My dive partner and I (both marine biologists, myself with ~ 200 dives and my partner an instructor with thousands of dives in various parts of the world) had a terrific time diving with Dave. It was just the three of us, and Dave anchored the boat and also dove. He suggested that we dive at Point Lobos (as it has better visibility than most sites within Monterey Bay, and spectacular topography and fauna), and he took us to the Bluefish Cove to dive on a couple of different pinnacles. There were no other boats or divers at our site (but quite a few people diving from shore in Whaler's Cove -- just around the corner). The visibility that day was 80-90 feet (at least). I have never seen such crystal-clear water in a temperate location (other than Lake Baikal, which is a whole another story). We did not really need flashlights at 90 feet. The pinnacles were an explosion of life and color. The rock is carpeted with coralline algae and invertebrates: purple and red urchins, pink strawberry anemonies (Corynactis), orange cup corals (Balanophylla), several different species of seastars (Patiria, Evasterias, Dermasterias, Henricia), mats of colorful brittle stars (thousands of them), sponges of various shapes and colors, purple hydrocorals (Stylaster), nudibranchs (sea slugs) of various kinds, polychaete worms (most noticeably Eudistalya -- the giant feather-dusters, and Dodecaceria -- the little tube worms with black tentacles, boring into coraline algae), tunicates (sea squirts), bryozoans, sea cucumbers, anemonies large and small, shelled molluscs (snails, abalone, scallops, giant keyhole limpets, gumboot chitons). The list goes on. In the blue waters surrounding the pinnacles there were schools of blue rockfish. There were also several other species of rockfish, and greenlings, including many very pretty painted greenlings. We saw a ctenophore (Bolinopsis), some jelly fish (sea nettles, Chrysaora), and a chain of three very large salp zooids (each about 25 cm long) -- one with a little fish residing in it. I would say these were the best cold water dives I have had in my life, and, possibly, close to being the best overall, all things considered. The little zodiac is very comfortable, we had no trouble getting in and out of it, and with just the three of us on board there was plenty of room to gear up. Dave is punctual and communicative, highly experienced as a diver (instructor), boat captain, and tour operator, and knowledgeable about the local sites. Dave brought and offered us water and brownies between dives (and took us back to the Whaler's Cove, so I could use the bathroom between the dives, important when diving in a dry suit!). The water was 51F (10C). Dave is very laid back and just a very nice person, and a pleasure to deal with. He always wrote back within a day or two whenever I had a question, and brought us Nitrox tanks and weights just as I requested, and was also patient as one of us forgot the DIN/Yoke adaptor and I called him at 7 am the day of our dive to find out whether he had a spare (as it happens the tanks he had were compatible with both DIN and Yoke, and he also had a spare adaptor, and reg). Overall -- top notch experience. Highly recommend to anyone considering diving in Monterey area. It does not get better than this. read more
