Revision 8/21/2009 3:01 PM
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Montana de Oro Beach - Spooner’s Cove
 Los Osos, CA |
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This beach is a nice destination for the day plenty to see for a two-tank dive. The underwater scenery is quite rocky, especially around the point where fish, abalone and crab abound.
If coming from Highway 101, take the Los Osos Valley Road exit to the North (3 miles South of San Luis Obispo). If coming from Morro Bay, take the Bay Blvd exit South from Highway 1, and turn right on Los Osos Valley Road. Los Osos will merge into Pecho Road. After the merge, drive for 3.8 miles to the park entrance.
I have dove Spooner’s Cove several times this year. It’s sort of a hit or miss place. It can be really an amazing dive with lots of plant and animal life. On a couple of my dives I saw schools of perch in the 100’s. However, divable days can be rare. The cove is fairly shallow and if there’s any hint of waves it’s best to go elsewhere. If conditions are calm, stick to either the north side or the south side. There’s nothing but sand in the middle.
I had heard some decent things about Montana de Oro, and they were all false. There were large, capsizing waves coming in all day. Water was very murky, with strong current, and very difficult to get in. The site had less than 1’ vis. Swam all the way out past the point on the left side hoping for some better vis. Dropped down to the bottom (avg 30’ - 40’), with about 1’ vis. There was also a strange current out there; it took over an hour to return to shore. But, having said all that, if the waves were smaller that weekend, it would have been an easy place to enter and exit, sandy shores. I wouldn’t recommend it though. Head up north for better vis.
Dove Montana De Oro a few days ago. Really nice shore entry and the possibility of a great dive, but no vis at this time. Went toward the point on the left side of cove and the vis was about one foot. With a five foot swell the cove was pretty flat, but the water was still very murky. Look to return on a day when the swell has been about 3 feet for four or five days, and then I think the diving will be great. I also think this would be a great kayak dive site.
Also known as Spooner’s Cove, this is a great site for all scuba levels. We went out on the left side towards the middle of the bay. Visibility was about 12 feet but I have heard reports of visibility being up to 30 feet (also down to 1 or 2 feet). We followed a rock formation out a few hundred yards until it ended and opened to a huge sandy bottom. We saw millions of tiny shrimp and small jellyfish eating them. Some of the best plant life I have seen; healthy, lush bull kelp and others nice plants. This location is often foggy, but you might have luck with the fog lifting in the afternoon. Crowded in the summer and deserted the rest of the year. Overall a great site with lots to see!
I’ve logged many dives here and have to say it’s one of my favorite dive spots in the SLO area. I’ve seen swell sharks, surf perch, rock fish, lingcod, cabezon, thornback rays, and even jumped a halibut here. Night diving can be adventurous here but watch out for the rangers since the beach closes early (we got in trouble last time). Dive the left wall and far left corner of the cove for some awesome rock formations. If you head straight out on the left side of the rock, you may come across a large boat anchor in ~20ft. The surf is always low but the vis varies (0-20ft).
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalM/Montana_de_Oro/index.htm