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: