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Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots and Jellies
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 8:54:18 PM
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aviddiver.her
Posts: 652
Joined: 3/17/2007
From: Northern California
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Thinking my camera problem may have been batteries Craig graciously offered me a freshly charged set. I had a back up set but they were the same age as the one’s I had the first dive and I had charged both 2-3 days ago. As it turns out, when I put the possibly bad batteries back in the camera back at the hotel they worked just fine. I tested them with my tester and they were still good. Don’t know what my cameras problem was but it worked fine the second dive. Second dive was at Inner Pinnacles which had less color but even more great topography. I didn’t see any jellies during my decent but found some later in the dive. So, I spent about 1/3 of my dive on the jellies. Here are a few:
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NB -
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather, by the moments that take your breath away." - unknown
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 8:55:18 PM
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aviddiver.her
Posts: 652
Joined: 3/17/2007
From: Northern California
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Don't laugh, but these jellies really were rather fast movers. Found I had to chase them around to get the composition I wanted. Then, I had this killer image all set up with a jelly in kelp and the sun filtering through the kelp. The flittering sun kept hitting my lens so my camera couldn't get focus. At last the camera got focus and fired......just as the dang jelly knocked it's head into the kelp  (see second image).
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< Message edited by aviddiver.her -- 11/3/2009 8:56:23 PM >
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NB -
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather, by the moments that take your breath away." - unknown
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 8:55:58 PM
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aviddiver.her
Posts: 652
Joined: 3/17/2007
From: Northern California
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On Sunday, Aviddiver.him and I headed out to Point Lobos to dive off our kayaks. We looked at the outer waters where we would take the kayaks and found it rather windy and choppy out there. We thought and thought and thought some more then decided to load the kayaks and paddle out to the last rock where we would round the corner to the dive site then reassess. So, we paddled out. The swell was a couple of feet inside the cove. As we got toward the mouth the swells grew to 3-4 feet and things seemed a bit dicey. A group of Bay Area Tech divers motored past us on their scooters with their rebreathers. Our concerns grew as we considered how we were going to gear up in the bouncy waters without swamping our kayaks when we opened the hatches to get our gear out. Then there was the uncertainty of getting the kayaks securely enough anchored to have them around when we came back. We have only kayak dove in very calm water in the past. We usually tie off to some kelp. We didn’t see much around. We do have a small anchor but have not yet practiced with it. Plus, the area we planned to dive is very deep except where the pinnacles are. We don’t have a depth gauge to decide where to set the anchor. So, we scrapped the idea and paddled back to the middle reef. This area is normally covered with kelp. We couldn’t find any above the surface to tie off to. We found one cluster but I was suspicious it was not attached to any thing (free floating). We held it for a while and it seemed it was secure. So, we tied off and proceed to get ready to dive. I tossed my rig in the water (on a tether) and tossed my camera over the same way. Donned my fins and started to pull my mask, gloves and hood out then I looked over at shore. Uh..oh... our kelp is not attached to the bottom and we have drifted into the inside reef and are close to shore. Scrap that idea. Eventually, after paddling against the flow long enough I decided I was tired enough I didn’t want to dive any more. We watched a small seal who kept following us around and checking out our kayaks then eventually went in. Later that day we spoke with someone who went out on one of the small commercial dive boats the Beach Hopper (takes 6 divers). They were supposed to go out to the Carmel area (where Point Lobos is) but the captain felt it was too rough and they stayed in Monterey Bay. Guess we made a wise decision.
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NB -
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather, by the moments that take your breath away." - unknown
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 9:17:26 PM
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Saudio
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Those are some gorgeous shots, very subtle and effective lighting.
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Just Kidding!
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 10:14:36 PM
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sparky
Posts: 974
Joined: 11/8/2006
From: the Pacific Northwest
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Saudio
Those are some gorgeous shots, very subtle and effective lighting.
Totally agree. Stunning colors in the reef photos.
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Fiji was great.
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/3/2009 11:18:45 PM
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reefgazer23
Posts: 2621
Joined: 11/8/2006
Status: online
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The shots you managed to get are fantastic Nancy! Hey, at least the camera worked part of the time, but still I know how frustrating it is when you press the shutter release and nothing happens. 
