The Day of the Dolphins plus post retirement dive #949 at the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay July 13, 2026

Greg Hoberg and I took his rigid inflatable zodiac from Monterey Harbor around Point Pinos and Cypress Point into Carmel Bay yesterday. On the way out I was astonished when the boat flushed up two big beautiful flying fish. I never, ever, expected to see these in chilly northern California waters but of course, the water is not as cold as it used to be and this year it's warmer than ever. Greg's depthfinder reported that the water was 60 degrees, that's 8 degrees warmer than usual! The ride down to Carmel Bay was much bumpier than we expected, we hold out, these days, for very calm days to cruise down to Carmel Bay, we're in our 15th year of taking his boat on this trip. When we reached the Pinnacles the water was that wonderful Hawaiian Pacific blue and we would have had exceptional visibility. The whale watch boats have been seeing lots of whales, orcas, and common dolphins so we decided to cruise on across the bay and check out Monolobo. Soon after we left the Pinnacles we saw huge commotion on the water ahead of us, lots of white water like big rapids! It was a tremendous pod of common dolphins. At any one time you could see hundreds so the total number must have easily been a thousand. They came and played under our bow as we slowly cruised along. An unforgettable experience! Here's some shots from my iphone during our fun with dolphins. I was careful with my exposed phone in splashing conditions so the shots don't do justice to the encounter.

When we returned to the Pinnacles we anchored and dived, assuming we'd have clear water, instead, we were astonished that the water had transformed from clear Hawaiian blue to yucky plankton bloom green. Instead of clear we had a dark dive with 15 to 20 ft of visibility...If we'd realized before we splashed we'd have moved to clear water either in Carmel Bay or somewhere on the way back... But the dolphin encounter was way worth it! Some photos from our dive below, I was shooting wide angle in expectation of great visibility, should have stuck to macro. Spanish Shawl (about 3 inches) with Sea Lemon nudibranch:

Greg getting a shot. Below:

The Pinnacles is well known for its Hydra Coral. Below:

Finally, three rockfish. A Gopher, a Black and Yellow, and a Kelp Rockfish. Below:

Very Good Dives with Beachhopper II at Metridium Mountain and Cabrillo Point (Hopkin's Reef), post retirement dives 947,8 July11,-2026

Beachhopper II had a full boat, typically 8 divers, includeing my frequent diving buddy Guy Foster and Jim Kirkland. One diver, Paul, was diving a rebreather and touring around with a scooter. The day started off with a pretty heavy marine layer but we had some sunlight on our second dive. Our first dive was Metridium Mountain named after the high mound of big rocks covered in Metridium Sea Anemones, aka Plumrose Anemones, up to about 2 1/2 ft high when fully extended. I was very pleased when I splashed and started kicking to catch up with Guy waiting to start down the anchor line, the water was blue and you could see quite a distance despite the surface layer being full of green "snot" algae bloom. Once we'd dropped 20 ft we could clearly see the dive site 40 ft below us, 65 ft down. Horizontal visibility was easily 30 ft, vertical 40 ft. Surface water temperature was 55 degrees, bottom was 51. It's a great site with lots of fish, both a variety of rockfish and lingcod. I was shooting my 60 mm Canon macro lens so no wide angle shots of the Metridium fields.. Below are some photos from this very enjoyable dive, to see more please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aDdUG8ppYfjJF4ez7 A beautiful Chestnut Cowry, about 3 inches long. Below:

Below: Cup Corals, about .75 inches across.

I saw and photographed a couple of beautiful Ling Cod about 2 ft long. Below:

A yellow nudibranch, a White Spotted Dorid, with a cup coral. Below:

Kelp Rockfish, below:

A view of the bottom of the front of an Orange Sea Cucumber showing its light colored feet. Below:

Below: A Blue-ring Topsnail in amongst Strawberry Anemones

Below: A four inch Painted Greenling beside an Orange Bat Star

A Black Eyed Goby parked in front of a Kellet's Whelk. Below:

Below: A San Diego Dorid, aka Leopard Nudibranch, next to a Red Sea Urchin.

I couldn't resist another closeup of a Painted Greenling. If only he had raised his dorsal fin...Below:

It was time to ascend to my safety stop. Our next dive was at a site called Carbrillo Point (sometimes also called China Point for the Chinese fishing village that was once there) within the Stanford University's Hopkin's Marine Reserve. We still had very good, easily 25 ft of visibility with a mixture of big rocks, some Giant Kelp (hurray!), and sand. Below are some photos from this fun dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aq9DhcUUqhHujoVN6 Below: The first of several Rainbow Nudibranchs I saw on this dive.

A five inch juvenile Gopher Rockfish. Below:

I saw more Dock Shrimp, aka Coon Shrimp, on this dive than I've ever seen before. They ranged from about 1 to 2 inches (about 2 to 6 cm). See several below:

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Cypress Point, Inner Wash Rocks Post Retirement Dive #946 June 18, 2026

Greg Hoberg and I took his boat, our 14th year diving from his rigid inflatable, around Point Pinos and down to Cypress Point. The wind had come up more than expected the previous afternoon and was already a strong breeze on our ride out. The water was choppy and the forecast was for the wind to pick up so we stopped to dive inside the inner wash rocks at Cypress Point, one of our favorite dive sites. The water was very bluish and we enjoyed 30 ft visibility. We had a very good dive, it had been awhile since we'd been out and it was great to get out again. We dived all along a wall that is formed on the south side of the southern wash rock, a beautiful site. Below are some photos from our dive, to see the rest, please fo to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/P1ZZ7gsHYYjZdRF97 The seafloor near the rocks is buried in thousands of mussel shells and the site is full of very large, very well fed, Spiny Sea Stars and Ochre Sea Stars. Below:

A colorful Painted Greenling, about 5 inches long, below:

Fish faces, a Blue Rockfish followed by a Lingcod, followed by a Black and Yellow Rockfish. Below:

A tiny juvenile sea star, not sure if its a Bat Star or another species, about 3/4 inches across, the Strawberry Anemones next to it are about 1/2 inches in diameter. Below:

A Leather Sea Star, about 9 inches across, with Purple Sea Urchins, below:

A Yellow Aeolid Nudibranch, below:

This site is very rough, very surgy, so only diveable with calmer than normal seas. Giant Green Anemones love surgy environments so there are many around these wash rocks. Below:

A White Spotted Rose Anemone, below:

A cool small Rock Crab, about 4 inches across, below:

This is only the second time I've observed that Painted Greenlings can hang out in Sea Anemones. It was very surgy so I was pleased to capture these imperfect photos of it. Below:

Greg, as usual, nailed the navigation back to his boat's anchor to end our dive. We could see that I'd be able to raise it without difficulty. Below:

We had a fast ride back with following seas. We enjoyed seeing a large group of Rizzo's Dolphins withing a half mile of the marina.