Metridium Mountain, Post Retirement Dive #832 May 3, 2025

I had a very memorable dive with Guy Foster with Beachhopper II on Saturday. Gale force winds were in the forecast for later in the morning and small craft advisories had been up overnight so it was breezy and choppy as we headed out and became rougher as we approached the dive site. Upon descending all was calm with excellent 30 to 50 ft of visibility. Metridium Mountain with its dense population of white Plumrose (Metridium) Sea Anemones at 55-60 ft of depth became visible quickly as we descended. Below:

Below are some photos from the dive, for more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8HfPyDYW7zzoMwaXA Below: A pair of Pile Perch

The site also has lots of Tube Anemones in the sand around the site's boulders, below:

As I began a circle of the site a Cabezon suddenly shot over my left shoulder and then did a headstand, not normal behaviour, on the bottom up ahead of me. I realized it was struggling with an octopus. I didn't get a photo of the struggle but after the octopus escaped I got a photo of the octopus with the Cabezon in the background and a couple pretty good photos of the understandably upset octopus. In the first picture below, the octopus has just gotten free of the Cabezon (near bottom, center, of wide angle shot), followed by a zoomed in view of the two of them.

Next, as I got closer to the octopus, an excited Gopher Rockfish briefly considered trying its luck with the octopus, it wisely demurred. Second photo is zoomed in on the beautiful, alarmed, octopus. Below:

I got three more photographs as the octopus quickly retreated to safety, below:

Next, one of the other divers on our trip, not sure who, attempted to get a shot of the octopus back in its hole. Below:

A beautiful, concerned, Copper Rockfish, below:

A large, beautiful Lingcod on its perch, below:

A Sea Lion came past to check us out, below:

Another Lingcod parked in the sand, below:

Another Copper Rockfish, below:

Guy near the anchor line, below:

I got some pictures of a pretty Treefish (a rockfish), which are frequently very shy:

Another Lingcod confidently perched amongs Metridium (Plumrose Sea Anemones), below:

This was a wonderful dive. I started back up with at least 700 pounds pressure for my three minute safety stop at 20 ft and for the tricky boarding of Beachhopper II in rough seas....My fins aren't easy to get off and Laura did a great job of getting them off me while the dive platform rose and plunged. I boarded the boat with only 250 pounds pressure remaining.. Out of an over abundance of caution (I'm leaving on big dive trip to the Philippines in 41 days, not that I'm counting or anything) I decided to sit out the next dive and I missed a great one from everyone's reports...

Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, Post Retirement Dive #831 May 1, 2025

Greg and I finally synched up, got his boat and trailer ready for diving, and caught a nice day yesterday. We just made a single dive but it was really a good one. Saw a whale blow at Cypress Point on the way back but didn't get a close up look at the whale, almost certainly a Humpback. We had 20 to 30 ft of visibility and were glad to see some Giant and Bull Kelp on the Pinnacles but it is pretty sparse after a winter of storms and still too many sea urchins. A beautiful dive with immensely dense invertebrates, lots of rockfish and one large beautiful lingcod. Below are some photos from our dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i1M4TheGhQBp3hTj6 At the start of our dive, right after going down the anchor line and checking that the anchor was well positioned for pulling up after the dive, we spotted this Palm Kelp heavily infested with Yellow Hydroids. Below:

I always try to photo China Rockfish when I see them, they are beautiful and usually quite shy, but this one showed a lot of patience with me, below:

A pretty White Dendronotus nudibranch, about 3 inches long, below:

We dropped our anchor right into a beautiful, narrow, canyon and spent our entire dive going up and down the canyon's walls and exploring some of the large bolders where our anchor landed. The canyon's walls had lots of beautiful multi-colored hydrocorals. Below:

A Yelow Sea Lemon Nudibranch, below:

Greg searching the canyon's wall for his next subject, below:

Below: I was careful to not ask this heavy Kelp Rockfish if she was gravid with eggs or was digesting a large meal...

A Gopher Rockfish with dense invertebrate life and still too many Purple Oceans out in the open, looking for grazing.

I'm always thrilled to encounter large fish, so here's several shots of a beautiful large (20 pounds or so) Lingcod, below:

A fun, great, dive. It was wonderful to be back out in Greg's boat which continues to be astoundingly reliable. Tomorrow, Guy Foster and I will be going out with Beachhopper II to dive.....but there are gale warnings so.....

My Blog title list which takes me up to 830 post retirement dives. March 20, 2025

