Note: If we have to change a dive location or cancel a dive due to conditions, a member of the Board will post a notice to our Facebook Group about the change. If a dive is canceled, the club will try to connect RSVP holders with each other. The club cautions divers to consider the reason for the cancellation and make safe personal decisions; if they decide to dive, it is as individuals not as a club dive.
Divers can consult the CDIP Swell model, Monterey & Carmel Marine forecast, and other info sources (Windy, Aquarius’s Conditions page) especially if planning a long drive to join us.
Finally, if you’re planning to attend this dive, please contact the dive coordinators at divecoordinator@montereybayseaotters. org (or text Corey at 530-867-3255) so we may easily meet up on the morning of the dive!
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This month we return to one of our favorite sites, Lovers of Jesus Cove in Pacific Grove. We will meet in the upper parking lot next to the swan-encrusted glass bottom boat to look at conditions, introduce buddies, and do a dive site briefing. There are restrooms at this site and the parking is free.
At Lovers Point you can enter the water on either side of the point for very different experiences. You may reach the water on the east side via two, stone staircases. The east side is well protected from the swell and are popular with beginners. The sand beach gives way to eel grass-covered rocky ledges in 4-8 feet of water that drop away to a flat rock and sand bottom. Look for invertebrates that hide on the algae-covered bottom. Hermit crabs as well as Cancer crabs hunker down in between the seaweed, while flatworms and nudibranchs pursue a continuous search for dinner. Surfperch hang just off the eelgrass.
If you head offshore to the left of the beach, the sand bottom drops off slowly to a scattered group of rocky pinnacles that stretch up 10 feet or so from the 30 to 40 foot bottom. On these pinnacles can be found a cornucopia of colorful invertebrate life. Dense colonies of dime-sized strawberry anemones carpet the rocks is hues of red, orange and lavender. Larger anemones such as the red rose, spotted rose or giant green dot the rocky surfaces and surge channels. If you continue toward the breakwater you will encounter a sandy area where numerous bat rays may be found. Look for them digging clams out of the sand.
Divers may also enter on the west side of the point, although it is more exposed to the ocean swell, and is normally rougher and more surgy that the east side. Use good judgment when entering here. The rock-and-sand bottom gradually drops away from 20 feet to about 70 feet over about 300 yards, but good diving may be found only about 50 yards from shore.
These dives are a lot of fun, come out and join us!