Central Coast: Jade Cove 7/07/06

Jade Cove

Buddy:  John Lumb

Surf:  1-2'

Swells:  Moderate to heavy on exit

Surge:  Moderate to heavy (6-8'~ flyin')

Viz:  5-10' at best

Temp:  50'  Suunto Friggen Cold!!!

Bottom Time:  41 minutes

Max Depth:  25'

Went camping this past weekend at Morro Bay State Park in which we took along our dive gear.   We decided to dive Jade Cove which is about 60 miles north of Morro Bay, past San Simeon, just past Gordo.  It was a cool morning with fog settling in over the water and creeping its way onto the landscape.  Regardless of the fog, it was a beautiful drive up the coast.

Upon arrival at Jade Cove National Park, we made our way down the pathway to the edge of the cliff to check out conditions.  From atop, we could see moderate swells and surf but thought the site was still diveable.  We got geared up and made our way back to the top of the cliff.  Eyeing the pathway, we could see that it was not what it used to be.  Parts of the pathway have given way to rock and loose gravel.  Other parts of the path was overgrown with brush and poison oak (thank goodness for neoprene boots, gloves, and wetsuits!).  We gingerly made our way down the cliff face.  As we approached the bottom half of the cliff face, we had to get into 'mountain goat' mode to make our way over the steep rock face.  Once at the bottom, we still had to maintain 'mountain goat' mode to make our way over the various rocks and boulders that we encountered on the shore. 

Initially, we had thought to make a rock entry, however, the surf and swells were pretty heavy.  Changing gears, we continued to climb over yet more rocks and boulders heading for the 'Kelp' beach.  There is no sand to be seen.  Just heavy kelp...about 2 feet deep....with flies, bugs, creepy crawlies everywhere, not to mention the 'slippery, slithery' kelp which was very tricky in getting our footing.  Once to the kelp/ water edge, we managed to get our fins on and out into the water, climbing over even more boulders that were submerged.  Whew!  The hard part was over...so we thought.

Looking out towards the rock that we normally dive, it was a sea of Giant Bullhead Kelp.  The kelp bulbs were bigger than the slow pitch softballs.  Huge.  Our next challenge was in front of us....a field of kelp stalks and bulbs that were so bouyant, it was very difficult to navigate over them....but we did it.  Once we got into a clearing, we dropped down in front of the big rock.  I know the pic looks *REALLY* calm, but it wasn't!!!  Surge and Swells flung us around.  More often than not, I had to grab onto a kelp stalk so that I wouldn't go flyin'.  Upon dropping down, I was suprised that viz actually looked pretty good.  Initially about 10' in the clear areas free of kelp, decreasing to about 5' under the kelp and around the rough side of the rock.

John and I were lucky to find some nice pieces of jade.  I also managed to get a couple of pictures, as tough as it was with the surge.  The calmest part of the dive was inside a cave/ crevice area in the big rock.  It was really cool going inside, for normally, you can't get all the way in to take a look around.   Unfortunately, my dive light had low batteries, so my attempts at illuminating the cave area failed me greatly, thus, not finding any jade inside.  Due the increasing surge and the cool temps, we decided to end our dive after 40 minutes. 

We surfaced, only to see that the swells and surf indeed did pick up.   It was a tough decision to decide where to exit.  Initially, we thought through the rocks since we were closer and the rocks (boulders) could potentially block some of the swells.  As we made our way over, a big set of waves came through that quickly changed our minds.  I did notice that there was less kelp near the boulders, so I stayed close to make my way around to the 'kelp' beach.  John reached the beach first and litterally had to climb out over the rocks and smaller boulders onto the kelp bed.  A swell came in and landed me atop the rocks.  Talk about feeling like a beached whale.  I could not move.  When I did, I would slip backwards.  John came and rescued my camera from me which was my main concern.  Then I was able to pull myself up the rocks and kelp in which John assisted me in removing my tank and BC.  I might add, this whole time, I had my reg in my mouth, for I didn't want any extra 'bug' protein for lunch.  Once we got our bearings, we donned our gear, and made our way back over the rocks and boulders to the beginning of what was once the cliff face path, that is now practically verticle.  This was our biggest challenge in getting past this initial part that is about 30-40'.  We continued making our way up the cliff face, stopping for frequent rest breaks and picture taking.

I had to laugh, for John made the comment: 'What human in their right mind would dive HERE???'  I responded, 'what woman in her right mind would dive HERE???'  We both had a good laugh, for this was our third time diving this spot!

Side note:  IMHO this site is for EXPERIENCED Divers in GOOD Physical/ Psychological shape.  There is no lifegaurd, call phones, or nearby emergency services.  Dive at your own risk.

***Live to Dive, Dive to Live***

Jan

8:05 PM - 7/9/2006 - post comment