My retirement plan is to go diving. This is a summary of my executing my retirement plan. Charlie’s Diving Blog 3-20-2025 352. Dives at Chatona #829 and McAbee Pinnacle#830, March 15, 2025 351.Hulamale Harbor, Post retirement dive #828 February 17, 2025 Published • Mar 2 350.Kuda Girri Wreck Post Retirement dive 827 February 16, 2025 Published • Mar 1 349.Very good dives back at Faateyo,and Myaru Kandu, Post retirement dives 825 and 826 Febru… Published • Feb 28 348.Dives at Gaahuru Kandu, Fushi Kandu, and Fatteyo Post retirement dives 822, 23, 24 February… Published • Feb 27 347.Olhugirri Kandu and Muli Corner Post retirement dives 820, 821 February 14, 2025 Published • Feb 26 346.A Very Challenging High Current Dive at Diffushi Kandu Post retirement dive #819 February 1… Published • Feb 24 345.Wonderful Manta Ray Dive at Kurali Manta Point Post retirement dive #818 February 13, 2025 Published • Feb 24 344.Very Good Dives at Seven Stingrays and Fenbo Girri Post retivement dives 816, 817 February … 343.Dive at Kudahrah Thila, my post retirement dive # 815, the first dive on February 12, 2025 Published • Feb 23 342.First Dives with Theia, Monday February 10 and Tuesday February 11 Published • Feb 22 Charlie Schaffer 341.Snorkeling at Bandos resort, Maldives February 5-8, 2025 Published • Feb 10 340.Very Good Dives with Beachhopper II at Hopkin's Deep and Metridium Mountain January 16, … Published • Jan 16 339.Favorite Dive Photos for 2024 338.Two Low Visibility Dives with Beachhopper II , Post Retirement Dives 808, 809 November 16, … Published • Nov 19, 2024 337. Nai'a September 14 - 24, Last Four Days, Sept 20 - 23 October 7, 2024 Published • Oct 11, 2024 336.Nai'a September 14-24 Day 3,4,5 Published • Oct 6, 2024 335.Nai'a Sept 14-24. Day 1, 2,3 Published • Oct 3, 2024 334.Two Great Dives with Ocean Ventures Fiji in Natewa Bay September 9, 2024 Published • Sep 10, 2024 333.Two Very Good Dives with Korosun Dive off Vanua Levu September 9, 2024 Published • Sep 9, 2024 332.Two Excellent Dives with Beachhopper II, my 777th and 778th post retirement dives, at Butter… Published • Sep 1, 2024 331.My Retirement Plan was "Go Diving", I decided to review how successfully I've been executin… Published • Aug 16, 2024 330.Two Very Good Dives on Metridium Mountain and VT3 with Beachhopper II August 10, 2024 Published • Aug 11, 2024 329.Great dive on the Pinnacles with fun surface action from two Humpbacks "kelping" after we s… Published • Aug 3, 2024 328.Two Very Enjoyable Dives with Scuba Cat, Catalina Island July 24, 2024 Published • Jul 27, 2024 327.Very Good Dives with Beachhopper II at Mr Ed and VT3 July 20, 2024 Published • Jul 21, 2024 326.Very Good Dive on the Pinnacles July 17, 2024 Published • Jul 18, 2024 325.Two Very Good Dives on the Pinnacles July 9,10, 2024 Published • Jul 11, 2024 324.Two Very Good Dives with Beachhopper II on Aumentos and Shale Island June 29, 2024 Charlie Schaffer 323.Two fun dives with Beachhopper II, Mr Ed and Shale Island June 8, 2024 Published • Jun 10, 2024 322.Two Good Dives with Beachhopper II, Shale Island and VT3 May 18, 2024 Published • May 21, 2024 321.My tenth (!), and final blog from my 10 days of Critterfest, Jan 20 - Jan 29, and Blackwater Sa… Published • Mar 6, 2024 320.Blackwater Safari Week at Crystal Blue Resort January 30 through February 5, 2024 Published • Mar 2, 2024 319.Eighth blog from 55 dives in 17 great days and nights of diving at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, … 318.Seventh blog from 17 days and nights, 55 dives, at wonderful Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, Phil… Published • Feb 21, 2024 317.Sixth blog from 55 dives in 17 days and nights of diving at excellent Crystal Blue Resort, Anil… Published • Feb 20, 2024 316.Fifth blog from 17 days and nights of diving at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, Philippines Januar… Published • Feb 19, 2024 315.Fourth Diving Blog from Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, Philippines January 20 through February … Published • Feb 18, 2024 314.Third Blog from my wonderful Crystal Blue Resort diving January 20 through February 5, 2024 313.Second blog from my wonderful stay at Crystal Blue Resort , Anilao, Philippines, from 1-20 to … Published • Feb 15, 2024 312.A Sudden, Unexpected, Wonderful Dive Trip to Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao, Philippines Februa… Published • Feb 14, 2024 311.My Favorite Dive Photos for 2023 Published • Dec 27, 2023 310.Fun Dive with Sea Lions at Eric's Pinnacle and plentiful Cabezon at Metridium Mountain with … Published • Dec 18, 2023 309.Dives at Mr. Ed and Shale Island with Beachhopper II December 9, 2023 Published • Dec 13, 2023 308.Good Dive on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay November 3, 2023 Published • Nov 5, 2023 307.Two fun dives with Beachhopper October 28, 2023 Published • Nov 5, 2023 306.Monolobo and Cypress Point Innermost Wash Rocks September 25, 2023 Published • Oct 9, 2023 Charlie Schaffer 305.Mr. Ed with Beachhopper II August 26, 2023 Published • Aug 27, 2023 304.Two very good dives off North Monastery Beach and on the Pinnacles August 17, 2023 Published • Aug 19, 2023 303.Good green dive at Monolobo August 10, 2023 Published • Aug 14, 2023 302.Very good dives at Mr. Ed's and Shale Island with Beach Hopper II July 15, 2023 Published • Jul 21 301.Mono-lobo June 15, 2023 Published • Jun 21, 2023 300.Final dives with Raja Laut, at Andy's Ultimate, Warner Ber Warner, back at