Pt. Lobos In Late May / Early June

[Dermochelys]

not commonly because you actually still need to board the boat from the boat ramp in pt lobos to dive in pt lobos and everyone diving from the boat would still need a pt lobos reservation.

Really? Ok, that's interesting, I figured the tour operators like the Beachhopper II or Monterey Express would anchor at the entrance to the cove. But I can see how it being a Park, they would want to limit how much activity there is within the cove.

 

[elgoog]

All the Monterey dive boats will try to go to Carmel sites in the morning if the weather is favorable or dive inside the Monterey bay if it's a little rougher. The afternoon charters will usually stay inside the bay.

 

[Dermochelys]

One other question, if you have a reservation at Pt. Lobos to dive Whalers Cove, can you leave the park and then come back during the same day? Or, if you leave do you vacate your spot for the day? I'm pretty sure we'd just be doing two dives back to back, but just in case it would be nice to know.

I found a great map of the dive site and it looks like we could pretty easily make it out to #3 (~450' surface swim), drop down, and then make our way out to #5 on the attached map and then just following the reef back south. Any other suggested dive plans would be great!

 

[DocWong]

Yes, you can leave the park and then go back in if you want. I've done that a few times over the years and it's never been a problem. Just show them your tag or receipt.

Also, if you're not so familiar with Point Lobos, just do down the ramp, head NE and you'll hit middle reef at about 20 feet or so. Go North, investigating all of the nooks and crannies and I'll bet you'll have a wonderful time. Get lost, no worries, just surface and swim back as you'll still be in the cove. It's only 60' at its deepest.

 

[Dermochelys]

Well I booked dives at Pt. Lobos for May 21 and 22, hopefully the weather holds, I'll be watching the swell forecast closely!

 

[Dermochelys]

So....it looks like this is the weekend to dive Pt. Lobos (according to the Monterey conditions thread), I'm totally kicking myself for setting up my vacation for next weekend instead of this weekend (DOH!!!!!!!). Oh well, there was no way for me to know when I set it up 2 months ago. I've been watching the swell forecast and it right now next weekend looks like a crap shoot.

The hotel I have a reservation for requires two day notice for cancellation. Looking at the swell predictions (Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance) what do you guys think? Should I cancel my trip and eat the $ I put down for 2 days at Pt. Lobos, or give it a go knowing that we might have to dive another spot if the swell is hitting Whaler's Cove.

I know as of today the models don't reach into next Saturday and Sunday, but looking at what they say for next Friday it looks as though MAYBE the southern swell will be back in effect next weekend like it was yesterday and is today (which I saw in the conditions thread is leading to amazing diving).

 

[3D diver]

If the park is closed to divers you may be able to get a refund or transfer to another day. If it's not closed then you'll have to look and decide for yourself. There are a lot of places to dive at Lobos if you're willing to put up with some surge. Otherwise, the breakwater is pretty sheltered and usually diveable.

The wave model only looks out 4 days, so there's no knowing today. If you can cancel 2 days out, you don't need to decide for a bit.

 

[Dermochelys]

If the park is closed to divers you may be able to get a refund or transfer to another day. If it's not closed then you'll have to look and decide for yourself. There are a lot of places to dive at Lobos if you're willing to put up with some surge. Otherwise, the breakwater is pretty sheltered and usually diveable.

The wave model only looks out 4 days, so there's no knowing today. If you can cancel 2 days out, you don't need to decide for a bit.

Good to know that there's at least a small chance of a refund if it comes to that. The very long term forecast going into next weekend from NOAA doesn't look good...

THU
NW WINDS 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 10 TO
13 FT. PATCHY FOG.

Hopefully it improves!!!

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but if we have to dive another spot like Breakwater, do people normally gear up on the beach or at their cars? We won't be able to leave anything sitting out during the dives as we won't have anyone watching our gear for us. On the other hand, I need a ton of weight when diving in cold water, and long walks from the car won't be a walk in the park. Any tips on the logistics of how people go about gearing up for Monterey shore dives would be great.

 

[3D diver]

You gear up at your vehicle and walk down. If you're lucky/time it right you can park in the lower lot, so the walk isn't very far. You can stage gear on the beach or hang it from/under a bouy past the surf line, but might want to have someone keep an eye on it. I haven't heard about theft's, but that doesn't mean they don't happen, so it's a good idea to lock anything of value in your vehicle. Folks regularly leave things like mats, x-tables, beach chairs, etc. out next to their car. At the very least, remember "out of sight, is out of mind".

 

[Dermochelys]

Ok, so the Saturday model is just starting to come in from CDIP (CDIP recent forecast fm_mon_xxx) and it looks like off-shore there will be something around a 6' swell from the NW. Looking at the information on (Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance), it says that a 6' swell is "passable" diving. So a few questions...

1) Does the CDIP model only have the swell height or does it include wind waves, for a combined seas calculation?

2) In Chuck's guide (http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/UPSSwell.pdf) is he referring to the offshore swell heights, or the colors at shore?

3) If we have a NW swell at 6', what can I expect Pt. Lobos to be like for diving Middle Reef? Would it be too rough for 2 beginners?

If I'm going to cancel my trip, the latest I can cancel my hotel is on Wednesday.

I also came across this handy map (Models Home). If you go to the top and select the "Harbors" and "Forecast" you get a nice up close view of Monterey like this....

Too bad it doesn't show Carmel, but it's something. A big thank you to Chuck for putting that website together that complies all this information, I'm sorry to hear that he has pasted away, but at least it's still being updated. It has been a tremendous help for me as well as all of the advice on here, thanks again!