I joined Kathy at Lobos yesterday for what turned out to be another incredibly dive day. As has been all week, we were seeing about 20ft viz in the cove (you can easily see the bottom from anywhere as you stand on the bluff) but not too much better outside.
First dive was to Lone Metridium via Hole in the Wall. I led on the way out to show Kathy all the big navigation points, and once we hit LM, she led on the reciprocal back. We poked around Middle Reef to finish the dive. Not too fishy, but there was no surge to speak of, LM was in full bloom and Cannery Point Wall remained gorgeous. Calm days with respite from NW swells are great to poke around west of the sand channel.
After a much-deserved lunch, Kathy donned some big-ass doubles and we headed out for a fun, shallow dive for her to get more time in and fine-tune the setup. Coal Chute Caverns it was! We cut through Middle Reef, and surprisingly hit both caverns (I'm only aware of two, are there more?) almost dead on. The viz inside the larger cavern was pretty bad before we got there, but there were 2-3 harbor seals swimming in and out of it so I'm going to suggest that the seal kick isn't a proper non-silting propulsion method. On the way back, we hit 3-4 leopard sharks in the rubble between Coal Chute Cove and Middle Reef (that's where we've been seeing them lately), including a 2ft long juvie. Lots of Vermillions/Canaries, a Black and Yellow, and a China inside Cavern 1. Viz was still 20ft at the boat ramp when we ascended, and a submerged harbor seal interrupted Kathy's weight check by being adorable.
[youtubehq]0dttdhrqjcI[/youtubehq]
First dive was to Lone Metridium via Hole in the Wall. I led on the way out to show Kathy all the big navigation points, and once we hit LM, she led on the reciprocal back. We poked around Middle Reef to finish the dive. Not too fishy, but there was no surge to speak of, LM was in full bloom and Cannery Point Wall remained gorgeous. Calm days with respite from NW swells are great to poke around west of the sand channel.
After a much-deserved lunch, Kathy donned some big-ass doubles and we headed out for a fun, shallow dive for her to get more time in and fine-tune the setup. Coal Chute Caverns it was! We cut through Middle Reef, and surprisingly hit both caverns (I'm only aware of two, are there more?) almost dead on. The viz inside the larger cavern was pretty bad before we got there, but there were 2-3 harbor seals swimming in and out of it so I'm going to suggest that the seal kick isn't a proper non-silting propulsion method. On the way back, we hit 3-4 leopard sharks in the rubble between Coal Chute Cove and Middle Reef (that's where we've been seeing them lately), including a 2ft long juvie. Lots of Vermillions/Canaries, a Black and Yellow, and a China inside Cavern 1. Viz was still 20ft at the boat ramp when we ascended, and a submerged harbor seal interrupted Kathy's weight check by being adorable.
[youtubehq]0dttdhrqjcI[/youtubehq]
