Suggestions for Pt. Lobos?

[g1138]

Me and a couple buddies are thinking of diving Pt. Lobos next Tues. We've never been there before and were wondering if anyone could give us suggestions or sample dive plans for single tank dives.

We'll be equipped with Al 63's and Al 80's. We're all recreational divers at the Rescue level.
We have 19, 30, and 114 dives respectively for the 3 of us.

Planning on 2 dives, one of us will be on NAUI tables so that'll be our limiting factor.

Specifically:
- What sites are available to us
- How to get to that site
- Max depths we could face
- Any unique site procedures for entry and exit
- Any special courtesy or etiquette to follow when there

Thanks in advance!

 

[stilldivin]

When you get there, ask other divers. It's best to surface swim out to near the mouth of Whaler's cove, but not too far out. (Travel to the left of the boat ramp as you face the water from the ramp towards the open ocean.) About 3/4 out you can find nice dive sites from 30-50 feet, and further out to 70 feet. The sand channel is out near the mouth of the cove, but there is plenty to see closer in. There is nothing to see in the cove by the boat ramp. There is almost always an opening in the kelp you can follow out on the surface. There are plenty of rocky outcroppings on either side of the bay towards the mouth of Whaler's cove.I like to dive on the left side for the first tank. If I do a second, then I do the right side. It is a bit of a swim, but worth it. Be careful when going down the boat ramp into the water; it is often VERY slippery and there has been many injuries there. Parking can fill up by 10 AM even during the week, so get there early. There is plenty of room to dive for all, however. Check out my videos on YouTube. My channel is timothytech1. There are some Pt. Lobos dives there.

 

[opisthobranch]

So when you get to Whaler's Cove first thing you should do is walk up the path to the bluff at the far end of the parking lot. From there you can look out at the northern part of Whaler's Cove. You should see clear area in the kelp running more or less north-south. This is called the sand channel. On either side of it there is nice reef. The clear area is sand. The east side of the sand channel is called the Middle Reef and is probably your best bet. Depth ranges from about 65 feet at the very north end to about 30 feet at the south end.

When diving you want to swim far enough north that you're in the sand channel before dropping down. A rule of thumb is that if you can see the parking lot you haven't gone nearly far enough. You should be at least even with the first of the wash rocks and clearly in the sand channel. The southern end of Whaler's is mostly shallow sand and will probably be low vis and not that interesting. The reef further north, however, is really nice. There's about 30 feet of vertical relief with lots of interesting encrusting life and the vis is much better than in the sandy areas.

Be careful on the launch ramp. It's slippery.

Clinton

 

[stilldivin]

Next Tuesday it looks like it's going to be raining. I'm in a dive club and have logged nearly 500 dives, many at Pt. Lobos. I would be happy to meet you guys there if you would like another dive buddy. I would like to go there Thursday, Sept. 28, or Friday, Sept. 29.
If you are interested and have either day off, let me know. (These days I do only single tank dives too.) By the way, it costs $10.00 per vehicle to enter, and $10.00 per diver.

 

[g1138]

Sweet, thanks for the advice everyone.

I would be happy to meet you guys there if you would like another dive buddy. I would like to go there Thursday, Sept. 28, or Friday, Sept. 29.

We can only spare Tuesdays because of our work schedules. If weather or conditions becomes too crummy we'll probably hold off until next Tues.

 

[mattaphore]

I did two dives at Point Lobos with Fabs and it was our first time there. On our first dive we dove through the kelp alongside the sand channel but we didn't make it to the end because our max depths were only around 31 feet. We swam through our first cloud of krill and we got to play hide and seek with a curious harbor seal. We spent our second dive exploring around Whaler's Cove, pretty shallow again and we spent over an hour on rented single HP100s. It was a really overcast day (back in June) and we didn't warm up much between dives so we called it after getting too cold.

I hope you have a good time! ... and yes, be careful with the slippery plants growing on the boat ramp


(pardon the shaky camera footage, it was my first time trying to film and my first time playing around with windows movie maker)

 

[stilldivin]

I think I've gone diving with you before. (I'm Tim.) If I don't go this week maybe I'll send you an e-mail for next Tuesday. By then maybe I'll be able to convince a club member to go with me too and car pool down. otherwise we could try some other Tuesday.
you can always send me a private message. I've got a new Pinnacle Kodiak semi-drysuit that really keeps me warm and I love it.

 

[g1138]

I think I've gone diving with you before. (I'm Tim.) If I don't go this week maybe I'll send you an e-mail for next Tuesday. By then maybe I'll be able to convince a club member to go with me too and car pool down. otherwise we could try some other Tuesday.
you can always send me a private message. I've got a new Pinnacle Kodiak semi-drysuit that really keeps me warm and I love it.

Mhmm, we dove at the Breakwater once.
I should have said this sooner, but my buddies are potential DM candidates for UCSC. We taking gear out of the school's dive locker so the liability gets a little hazy if we end up diving with divers outside the program.

If you're in the area on a Tues though let me know and we could share some hot tea during our SI.