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Road Trip - San Diego to Monterey |
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Mamma came to visit Ouboet, and I was wondering what I could do to make her stay more memoriable. Well, it was obvious, a road trip from San Diego to Monterey. The only thing that could make it better, was to add some diving along the way. A preliminary itinerary was made, and the trip was set. Thursday morning early, we boarded flight 001 and jumped in the Stang. Things started slowly as we hit serious road traffic at Hwy 78 and continued on Hwy 15 hoping to meet Hwy 5 at LA. Please note, that there was no road maps present on this trip. That just takes all the fun out of it, you have to get lost every now and then. Unfortunately I had a bit of a cold, and could not dive Malibu as originally planned, Sorry Scott. |
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First stop, Santa Barbara. Andy at the Blue Water Hunter dive shop topped off my tanks and we looked around for a place to overnight.
Casa Del Mar won the bid, and we checked in. Later we shared in the cheese and wine event, met some interesting travelers. |
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We cruised Santa Barbara State street, with all it's little shops and finally had dinner at Enterprise Fish Company. |
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11/19 - Met Dan at a local dive site called Tajiguas. About 15 miles north of Santa Barbara, set your radio to AM, and when it starts to make a really bad noise, you found this site.
Most dangerous thing at this site is the train......... |
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Tajiguas - Shallow dive site (30ft max), with lots of structure (rocks in the right side of the picture). Dan was looking for lobster, but few were seen, and the ones we saw was hiding really deep in the crevices. Saw a nudi that I haven't seen before. Found a Leopard shark in a lobster trap, but it was too late. |
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Kelp was very thin and grabbed your fins straps every now and then. Thanks for the warm water Dan, was good diving with you.
Unfortunately, my underwater housing did not arrive in time, so no diving pics. |
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Heading North, we stopped at various possible dive sites, but since I didn't have a dive buddy, and still feeling a little sick, I thought it best not to solo.
Here's a pic of the Stang with Moonshine beach in the background.
Note to Self: Get a real dive mobile... |
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Avilla beach was beautiful and I would have loved to have dived this spot, oh well, next time. |
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After taking the exit to Hwy 1 at Morro Bay, we get to Big Sur, the highlight of the trip. Big Sur in California, is famous for it's prestine natural beauty and dramatic rugged coastline. I can only compare it to Chapman's Peak in South Africa, but after a lot of debating, I think my mother and I agreed that his was definately more scenic. Really something to experience. This is a pic at the start of the Big Sur experience driving North to Monterey. |
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Mamma was thinking about jumping, but I told her I'll take her to a better spot. She does look a bit upset. |
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I love these big boulders rising from the ocean. |
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The Bixby Creek Bridge on Highway 1 was build during the Great Depression to provide work to California's unemployed. |
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11/20 - After a good nights rest, I met Andy at the infamous Monastery dive site. This is an easy access site toward the Southern end of Carmel River State Beach.
This is a great wall dive, that allows you to explore part of the Monterey Submarine Canyon. There is a hugh Kelp forrest that keeps you busy towards the end of the dive. |
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Entering this site requires the swell to be small. It wasn't and I landed on my rear twice during the entry. We dropped down to 110 ft in 52 degree water and followed the wall North to find huge under water boulders. I love this site. Vis was 30-40ft. Thanks Andy, great diving with you, sorry about the ticket. |
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Monastery opposite the Carmel River State Beach, hence the name of the dive site. |
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After diving, we set off to explore Monterey. Del Monte Forrest as seen driving along 17-Mile Road. |
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In oder to get this picture of Poppy Hills Golf Course, I had to climb the fence of one of those $2 000 000 estates in this area.
Poppy Hills, located in Pebble Beach California and designed by Robert Trent Jones II, is a challenging, par 72, venue that weaves through the Del Monte Forrest. |
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Next we headed to the Monterey Aquarium.
Tropical display. |
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I must admit, they had a very extensive collection of Jelly fish galleries. |
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Sea Dragon |
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I had to ask mamma for the compass, thought I was back in South Africa, no wonder it took so long........ |
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Original plan called for staying over in Monterey, but we decided to drive back to LA. Partied at the Saddle Ranch that evening where mamma was looking for her 22 year old.
She wouldn't do the mechanical bull ride though? |
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11/21- Next morning, we went to meet some of my scuba buddies from Scubaboard in Laguna Beach. Looks like a great site, but I didn't dive it. |
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Everyone say cheers!!!!!!!! |
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