I ended up getting rockstar parking at the Shell Shop which meant diving at one of my favorite shallow spots, The Clam/ Goldfish Point. Max depth here is 30'-40' so long dives are possible. One of the negatives is the hike down and up the hill with dive gear. Another is all the bozo kayak tours and tourists that get pulled by their "naturalists" [burned out surfers that know a kids book version of the flora and fauna of the area] through the caves, it's ridiculous during the summer and I really think the city needs to start limiting these operators; snorkelers get run over routinely by these groups.
Since the hike in full scuba gear can be tough (look closely in the picture of the dive site and you'll see a guy wearing a banana hammock climbing up the cliff- without any gear), I decided to use my O2 rebreather. It's smaller and provides nice long bottom times, but it has a max depth of 20 feet due to oxygen toxicity on the human body. Here are a few photos and videos of dives on September 29 & 30.
