Dive log
Stats
- Max Depth: 30.0 m / 98 ft
- Average Depth: 20.7 m / 68 ft
- Duration: 31 minutes
- Water Temp: 12.0°C / 54°F
- Gas: EAN32
- Tank(s): HP100
- Pressure Start: 234 bar / 3400 psi
- Pressure End: 103 bar / 1500 psi
- Surface Consumption Rate: 16.63 L/min / 0.59 cf/min
Notes
After not making it around Point Pinos the past weekend, I was stoked to finally make it to the Carmel side. While I’ve dived at Point Lobos and Monastery, this was my first boat dive on the Carmel side of the Monterey coast. Given the calm conditions, a few of the more experienced BAUE divers and the captain decided on a spot that hadn’t been visited in a while: McDonald’s. South of Point Lobos, this dive site features a couple of beautiful swim-throughs, starting in about 70’ of water. Anchoring here is tricky, with the boat sitting just outside a submerged rock. The captain gave us a briefing on what to do if the anchor slips during our dive.
The swim-throughs were incredible—small enough to require careful finning but large enough to give a gorgeous view out the other side. This was helped by great visibility, up to 40’ at times.
The kelp was thinner than I expected, something the crew attributed to a healthy urchin population. Still, we found a large school of rockfish in the shallows around 30 feet, plus plenty of crabs and nudibranchs throughout the rock formations. We had to cut the dive a bit short after a buddy’s Shearwater transmitter stopped working. With no backup pressure gauge, it was the right and only call to make. Honestly, being the only one in a wetsuit, I wasn’t upset about heading up before the cold really started to set in.