The first time I had the chance to snorkel with dolphins in the wild, my camera wouldn't fire at all. Arghhh!!! BUT,,,I'm still grateful for the experience.
The colors at that site are absolutely amazing and what a bonus to find balletic jellyfish too! At least most of the limited shots you got are keepers.
Both you and Craig have piqued my interest to the highest level, and I definitely want to dive there. Of course I might have to hold each of you personally responsible for my zero-balance retirement fund! 
Thanks for this post and I'm curious to know what time of year is best for diving at this site. Also, do many people dive it wet? Robyn
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/4/2009 12:36:20 AM
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aviddiver.her
Posts: 652
Joined: 3/17/2007
From: Northern California
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Unfortunately Robin, this was a bumper crop of jellies this year. It isn’t necessarily normal. While we do get jellies every year (in the Fall I think) you don’t necessarily see any at all. Monterey is also a difficult place to come dive from across the county due to varying conditions even more so than the Channel Islands. The day after our trip at least some of the dive boats would not go out to the outer waters where we were for this trip. The best spots are always where the waters are often rough and undivable just like San Miguel Island where we were for the first dive on the TTVIII trip. I’m not saying don’t give it a try. If you are willing to possibly have to settle for topside entertainment if the conditions don’t work out then it is worth a try. But, I think coming from across the county you would get more bang for your buck going to the northern Channel Islands and hoping to get to San Miguel which is pretty much like Monterey in color, density and water temp. The best conditions both in Monterey and the northern Channel Islands are in the fall and winter assuming there isn’t a storm.
Some people do dive Monterey wet. There were two people on our boat diving wet but they were too cold between dives to do the second dive. The boats are not as large and protected as the live-a-boards so it is tougher to warm up between dives.
This is the boat we were on http://cypresscharters.com/ . It is one of the favorites of many locals and Captain Phil is a riot on top of being top-notch in is boating and diving skills.
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NB -
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather, by the moments that take your breath away." - unknown
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Wow. Thanks, Nancy. (nt) - 11/4/2009 6:33:19 AM
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DocVikingo
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(nt)
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/4/2009 7:11:27 AM
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reefgazer23
Posts: 2621
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Thanks for the info Nancy, I really appreciate it. Hmm...I want to come back for the Truth Trip next year, and I hope to attend DEMA in Las Vegas as well--not too terribly far from N. California. Hey, even if the dives did get blown out, I've never been to the northern locales of your beautiful state. Definitely something to keep in mind. Robyn
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50' of VIZ!!!!????? - 11/4/2009 12:37:12 PM
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Moonman
Posts: 492
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Holy cow! Sounds like a great weekend. Your pics, along with Craig's the other day, are wonderful. Wish I could have made it with that report! The water had been murky with tons of jellies for so long previously. Glad the jellies hung around as they made great subjects for your photos!
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RE: 50' of VIZ!!!!????? - 11/5/2009 12:34:16 AM
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aviddiver.her
Posts: 652
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From: Northern California
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Thanks to everyone for the compliments.
Mark, I was rather pleasantly surprised to see so many healthy jellies still around. I figured they had been around so long that all we would see would be damaged and or dead jellys. Wasn't that way at all!
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NB -
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but rather, by the moments that take your breath away." - unknown
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/5/2009 8:45:11 AM
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RnR
Posts: 983
Joined: 12/22/2006
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Wow, nancy, your photos are AMAZING!!!!! 
50 degrees though, yikes. I get really cold diving wet in 60 degrees, so I guess i would have to bring my drysuit. Gotta think about this.
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robin
http://www.vimeo.com/user466791/videos
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RE: Carmel/Monterey California Dive report - Reef shots... - 11/5/2009 11:30:19 AM
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BillB2
Posts: 941
Joined: 11/8/2006
From: Earth
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I really like the jellies in the kelp, great shots Nancy.
Robyn, I dive Monterey/Carmel wet. The Cypress Sea has unlimited hot water from hoses, to fill your wetsuit with between dives and to warm up you and your gear. Only problem is sometimes the hot water is cold or nearly scalding. Shore diving the area in a wetsuit can be challenging if you are not prepared. It's definitely not for everyone.
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