Old dives

New Years dive at Pt. Lobos
by Susan Carter and Kevin Dalley

The hike was gorgeous!

Beautiful topside weather, but Whaler's Cove was a washing machine. The Ranger had told us there were reports of better vis outside the cove, but while it might have been possible to get our inflatable out there safely, it is very doubtful that we could have anchored. Very heavy surge, and the water at high tide was higher on the rocks than I ever remember seeing...(You could get slightly damp from the top of the cliff above the parking lot, from spray), and water was washing over the top of the ramp into the parking lot.

The SF Reef Divers were also there, and I guess they are crazier than us, because two of them went in for a quick dive. In addition to the Maytag conditions, they reported vis of less than a foot, and one of them pronounced it one of, if not the worst, dives he had ever done. These guys obviously were very experienced divers, but they still needed help getting out from two suited up friends. One of those friends did manage to move one of the boulders off of the dive ramp, a good thing...

Two other divers went in later, and looked just as unhappy as they got out. Those four were the only Lobos divers I saw all day, other than on the trails.

So, after a very pleasant hike and late lunch, we headed back to check out Breakwater, which was divable, (and the parking lot was empty). Jeff Lewis, Mike Elliot, and Kevin Dalley did a late afternoon/crepuscular dive. The visibility topped off at 15-20 feet. We saw a young wolf eel hiding in the rocks of the breakwater. There were also a very large ling cod.

Conditions did appear to be steadily improving as the day went on and evening approached...

One new experience at Lobos: as we were leaving the ranger, who may be new, or at least I didn't recognize him, and who actually seemed surprised that we didn't get wet (perhaps he is not a diver?) suggested that if we contact Debbie, who handles reservations, she would be willing to switch our reservation and reservation fee to another day due to the poor conditions. I don't intend to do so (personally I think Lobos needs and deserves all of the fees it gets, and the hike was more than worth the money), but it was a new one on me.