Andiamo, and Andi… Published • Apr 8, 2023 299.The Barramundi, its Remora, and a Green Moray - interaction on Warner Ber Warner Dive Febr… Published • Apr 6, 2023 298.Three Great dives at Black Rocks, Andiamo, and Candy Store with Raja Laut in Raja Ampat Ja… Published • Apr 5, 2023 297.Excellent dives at Boo Window, Whale Rock, and Tank Rock January 29, 2023 Published • Mar 28, 2023 296.Three More Great Dives, Love Potion #9, The Plateau, and Romeo Night Dive January 28, 2023 Published • Mar 25, 2023 295.Manta Ridge and a return to Melissa's Garden January 27, 2023 Published • Mar 23, 2023 294.Birds of Paradise hike followed by dives at Blue Magic and Sawanderek January 26, 2023 Published • Mar 21, 2023 293.Three Great Dives around Arborek Island, Melissa's Garden, Arborek Jetty, and Sandy Manta … Published • Mar 17, 2023 292.Night Dive at Yeben Shallow and Coral Gardens and Arches at Bafu Rufus 1-22-2023 Published • Mar 15, 2023 291.Dives at "Two Slots" and "The Maze", twice, in the Equator Islands Jan 21, 2023 Published • Mar 13, 2023 290.First two days of diving with Raja Laut, Frewin and Mioskon in Dampier Strait and Way Pretty … Published • Mar 12, 2023 289.Favorite Dive Photos from 2022 January 1, 2023 Published • Jan 1, 2023 288.Diving the Channel Islands on the "Vision" out of Santa Barbara November 6-15, 2022 Published • Nov 19, 2022 287.Very Good Dives at Aumentos and McAbee Pinnacle with Beach Hopper II October 7, 2022 Published • Oct 8, 2022 286.Good dives on the Pinnacles and inside the inner wash rock of Cypress Point September 8, 2… Published • Sep 11, 2022 285.Mono-lobo and a new dive site, South Moss Beach August 18, 2022 Published • Aug 23, 2022 284.Two Good Dives on Mono-lobo and at Cypress Point July 26, 2022 Published • Aug 6, 2022 283.Good dive on Mono-lobo July 12, 2022 Published • Jul 18, 2022 282.God's Pocket, Hurst Island, BC Dives from April 23 to April 27, 2022 Published • May 7, 2022 281.Fun dives on the Pinnacles in Carmel Bay and off Otter Cove, Monterey Bay off Pacific Grove … Published • Feb 24, 2022 280.Good dives at Mytridium Mountain and McAbee Pinnacle with Beachhopper II January 8, 2022 Published • Jan 10, 2022 279.Two very good dives off Clearwater Beach, FL, Clearwater Wreck and Spooky Ledge Published • Oct 26, 2021 278.Good dives off Clearwater Beach, FL on Brian's Ledge and the Airplane Barge October 23,2021 Published • Oct 25, 2021 277.Monolobo, Carmel Bay August 19, 2021 Published • Aug 23, 2021 276.Photo wrapup from 5 days in the Revillagigedo Islands May 28 - June 1, 2021 Published • Jun 12, 2021 275.Four final dives at "The Boiler" of San Benedicto Island June 1, 2021 Published • Jun 9, 2021 274.Three Dives at Cabo Pearce off Socorro Island May 31,2021 Published • Jun 8, 2021 273.Revillagigedo Islands, 2nd day, four dives on "The Boiler", one of the famous sites in the archi… Published • Jun 6, 2021 272.Diving the Revillagigedo Islands with the Nautilus Explorer, San Benedicto Island, The Canyon… Published • Jun 5, 2021 271.Two Fun Dives at Cabo Pulmo May 25, 2021 Published • May 26, 2021 270.Good Dive at Monolobo and a fun dive with playful, curious, rambunctious sea lions at Fire R… Published • Apr 4, 2021 269.Monolobo Friday, November 13, 2020 Published • Nov 17, 2020 268.Good dive at Monolobo November 2, 2020 Published • Nov 5, 2020 267.Good Dives at the Pinnacles and Monolobo, huge pod of Risso's Dolphins off Pt Pinos Octobe… Published • Oct 31, 2020 266.Enjoyable Dive at Otter Cove with Guy Foster October 17, 2020 Published • Oct 19, 2020 265.Two Very Good Dives on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay September 22, 2020 Published • Sep 26, 2020 264.Two Good Dives off Cypress Point, Carmel Bay September 10, 2020 Published • Sep 12, 2020 263.Two Dives at Monolobo July 23, 2020 Published • Jul 25, 2020 262.Risso's Dolphins, Monolobo dive, and a mystery fish June 23,2020 Published • Jun 26, 2020 261.Favorite Cabezon shots Published • Mar 27, 2020 260.Good Dives with Beachhopper II on Metridium Mountain and Aquarium March 7, 2020 Published • Mar 16, 2020 259.Two good dives with Beachhopper II on Hopkin's Deep Reef and McAbee Pinnacle 2/8/2020 Published • Feb 11, 2020 258.Upwellings, explosion in krill, and lots of whales! Published • Jan 20, 2020 257.Dominica Sperm Whale Videos and my favorite photos November 25 - 26, 2019 Published • Dec 29, 2019 256.Sperm Whales, Day VI November 30,2019 Published • Dec 4, 2019 255.Dominica Sperm Whales, Day V November 29, 2019 Published • Dec 3, 2019 254.Dominica Sperm Whales, Day IV November 28, 2019 Published • Dec 2, 2019 253.Dominica Sperm Whales, Day Two November 26,2019 Published • Nov 27, 2019 252.Dominica Sperm Whales November 25, 2019 Published • Nov 26, 2019 251.Monolobo October 30,2019 Published • Nov 18, 2019 250.Very Good Dives at Fire Rock and Chase Reef September 19, 2019 Published • Sep 24, 2019 249.Mitch's Hunch, off Pt Joe, September 7, 2019 Published • Sep 8, 2019 248.Thalassa cruise - two days of scuba diving August 14-24, 2019 Published • Sep 4, 2019 247.Tonga, Tonga Beach Resort, Thalassa catamaran, Neiafu 8-10--27-2019 Published • Sep 3, 2019 246.Snorkeling with Tonga's Humpbacks, August 12,13,18,19,23, 2019 Published • Sep 1, 2019 245.Dives with Sanctuary on the Pinnacles, Erik's Pinnacle, Aumentos, and Hopkin's Reef, 7-20 an… Published • Jul 30, 2019 244.Two Good Dives with Sanctuary on Octopus Reef and Inside Hopkins June 22, 2019 Published • Jun 25, 2019 243.Wonderful Shore Dive at Blue Heron Bridge