Diving Monterey Bay

Now I'm settling into California life I thought it was about time I did some exploring underwater as well as above. Fortunately my flatmate Neil is a diver too, and as it turned out we had a special guest appearance from one of my diving buddies from Scotland too!

Thanks to Neil and Sands for joining me on a couple of great dives, and to Aquarius Dive Center in Monterey (and especially Bruce) for all the advice on planning the trip and dives, and help with the kit.

	Neil seemed pretty comfortable in the water right from the off. The kelp in the background grows in clumps 10 or 15m long, right from the seabed to the surface.
	The sandy seabed was covered in these 5cm tall entrance cones to little burrows.
	This is the site we were diving - just walking in off the beach at Lovers Point.
	Lovers Point is also a popular destination for family picnics, and even weddings!
	The next day we dived the marine reserve at Point Lobos. This is one of the bundles of kelp that makes up the forrest.
	This anemone doesn't look that special until you realise it's about a foot in diameter. It's about 10 times the size of the ones we get in Scotland!
	There's a lot more fish life in the reserve than there was at Lovers Point, which is apparently a popular spearfishing spot.
	Looking up at one of the more isolated bits of kelp.
	Another huge anemone - about 15cm across.
	There are starfish everywhere, and in all colours to match their environments.
	Are you getting the theme yet? Diving in a kelp forrest was VERY cool!
	Look what I found in the kelp? Yes, it's Sands who I often dive with in Scotland. She's dropped in as part of her big adventure - if you follow the link she has a blog and some pictures too!
	Another starfish.
	Now you see me, now you don't. These well camoflaged flatfish are really only clearly visible when they move!
	Sands was delighted to find a nudibranch - GO TEAM PINK!
	It was very colourful with just about every family of marine life represented.
	Another starfish, this one wandering around the holdfasts of the kelp.
	This isn't a good photo, but you's have to trust me when I tell you this looks like a foot long rock...
	...but turning it over reveals it is a Chiton, one of the most primitive forms of life - a living fossil.
	A little shell tries to burrow into the sand.
	More kelp. You can see the bladders that hold it up really clearly here, along with a few of the top shells that graze all over it.
	Sands and I after the dive - me still wearing my thermal jumper... The water was about 10 degrees centigrade. I was OK in my drysuit but Sandra and Neil got pretty chilled in their rented wetsuits...
	Seals basking on the beach.
	The bay we dived - the entry point is just on the left down a slipway.
	You can see how clear the water is near the beach.
	Neil and I - I think Neil was still shivering at this point!
	The view across the bay was glorious, although we could see the fog starting to roll in at Cypress Point.
	There was also a little fog spilling over the tip of Point Lobos.
	A panoramic view of the area we dived. If you look closely you can see a gap in the kelp in the middle of the bay, which is the sandy channel we explored around underwater.
	The parking lot gets pretty busy with divers even though only 30 divers per day are permitted in the reserve.