Carmel Bay — Middle Reef & Kelp
Carmel Bay · near Carmel / Monterey · Central Coast
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Depth
- 80
- Water temperature
- 50–58°F · 7mm + hood/gloves or drysuit
- Best season
- Calm days · fall clearest
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit for boat diving in Carmel Bay outside the Point Lobos reserve. Boat charters (e.g. from Monterey) reach the bay's offshore reefs and pinnacles — cleaner and deeper than the shore sites. Advanced cold-water boat diving; check conditions.
What is here
- Marine life
- Pristine offshore kelp reef · Otters, seals, sea lions · Rockfish, lingcod, hydrocoral · Pinnacles & walls
- Features
- Offshore Carmel Bay pinnacles · Cleaner, deeper than shore sites · Hydrocoral & wall life · Otters, seals & sea lions
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- Yes
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- scuba
- Entry
- boat
- Viz
- 30–60 ft
- Intl tip
- Boat charter from Monterey reaches Carmel Bay's offshore reefs — cleaner and deeper than shore diving, and it avoids Monastery's dangerous entry. Advanced cold-water boat diving. Fall is clearest. Otters and marine mammals are frequent. Combine with a reserved Point Lobos dive for a full Carmel-area day.
The guide
Carmel Bay's offshore reefs and pinnacles offer some of the Monterey Peninsula's finest boat diving — cleaner, deeper, and wild…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Carmel Bay — Middle Reef & Kelp — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.548, -121.941