May 17, 2019 May 17,2019 Published • May 22, 2019 242.Two Fun Dives on Veteran's Reef with Tanksalot May 14, 2019 Published • May 16, 2019 241.Two Fabulous Dives at 29 Mile Ledge and at 5 ft Ledge off Anclote Key April 30, 2019 240.Very Good Dives on Rube Allyn Artificial Reef and "Beautiful Crack" ledge with Can-Tank-erous Published • Apr 29, 2019 239.Great Dives at Masthead Ledge and a Shrimpboat Wreck April 25, 2019 Published • Apr 28, 238.Snorkeling with Crystal River Manatees April 20, 2019 Published • Apr 27, 2019 237.Fun Dives on the Airplane Wreck and Lookdown Reef, Clearwater 4-13-2019 Published • Apr 15, 2019 Charlie Schaffer 236.Favorites from God's Pocket, BC March 25-29, 2019 Published • Apr 14, 2019 235.Last two dives at God's Pocket, Seven Trees and Lucan Chute March 29, 2019 Published • Apr 10, 2019 234.Excellent dives at Browning Wall, Hoodie Nudi, and Ruth's Rocks, God's Pocket, 3-28-2019 Published • Apr 9, 2019 Charlie Schaffer 233.God's Pocket Cove Night Dive March 27, 2019 Published • Apr 7, 2019 232.Dives at Northwest Passage, Toy Boy, and Fantasy Island, God's Pocket, BC March 27, 2019 Published • Apr 7, 2019 231.God's Pocket, 2nd day's dives at Clam Wall, Aquarium, and Eagle's Nest March 26, 2019 Published • Apr 4, 2019 230.God's Pocket, BC 3-25-30-2019 Dives at Frank's Rock, Butter Tart, and Hussar's Point 3-25-20… Published • Apr 3, 2019 229.Very Good Dives on the Inner Pinnacle and Octopus Reef with Sanctuary March 16, 2019 Published • Mar 20, 2019 228.Fun Dives with Sanctuary on Erik's Pinnacle and Deep Shale Reef March 2, 2019 Published • Mar 5, 2019 227.First Dives of the year, Cavern at Stillwater Cove and Erik's Pinnacle February 9, 2019 Published • Feb 12, 2019 226.Favorite Diving Photos for 2018 Published • Dec 30, 2018 225.Very Good Dive at Mono-lobo, but we paid for it December Bel12, 2018 Published • Dec 14, 2018 224.Vision Trip Favorites November 5-10, 2018 Published • Nov 25, 2018 223.Dives with Sanctuary on Fire Rock and Paint Splatter, November 17, 2018 Published • Nov 20, 2018 222.Vision trip day six, Richardson Rock and Wilson's Rock November 10, 2018 Published • Nov 19, 2018 221.San Miguel Island, more fun with Sea Lions November 9, 2018 Published • Nov 18 2018 220.Black Sea Bass, Torpedo Ray Reef, SBI November 8, 2018 219.Day Four, fun with Sea Lions at Santa Barbara Island November 8, 2018 Published • Nov 15, 2018 218.Vision Day 3, San Clemente Island November 7, 2018 Published • Nov 14, 2018 217.Channel Islands, day two, Oil Rigs and Catalina Island November 6, 2018 Published • Nov 12, 2018 216.Sutil Island, Santa Barbara Island November 5, 2018 Published • Nov 12, 201 215.Fun, long dive at Pescadero Point November 2, 2018 Published • Nov 3, 2018 214.Excellent Dives on the Pinnacles and near Pescadero Pt 11-1-2018 Published • Nov 3, 2018 213.Two Very Good Dives at Mono-lobo October 23, 2018 Published • Oct 24, 2018 212.Very Good Dives on the Pinnacles and off Pt Joe October 22, 2018 Published • Oct 23, 2018 211.Dives off the Aquarium and inside Lover's Point October 6, 2018 Published • Oct 23, 2018 210.Very Fun dives with Sanctuary at Aumentos and Hopkins Aquarium 9-23-2018 Published • Sep 25, 2018 209.Very good, deep, dive at Mono-lobo September 22, 2018 Published • Sep 24, 2018 208. Inside Pt Pinos September 21, 2018 Published • Sep 21, 2018 207.Very good dives at Aumentos and Sammit's Pinnacle September 16,2018 Published • Sep 17, 206. Two Great Dives at Erik's Pinnacle September 8, 2018 Published • Sep 10 2018 205.Two Very Good Dives off Butterfly House, Carmel Bay September 2, 2018 Published • Sep 3, 2018 204.Very good dives off Butterfly House and on the Inner Pinnacle August 25, 2018 Published • Aug 26, 2018 203.Very good dives at the Inner Pinnacle in Carmel Bay and off Pt Joe August 17, 2018 Published • Aug 19, 2018 202.Very Good Dives at Stillwater Cove and Sammit's Pinnacle June 30, 2018 Published • Jul 1, 2018 201.Good Dives at Monolobo and Cypress Point June 25, 2018 200.Coastguard Breakwater June 23, 2018 Published • Jun 23, 2018 198.Two Dives at Sammit's Pinnacle/McAbee Beach Pinnacle May 26, 2018 Published • May 27, 2018 197.My first drysuit dive, at Coast Guard Breakwater May 24, 2018 Published • May 25, 2018 196.Really Good Dives at Mono-lobo and Fire Rock May 16, 2018 Published • May 17, 2018 195.Back to Monterey, dives on Hopkins Deep and Shallow Reefs April 28, 2018 Published • Apr 29, 194.Revillagigedos Ray of Hope Expedition Wrap Up April 24, 2018 Published • Apr 24, 2018 193. Two Final Dives at "Tres Amidas", San Benedicto Island April 9, 2018 Published • Apr 16, 2018 192.El Canyon, The Boiler, Tiger Gardens (formerly Hidden Gardens!) 4-8-2018 4-8-2018 Published • Apr 15, 2018 191. San Benedicto dives at the Boiler and Punta Norte April 7, 2018 Published • Apr 14, 2018 190.Roca Partida April 6, 2018 Published Apr 13 2018 189.Socorro Island, 2nd Diving Day with Southern Sport April 5, 2018 Published • Apr 12, 2018 188.Revillagigedos Islands, First Dive Day, El Canyon 4-4-2018 Published • Apr 11, 2018 187.Dives at Fire Rock and Aumentos February 17, 2018 Published • Feb 19, 2018 186.Fire Rock and off Frank Lloyd Wright House February 3, 2018 Published • Feb 5, 2018 185.My Favorite Dive Photos for 2017 184.Final Two Dives of the Season with Sanctuary on the Pinnacles December 30, 2017 Published • Dec 31, 2017 183.Two Dives with Sanctuary December 23, 2017 Published • Dec 26, 2017 182.Two Dives with the Silver Prince December 9, 2017 Published • Dec 11, 