Scubareefing
Kelp forests, seals, sea otters
Fly to San Francisco, San Jose, or Oakland, California. From the first two airports it's a two-hour drive south.
Year round
Carmel, California, USA
Aquarius Dive Shop (aquariusdivers.com), Bamboo Reef (bambooreef.com), Monerey Bay Dive Company (mbdcscuba.com)
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Diving opportunities in Point Lobos, USA are available.
By Ethan Daniels (Adapted from "passport to diving the world")
North America's most stunning and diverse dive sites.
Light cascades through the canopy of giant bull kelp 20m above, illuminating a temperate underwater realm beyond description. The scale of everything - from nudibranchs to sea stars - is enormous, making me feel rather small and inconsequential. Cold California waters have bathed this rocky coast for eons, creating a vast arena of wildlife. A variety of multicoloured fish, sea lions, seals, and sea otters flourish here; and just offershore lurks the most fearsome predator currently living: the great white shark. A fat cabezone peers at me from a boulder covered with pink strawberry anemones. Schools of rockfish pass by, disappearing into the green forest shadows. It's a dark world here, but my eyes register intense and vibrant colour. It's both humbling and inspiring to dive out of North America's most stunning and diverse dive sites.
(Ok enough with the stories, I'm itchin' for a dive)