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The Viz is Great!
July 10, 2010
Story by Sharon
Diving on July 10, 2010 Carmel

Waking up to no wind and fair skies, the ADT team expected good dive conditions. Many spoke of 70’ viz and clear water in Carmel, so we loaded twin cylinders, gear and divers, 11 of us and headed south. Motoring out, passed Pt Pinos and saw no waves to speak of. We knew Carmel was the place. A short 30 minutes later found us anchored on Butterfly House. This great dive site gets its name from the large home on the shore with a roof reassembling butterfly wings in flight. First off the stern, jumped Chris in 80s along with his buddy, Shawn. Then closely behind them were Sharon and Raji. Soon Gary and Scott stepped off, followed by Sherry and Gary. Off the starboard side went Les with Don and Becki going off the stern. On the line, a bit of time to clear and soon all were on the site. Butterfly offers a depth of 90’ with walls coming up within 50’ from the surface. So picture a deep sand chute with tall walls along it. Gary tied in and ran the reel along the wall, spying millions of strawberry anemones mixed among the pearly white sponges. The short, palm like kelp was plentiful today, not much surge if any. We moved thru the kelp stands, peered at the rocks. We found many nudibranch egg sacks and soon a couple of dorids cuddled together. There were many lemon nudibranches as well of varying sizes. We found many colorful invertebrates – stars of several varieties, sea cucumbers, anemones, brilliant hues of sponges to list a few. It’s like every cold water starfish lived on this site too. The walls give the sea life protection from the surge and other water movement which allows for enhanced growth. We all followed along the canyon and turned at about 30 minutes. With about 50’ viz, the navigation was pretty easy. Kicking back to the anchor, we followed the wall. Just east of the anchor at about 73’, Les found a crack in the wall stuffed with a juvenile wolf eel. He was orange and brown and had the narrow head similar to a morel eel. We watched for a while till we had to start up. We just had a dive at 87’ and needed a bit of deco. Ascending in the kelp, we found a place to “hang” till time to surface. Now back on the boat, we enjoyed the warmth of the sun and a pastry.
Our next dive was on Monolobo Wall. The current was down and the viz was good, it was a natural choice. The kelp was very healthy this day. Kelp grows about 2 feet per day, and the surface carpeted with kelp definitely supported this stat. Jim carefully selected an anchorage that allowed the divers access below the kelp. We donned our gear and were ready to go. First Les, Becki, Chris and Don were off, followed closely by Gary and Scott. Then next Gary and Sherry stepped off the stern. They sorted through the surface kelp and descended. Soon Raji jumped. This was his first experience in reel kelp. The kelp was so thick, the divers landed on the kelp and slid through the forest. Captain Jim talked him thru the process as Sharon quickly slipped in her gear to come to his assistance. A few minutes later Sharon had him free from the entanglements and they were ready to descend. Once near the bottom, the viz at 80 feet was approximately 50’. Swimming along the wall, we found clusters of stars and anemones, every color you can imagine. All of the rocks were covered with colorful chorinactis, crimson anemones and schooling fish. One couldn’t miss the hydrocorals and sponges popping out everywhere! The kelp was exceptionally thick today; you maneuvered “thru the trees”. Again, we don’t get to dive this site too often due to currents. But today, the conditions were ideal. After 30 minutes, it was time to surface. Doing deco in the kelp, we observed the kelp crab, blue ring top snails and a few tiny nudibranches. Now at 10’ or so and seeing the heavy kelp covering above, we kicked to the ladder while still under the boat. We moved in and around the forest thru the shadows to arrive at the stern, slowing surfacing and pulling fins to climb the ladder. Jim cut away some of the kelp to ease climbing and add a layer of safety. Now all on board and motoring back to Monterey. What a terrific day of diving. Mother Nature was watching over and provide for this. You can’t miss these great dives, Call us now!

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