2017 Mon 181.Mono-lobo December 6, 2017 Published • Dec 7, 2017 180.Diving Anacapa Island with the Vision November 11, 2017 Published • Nov 18, 2017 179.Giant Black Sea Bass at Santa Catalina Island! November 10,2017 Published • Nov 17, 2017 178.Santa Catalina Island with the Vision November 9, 2017 Published • Nov 15, 2017 177.Diving San Clemente with the Vision November 8, 2017 Published • Nov 15, 2017 176.Santa Barbara Island with the Vision November 7, 2017 Published • Nov 14, 2017 175.Vision Diving Trip, Santa Catalina Island, Monday, Nov 6 174.Mono-Lobo October 27, 2017 Published • Oct 28, 2017 173.Good Dives at the Pinnacles and Ghost Tree October 26, 2017 Published • Oct 27, 2017 172.Good dive at Fire Rock, off Pescadero Pt, Carmel Bay October 18,2017 Published • Oct 19, 2017 171.Two Back-to-Back Dives at Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay October 17, 2017 Published • Oct 17, 2017 170.Fun, excellent dives at the Pinnacles and Aumentos with Sanctuary October 7, 2017 169.Excellent Dive at Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay September 28,2017 Published • Sep 30, 2017 168.Good dives on Erik's Pinnacle and the Shale Reef with Sanctuary September 23, 2017 Published • Sep 25, 2017 167.Whale watching and three dives with the Silver Prince September 9, 2017 Published • Sep 11, 2017 166. Monastery Beach September 2, 2017 Published • Sep 3, 2017 165.Very enjoyable dive off Butterfly House, Carmel Bay August 29,2017 164.Very Good Dives at Mono-lobo and south of Bird Rock August 28, 2017 Published • Aug 29, 2017 163.Two Good Dives in Monterey Bay August 10, 2017 Published • Aug 12, 2017 162.Two dives with the Silver Prince at Ghost Tree Wall and Fire Rock August 5, 2017 Published • Aug 7, 2017 161.Very good dives at Mono-lobo and off the Frank Lloyd Wright House August 2, 2017 Published • Aug 4, 2017 160.Good dives at Mono-lobo and Pescadero Point July 26, 2017 Published • Jul 27, 2017 159.Otter Cove Saturday, July 15, 2017 Published • Jul 17, 2017 158.Tahiti, Tahiti Aggressor February, 2007 Draft • Jul 5, 2017 157.Ghost Tree, Carmel Bay June 24, 2017 Published • Jun 26, 2017 156.Mono lobo June 22 2017 155.Celebrating 50 years of diving, Anegada, 1985 Draft • Jun 5, 2017 154.Celebrating 50 years of diving, a fun Octopus encounter, Komodo, Indonesia from January, 20… Published • Jun 2, 2017 153.Beautiful Blue Water at Mono-lobo May 20, 2017 Published • May 21, 2017 152.Kicking off my 51st year of scuba diving, dives at Ghost Tree, Carmel Bay, and Otter Cove, Pa… Published • May 16, 2017 151.Nai'a Day Six, 2nd day of diving at Namena Marine Reserve May 4, 2017 Published • May 14, 2017 150.Nai'a Day 5, Four Dives in Namena Marine Reserve May 3, 2017 Published • May 12, 2017 149.Nai'a Day 4 - Four Dives at Wakaya Island May 2, 2017 Published • May 10, 2017 148.Third Day on Nai'a, Three Dives and a village visit May 1, 2017 Published • May 9, 2017 147.Second Day on Nai'a, four day dives, one night dive April 30, 2017 Published • May 8, 2017 146.Nai'a First Day, Check Out Dive 4/29/2017 Published • May 7, 2017 145.Dives with Sanctuary at Erik's Pinnacle and Monterey Aquarium Intake Pipes 4-15-2017 Published • Apr 16, 2017 144.Fiji Favorites from 2011 & 2014 Published • Mar 28, 2017 143.Dives at Ball Busters and the Aquarium Intake Pipes with the Silver Prince 3-11-2017 Published • Mar 13, 2017 142.A Fun solo shore dive at Otter Cove, Pacific Grove March 2, 2017 Published • Mar 5, 2017 141.Very good dive at Pescadero Point February 13, 2017 Published • Feb 13, 2017 140.Long, fun, dive at Otter Cove February 2, 2017 Published • Feb 2, 2017 138.Cypress Point, Inner Wash Rocks January 6, 2017 Published • Jan 8, 2017 138.Last three dives of six day Vision Channel Islands Trip 11-19-16 Published • Nov 28, 2016 137.Dives at Judith Pinnacle, Wyckoff Ledge, and Abalone Alley Published • Nov 27, 2016 136.Dives at "Ant Farm", "Athens", "Willow West Wall" and "Coches Prietos" November 17, 2016 Published • Nov 25, 2016 135.First day of diving Santa Cruz Island with the Vision November 16, 2016 Published • Nov 24, 2016 134.A Day and a Night Dive on Santa Catalina's Eagle Rock November 15,2016 133.Diving the "Ellen" Oil Platform off LA with the Vision November 15, 2015 Published • Nov 22, 2016 132.Diving the Eureka Oil Platform off LA with the Vision November 15, 2016 Published • Nov 22, 2016 131.Diving Johnson's Rock and Farnsworth Bank off Catalina Island with the Vision liveaboard div… Published • Nov 21, 2016 130.A Second Day of Diving at Monterey's Coast Guard Jetty Oct. 5, 2016 Published • Oct 6, 2016 Published • Oct 5, 2016 129.Two Good Dives with the Sanctuary in Carmel Bay Saturday, Oct 1, 2016 Published • Oct 2, 2016 128.Two Dives at Erik's Pinnacle Sunday, September 25, 2016 Published • Sep 27, 2016 127.Dives at Ball Busters (II) and off Point Joe with the Sanctuary September 11, 2016 Published • Sep 13, 2016 126.Very Good Dives at "Ball Busters" and Shale Reef on the Sanctuary August 13, 2016 Published • Aug 15, 2016 125.Excellent Dive at Pescadero Point's "Fire Rock" Wednesday, July 27, 2016 Published • Jul 29, 2016 124.Very Good Dives at Mono-lobo and Outer Otter Cove July 26, 2016 Published • Jul 28, 2016 123.Eighth, Best, and Final Day at Cocos Island and travel back to San Jose, Costa Rica July 7 (an… Published • Jul 15, 2016 122.Seventh Day of Diving (next to last) at Cocos Island July 6, 2016 Published • Jul 14, 2016 121.Fifth day at Cocos includes a night dive. July 4, 2016 Published • Jul 