Above me passed hundreds of three-foot long jellyfish, and they drifted by like an armada of alien spacecraft. Each jelly pulsated to the rhythm of an unheard drummer as they moved in unison toward some far off destination. Absolutely magnificent!

I, for one, always find something unique on each dive. This past summer the entire Monterey Bay was invaded by millions of jellyfish, and you would have had to be blind not to notice, if not appreciate, them. At other times you need to spend a little time looking for the ocean's more interesting critters and a seek a bit of knowledge to appreciate how unique they are. Aquarium Reef is one spot that will reward those who take time and search for some of the smaller, less obvious members of the Northern California reef community

Aquarium Reef is directly offshore of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The reef begins near shore and gently drops to a sand bottom at about 60 feet. This is a low-profile reef, with ridges of granite that run approximately parallel to shore, separated by sand channels. The rock rarely rises up more than several above the bottom. This reef supports a large bed of giant kelp, which can be very thick in summer months, but is rather thin in winter. This is not the type of site to sit back and enjoy the grandeur of the reef; it is the type of site that requires you to get your mask close to the reef and look for the little critters on the rocks or back in cracks. The rocky bottom is home to some large invertebrates: sunflower starfish, large anemones, sea cucumbers and sponges, but the smaller critters steal the show here.

Aquarium Reef has its fair share of nudibranchs and these are generally hard to miss due to their bright colors. Most of the several dozen species found here are dorids, but there are many aeolids and even a few dendronotids. Some nudibranchs can be very small, so you will have to get close to the rock and look carefully. Others, particularly dorids, can be the size of your fist.

Back in the cracks you will find several species of shrimp, crabs and tunicates. Look for abalone back in the deeper cracks. Move slowly and look carefully and you will never know what you will find. There are tiny, bright orange amphipods that live among the nudibranchs. Tiny barnacles live on the backs of snails.

While it is illegal to hunt here, Aquarium Reef is a great place for fish watching and fish photography. Small rockfish hang close to the reef or among the kelp fronds. Countless sand dabs and starry flounders are found in the sand channels. Look for gobies and little sculpins perched on top of sponges or hiding in cracks. 

Lately, a few dozen sea otters have been hanging out at Aquarium Reef. Otters may very well be the definition of the word "cute," with their rich fur and bewhiskered faces. Otters spend much of the day sleeping on a kelp blanket or busy hunting for fat innkeeper worms, clams, abalone or other mollusks. The rap-tap-tap that you often hear around Monterey is the sound of otters using a rock to break open hard-shelled mollusks. Otters generally avoid contact with divers, but the otters at Aquarium Reef are accustomed to divers and seem to take great pleasure in ignoring them.

When the winter storms roll into Monterey, the choice of available dive sites can be very limited. However, the massive Monterey Peninsula provides substantial protection from the normally southern storm swell, and adequate protection from the more common northwest swell. Except during the worst of the winter weather, there are always a few sites that offer plenty of marine life along with safe conditions, and Aquarium Reef can reliably be counted on to be a good dive

Location:  Offshore of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, between David and Prescott Streets.

Access: Boat only. Private boats may be launched from the Breakwater, or kayaks from McAbee Beach.

Depths: 20 to 60 feet

Visibility: Fair, 15-40 feet.

Photography:  Great macro photography for shrimps, crabs, nudibranchs, etc.  Good spot for otter and small fish portraits.

Hunting: This area is within Ed Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area, only finfish may be taken with hook and line, no spearfishing or taking of invertebrates is permitted.

Hazards:  Watch for boat traffic and thick kelp.