I dont know how much of it I will be doing, but I really love what you are able to see and find diving in this environment. I plan to try to do some more local diving, which should only help me become a better diver overall. My wife and I are already signed up for a Channel Islands liveaboard for the end of lobster season in March, so I am looking forward to that. Cheers!
The first dive I was majorly over weighted and, along with the anxiety of the vastly different conditions, caused me to breathe much faster than normal and I ended up giving myself a bit of a headache. But, overall, the dive was still nice. Vis outside of whalers cove got up to 20-25 feet. The geology made for lots of nooks and crannies in which to find critter. On this dive I found a few different species of nudibranch, lots of the normal fish species, a crab eating an abalone (either dungie or red rock), a big decorator crab and a very large sea hare. We also found a cabezon that was well over 30" and the biggest I have ever seen.
Dive two, after I got my headache under control, was much more pleasant. I got my weighting under control and my breathing in line and was able to really enjoy what this ocean has to offer. I took my camera and below are some of my favorite photos. We tried to find the swimthrough cave across the cove, but no luck this time. What we did find were some big lingcod, more decorator crabs, lots of fish and a plethora of nudibranchs.
My overall feeling on the day were mixed. I was annoyed with myself for how much I stressed myself out on the first dive, and happy that I was able to work through it on the second. Cold water diving is a lot more work, so I dont know how much of it I will be doing, but I really love what you are able to see and find diving in this environment. I plan to try to do some more local diving, which should only help me become a better diver overall. My wife and I are already signed up for a Channel Islands liveaboard for the end of lobster season in March, so I am looking forward to that. Cheers!
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