13, 2016 120.Fourth Day of Diving at Cocos Island July 3, 2016 Published • Jul 12, 2016 119.Third Day of Diving at Cocos Island July 2, 2016 Published • Jul 11, 2016 118.Second Day of Diving at Cocos July 1, 2016 Published • Jul 10, 2016 117.Good dives at Washrock inside Cypress Point and on Erik's Pinnacle June 8, 2016 Published • Jun 9, 2016 116.Dives inside Sunset Point, Carmel Bay and inside Point Pinos, Monterey Bay May 25, 2016 Published • May 26, 2016 115.Very good dives at Mono-lobo and near Sunset Point, Carmel Bay, today May 24, 2016 Published • May 24, 2016 114.Two good dives at Otter Cove, Pacific Grove May 15, 2016 Published • May 16, 2016 113.A Very Good Dive off Carmels Butterfly House May 13, 2016 112.Two good dives, the first off Carmel River Beach, the second off Cypress Point May 12, 2016 Published • May 12, 2016 111.Otter Cove, again. May 6, 2016 Published • May 7, 2016 110.Good solo shore dive at Otter Cove May 3, 2016 Published • May 4, 2016 109.Mono-lobo for a second day April 21, 2016 Published • Apr 23, 2016 108.Monterey and Carmel Nudibranchs April 18, 2016 Published • Apr 18, 2016 107.First Dive of 2016! - Pescadero Point Wash Rock, 3/31/2016 I finally dived yesterday after mo… Published • Apr 1, 2016 106.Final Dive Blog of 2015 - Some favorite dives and photos from a great year of diving Published • Dec 31, 2015 105.Two good dives at Otter Cove including fun with Sea Otters October 17, 2015 Published • Oct 19, 2015 104.Spectacular dive off the Lone Cypress of 17 mile drive October 15, 2015 Published • Oct 16, 2015 103.Good dive on a new site off Lingcod Reef and off Point Joe October 14, 2015 Published • Oct 16, 2015 102.Pelagic Red Crabs and two excellent dives at Pescadero Point October 8, 2015 Published • Oct 10, 2015 101.Two fun dives at Mono-lobo, October 6, 2015 Published • Oct 10, 2015 100.Seal, Shipwreck, and Sea Lions at Cypress Point September 30,2015 Published • Oct 4, 2015 99.Exciting boat ride encounters with a humpback and bluefin tuna and good dives near Cypres… Published • Oct 3, 2015 98.Two days of Monterey diving, Point Joe, Outer Otter Cove, Chase Reef, Inner Chase Reef 9-22,… Published • Sep 25, 2015 97.Beautiful dive on Mono-lobo and a third dive on our new site off Point Joe 9-17-2015 Published • Sep 20, 2015 96.Two good dives on the Pinnacles and on the outer rock off Point Cypress, 9-16-2015 Published • Sep 19, 2015 95.A fun first dive on the shale reef off Del Monte Beach, Monterey September 13, 2015 Published • Sep 14, 2015 94.Very good dives off Monastery Beach and off Point Joe August 18,2015 Published • Aug 20, 2015 93.Two dives at a new Pescadero Point dive site August 17, 2015 Published • Aug 17, 2015 92.Good dives off Mono-lobo and near shore SE of Cypress Point Published • Aug 13, 2015 91.A good dive at Pescadero Point and fun with anchovy gorging Humpbacks at Cypress Point - … Published • Aug 10, 2015 90.Surface interval fun with dolphins and a dive at a near shore wash rock at Cypress Point, Aug… Published • Aug 6, 2015 89.Two good dives today and fun with a Harbor Seal and great surface action with dolphins, Hu… Published • Aug 5, 2015 88.Two dives at Lover's Point with Guy and Tessa Foster July 26, 2015 Published • Jul 27, 2015 87.Two dives on Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay July 23, 2015 Published • Jul 24, 2015 86.Two Very Good Dives on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay July 22, 2015 Published • Jul 22, 2015 85.Nice dive off the west side of Lover's Point with Guy Foster, July 19, 2015. Published • Jul 20, 2015 84.Two Pacific Grove shore dives; west side of Lover's Point, 7-8-2015 and Otter Cover, 7-9-2015 Published • Jul 13, 2015 83.A final day of diving off Anclote Key, for this year at least.... June 7, 2015 Published • Jun 9, 2015 82.Four Dives off Hurricane Pass May 30, 2015 Published • May 31, 2015 81.A great dive on a long ledge off Mandalay Hotel, Clearwater Beach May 23, 2015 Published • May 24, 2015 80.Dives off Clearwater FL, at Rube Allyn Artificial Reef, a 60-65 ft ledge, and on the Sheridan 5-… Published • May 17, 2015 79.Two beautiful Mother's Day dives off Anclote Key, the Shrimpboat Wreck and Mainmast Ledg… Published • May 11, 2015 78.Great Dive on Clearwater's Artificial Reef May 3, 2015 Published • May 4, 2015 77.Dive off Anclote Key April 25, 2015 Published • Apr 25, 2015 76.Dives at Mono-lobo and around wash rock NE of Cypress Point, March 11, 2015 Published • Mar 13, 2015 75.Three dives in two days at Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay. March 4,5, 2015 Published • Mar 8, 2015 74.A Giant Kelpfish at Otter Cove 2-25-2015 Published • Feb 26, 2015 73.Another shore dive at Otter Cove, Pacific Grove, 2-21-2015 Published • Feb 22, 2015 72.Otter Cove, February 20, 2015 Published • Feb 20, 2015 71.Two Beautiful Dives at Mono-lobo and off Pescadero Point, 2-17-2015 Published • Feb 19, 2015 70.The Attack of the Rainbow Nudibranch - Coastguard Breakwater, Monterey, Feb 2, 2015 Published • Feb 5, 2015 69.Coastguard Breakwater, January 29,2015 Published • Jan 31, 2015 68.Dives on the Pinnacles and SE of Cypress Point, Carmel Bay, January 22, 2015 Published • Jan 24, 2015 67.Sea Lions! Dives at Los Lobos rocks off Sobranes Point south of Pt Lobos and off Cypress P… Published • Jan 9, 2015 66.Dives at Yankee Point Wash Rock and off Ghost Tree, Carmel Bay, January 6, 2015 Published • Jan 8, 2015 65.Two very good dives to finish out the year, one near the Lone Cypress in Carmel Bay, the