 |
 |
Chase Reef
In 1901 Lucie and Henry Chase moved to Pacific Grove, and Lucie became active in the Woman's Civic Improvement Club. She was well known for many good d |
|
|
|
Author |
: Bruce Watkins |
|
Location |
:
Monterey County
|
|
Date |
: October 11, 2009 |
|
If you ever get a-hankerin' to leave the crowds behind, you need to look no further than Carmel Bay. When the popular named sites of Monterey are teaming with divers, the rocky beaches of Carmel are often deserted. If fact, if you dive the Butterfly House, you may be the only dive team there.
The Butterfly House entry is located on the protected, south side of the City of Carmel, and takes its name from the house with the funky, wing-like roof. This house is hard to miss as you drive along Scenic Road. Butterfly Cove is relatively long and thin with rocky reefs flanking both sides. These reefs provide considerable protection to the entry point.
The beach has a few rocks in the surf line that need to be avoided, and then the bottom gradually drops away from 5 to 15 feet. This is a pretty area to explore if there is little swell. There is a colorful display of marine algae on the rocks and a host of small crabs, nudibranchs and snails can be found.
From the shallow rocky area the bottom drops to 40 feet to a sand bottom with few redeeming features for divers. The bottom again becomes rocky when it drops to 50 feet in the major offshore kelp bed. The bottom under the kelp is rocky with valleys, canyons, and small caves. The kelp tends to filter much of the plankton from the water and the visibility here is often better than at near-by locations. There are plenty of colorful anemones, nudibranchs and little fish to keep the most demanding photographer/sightseer happy. This is a good spot for wide-angle photography, particularly kelp shots.
There are a few lingcod in the deeper rocky reef and a few small cabezons as well, but I've seen few here fish worth shooting. Schools of blue rockfish are sometimes found at the outside edge of the kelp bed.
Those with boats will want to anchor on the out shore side of the extensive kelp bed, and head offshore of the kelp bed to will find deeper water and more interesting bottom topography. Running perpendicular to shore are a series of rocky ridges. The tops are in 50 feet of water and the bottoms are at 70 to 90 feet, with a mixture of sand and rock in between the ridges. In most places the ridges are nearly vertical or have pronounced overhangs, creating a series of mini walls and small caves. The walls are covered with lots of colorful invertebrates--mostly sponges, cup corals and anemones. Look for crabs hiding in the large crevices, and chestnut cowries in the smaller ones.
What is really impressive with this area is the fish life. There are numerous lingcod sitting on rocky perches. Most of these are covered with scores of copepods. There are also a large numbers of vermilion, grass and kelp rockfish, and cabezon. This is a fish photographer's heaven, since the fish here are particularly friendly.
Butterfly is a safe and comfortable dive when the northwest swell is running, if the wind switches out of the south it can be a bit dicey. However, you will find very few divers here and lots of marine life. I don't know about you, but while underwater I'd rather see more marine life and fewer divers.
Dive Spot At A Glance
Location: At the intersection of Scenic Road and Stewart Way in Carmel.
Access and Entry: To get to Butterfly House drive west on Rio Road from Hwy. 1, turn left on Santa Lucia, and make a left on Scenic. Make a left on Stewart, and park near the intersection. The beach is a short, but steep, walk down a rocky cliff. There is limited parking available and are no facilities. Kayaks may be launched here but not boats. Larger boats may launch at the Monterey Breakwater for the long ride to Carmel, or from Stillwater Cove. There are no facilities.
Skill Level: Intermediate to advanced.
Depths: 10 to 90 feet.
Visibility: Good, usually 20 to 30, but can be 50 feet or more.
Photography: Good macro and wide-angle photography.
Hunting: Fair spearfishing for rockfish and lingcod. This area is part of the Carmel Bay State Marine Conservation Area and no invertebrates may be taken.
Hazards: Rocks in surf line, variable surf, thick kelp.
|
|
|