seco… Published • Dec 30, 2014 64.Two dives on Mono-lobo, November 18, 2014 Published • Nov 19, 2014 63.Dives on the Pinnacles and inside the Wash Rock south of Point Cypress, November 17, 2014 Published • Nov 19, 2014 62.Mono-lobo, November 6, 2014 Published • Nov 6, 2014 61.Sunset Point and Ghost Tree, November 5, 2014 Published • Nov 5, 2014 60.Coastguard Breakwater, Friday October 10, 2014 Published • Oct 11, 2014 59.Dives off Sunset Point and off north side of Cypress Point Published • Oct 10, 2014 58.A dive on the Pinnacles and a second dive at Mono-lobo, 10-2-2014 Published • Oct 3, 2014 57.Two dives off Pescadero Point, Carmel Bay, October 1, 2014 Published • Oct 3, 2014 Coast Guard Breakwater, 9-29-2014 Published • Sep 29, 2014 56.Humpbacks off Pescadero Point, Carmel Bay, and another good dive off Mono-lobo, Septemb… Published • Sep 20, 2014 55.Two dives on Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay, April 10, 2014 Published • Sep 13, 2014 54.Two days of Carmel and Pacific Grove diving August 26, 27, 2014. Surface partying Humpbac… 53.Cypress Point Outer Rock, 7-31-2014 Published • Aug 2, 2014 52. Cypress Point Wash Rocks, 7-17-2014 Published • Jul 23, 2014 51.Two excellent dives at Mono-lobo with new type of nudibranch and a friendly harbor seal. Jul… Published • Jul 23, 2014 50. Dive on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, 7-15-2014 Published • Jul 15, 2014 49. Dive on Mono-lobo, Carmel Bay, 7-15-2014 48.Pescadero Point, 5-21-2014 Published • May 27, 2014 47.Cypress Point, Inner wash rocks, 5-14-14 Published • May 19, 2014 46.SE of Cypress Point 5-13-14 Published • May 19, 2014 45.Cypress Point, Outer Rock 5-13-14 Published • May 19, 2014 44. Dive on Mono-lobo, last Thursday, May 1. 43.Dives on Pinnacles and off Pescadero Point last Wednesday, April 30. Published • May 7, 2014 42.Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, 4-7-2014 Greg Hoberg and I had an exceptional dive on the Pinnacles … Published • Apr 8, 2014 41.Finally, two days of diving on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, 2-24,25-2014 Greg Hoberg and I had … Published • Mar 29, 2014 40.Snorkeling with Reef Squid at the reef off the point at the east end of Sekewa Beach Published • Feb 19, 2014 39.Last snorkel dive at the reef off the point at the east end of Sekewa beach Published Feb 16 2014 38.Our third day of diving with KoroSun Dive, Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji Published • Feb 12, 2014 37.2nd day of diving with KoroSun Dive near Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji Published • Feb 9, 2014 36.Namena Marine Reserve, diving with KoroSun Dive, Chimneys site Published • Feb 7, 2014 35.Diving Namena Marine Reserve's "Crossroads" site with KoroSun Dive Published • Feb 7, 2014 34.Donna and I dive Namena Marine Reserve with Korosun Divers yesterday and we got some s… Published • Feb 5 2014 33.Macro Madness in Komodo. Mainly night dives with my 60 mm macro lens. Published • Feb 2, 2014 32.Two days of Manta madness at Karang Makassar, Komodo, Indonesia Published • Feb 1, 2014 31.Wainilu dusk dive, Seven Seas Liveaboard, Jan 9, 2014 - 30. Mandarinfish! Published • Jan 30, 2014 29.Nudibranchs from south Komodo on the Seven Seas 1-6-14 - 1-19-14 Published • Jan 30, 2014 28.Last night dive on Seven Seas Liveaboard, Komodo. 27.Diving the Seven Seas, Komodo, Indonesia, 1-6-2014 through 1-19-2014 Published • Jan 27, 2014 26.Two dives at Monolobo, Carmel Bay, 12-11-13 Published • Dec 16, 2013 25.Two dives first on the Pinnacles, second off Pescadero Point 12-10-13 Published • Dec 14, 2013 24. A second day of exceptionally calm seas. Boat ride to Point Sur, dives south of Point Lobos a… Published • Nov 30, 2013 23.Incredibly calm seas and two dives, one off Cypress Point, the second north of Hurricane Poi… Published • Nov 30, 2013 22.Whale watching off Moss Landing and a dive off Pescadero Point 11-13-13 Published • Nov 14, 2013 21.Dives on Monolobo, Carmel Bay, and off Point Joe, Asilomar on 11-12-13 Published • Nov 14, 20.2013 Monolobo 11-8-13 Published • Nov 13, 2013 19.A second consecutive day of diving on the Pinnacles, 11-7-13 Published • Nov 12, 2013 18.Two dives on the Pinnacles, Carmel Bay, November 6, 2013 Published • Nov 7, 2013 17.Dives on Pinnacles and Ling Cod Reef on October 30, 2013 Published • Nov 4, 2013 16.Two dives on the Pinnacles in Carmel Bay, Oct 23,24, 2013 Published • Oct 28, 2013 15.Another dive at Pescadero Point and a dive at Chase Reef and, Orcas! Published • Oct 22, 14.Pescadero Point 10-16-13 Published • Oct 22 2013 13.Mono-lobo, October 5, 2013 Whales in Carmel Bay and a great dive Published • Oct 9, 2013 12.Pescadero Point again today, 9-29-13 Published • Sep 29, 2013 11. Pescadero Point, Carmel Bay, 9-28-13 Published • Sep 28, 2013 Charlie Schaffer 10.Otter Cove, 9-27-13 Published • Sep 28, 2013 9.Outer Otter Cove 9-17-13 Published • Sep 20, 2013 8.Sunset Point, Carmel Bay, 9-16-13 Published • Sep 16, 2013 7.Mono-lobo 9-11-13 Published • Sep 14, 2013 6. Whales off Moss Landing and afternoon dive at Chase Reef 9-10-13 Published • Sep 14, 2013 5.Humpbacks, dolphins, and a great dive on Mono-lobo in Carmel Bay. Published • Sep 4, 2013 4.Whale watching and diving inner Chase Reef, Wednesday Aug 28 Published • Aug 30, 2013 3.Dives at Pescadero Point, Carmel Bay and Eric's Pinnacle, Monterey Bay 8-27-13 Published • Aug 30, 2013 2. Mono-Lobo, Carmel Bay, 8-20-13 Published • Aug 22, 2013 1. Outer Otter Cove 8-19-13 Published • Aug 22, 2013

Dives at Chatona (sp)#829 and McAbee Pinnacle #830 with Beachhopper II March 15, 2025

Guy Foster and I dived with Beachhopper II last Saturday. We were very pleased to catch a nice day with sunshine instead of rain but a fair sized sea was running so we had a bit of surge all the way down past 60 ft even though we were deep in Monterey Bay. This was my first dive at a new site called Chatona, which is a large rock formation with Metridium (aka Plumrose) anemones. Visibility was 3 to 6 ft and it was very dark since the top of the site is at 65ft and I was sometimes at about 80 ft. My new Backscatter Strobe, which worked spendidly for my numberous dives in the Maldives, for some reason was dead even though I had test fired it at home as I always do. Fortunately, my 18 year old INON continued its reliable performance. After getting home from our dives I opened up my Backscatter Strobe, found the batteries to still be completely charged and then did several iterations of removing and adding the batteries with the strobe usually, but not always, working. Don't know what is causing the intermittent results....Below are a few pictures from this dark cold limited visibility but still enjoyable dive, for a few more go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yUGfyRKm15N2tRXx6 This site has lots of Metridium (aka Plumrose) Sea Anemones, below:

Below: Kelp Rockfish

I did see a Cabezon, my favorite California fish subject, and managed to get a couple photos, below:

Our second dive was on McAbee Pinnacle and visibility was significantly better, around 15 ft, and light was better thanks to shallower depth with better visibility and sand bottom around the site reflecting light. Below are some photos from the dive, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/v4yDHqfFjQmWCJLQA Guy hunting for a subject, below:

Below: Sand Rose Anemone

Black Eyed Goby perched on an Orange Bat Star, below:

Below: A well camouflaged Painted Greenling next to a Tube Anemone

Dense invertebrate life. Giant Acorn Barnacles with Strawberry Anemones with Metridium in the background, below:

Below: Yellow Nudibranch

' Above: Female Kelp Greenling Below: One of the two large Lingcod I was pleased to see on the dive. I also saw a large California Sheepshead but didn't get a picture.

Strawberry Anemones with Bat Stars, below: