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Montana De Oro

August 14, 2001

Vickie and I launched at Spooners cove in Montana De Oro State park (near Morro Bay). We paddled south to the second headland past point Buchon and back for a round trip of about 5.5NM. This trip was similar to SL6 in Rob Mohle's book except we went a little farther. For reference the San Luis buoy was running about 5 feet. I think Rob's assessment was accurate.  This is an area for advanced paddlers, or possibly intermediates in calm conditions. I think it was "calm" on the day of our trip. My opinion of difficulty is based on the wide variability of conditions between some protected spots with only gentle surge raising and lowering the water level, some coves with large areas of breaking water (5'-6'), and some headlands with large peaky waves (7'-8') that didn't break (much) and were much larger than the swell (If you're curious how I measure these waves click). Also, once you pass the park boundary you're on your own. I think this is a place to be careful.

Outside of offshore islands, this is probably the most interesting (U.S.) spot we have paddled into. We paddled inside the reefs / rocks wherever possible (that's where the fun is) and were able to explore numerous caves, arches, and tunnels. Most of the caves & arches could be entered safely and the rough areas we tried could be transitioned with a little care. Mostly it wasn't as bad as it looked. Since we were alone, and in a remote area, we were very cautious. Even so, this is a great play area.

We had already seen many birds and a few otters, but we got an unusual surprise..

On the north side of one of the headlands, I think the one just north of point Buchon, there was what looked like a cave with a collapsed ceiling. We paddled through the tunnel that opened into a small pool with cliffs on all sides, except a narrow channel that allowed passage to the west side of the headland.  The exit channel was relatively calm because numerous rocks farther out were dissipating the energy of the swell. I was admiring what a cool place we had found when Vickie said "Look, there are two goats". There were two goats looking down on us from the cliff about 15' above us. Not the expected sea mammals.

I have a feeling there is much more fun to be had in this area farther south, but we ran out of time. I'd like to go back here with a few additional experienced paddlers and push the limits (and fun) a little more. An ideal trip would be a one way trip from Spooners cover to Port San Luis with an overnight stop in between to allow enough time for in depth exploration. I'm going to get in touch with PG&E to see if shoreline camping (above mean high tide) is a possibility.

Tuesday 1/1/02 (We went back) 

We ended up having a good weather window to make this our last paddle before gong home. Swell was 7' at the San Luis buoy and 6' feet at the Diablo canyon buoy. Tide ranged from 4'-to-5'. Last time we did this trip it was lower tide and 5' swell at the San Luis buoy. This made a surprising difference as we were much less successful at getting into places.

Size difference between the smallest and largest wave in a set was huge, but on top of that there were "supersets" (I think I just invented that term). Every few sets a "superset" would come though in which the biggest waves were gigantic compared to the largest waves in other sets. The larger waves were blowing over many of the reefs like they weren't even there. This made timing and transition difficult to impossible because in many places there were no safe zones when the biggest ones came through.

In one of the small coves north of Point Buchon I slowly started working my way in. Vickie stayed well off and warned me against going in. As I worked my way in the waves were getting pretty steep, but were holding up until passing over a submerged reef before breaking. Waves seemed to be breaking in the 4’-to-7’ range over the reef with manageable surge behind the reef. It seemed doable so I kept creeping in while keeping an eye on the rear for anything unusual.

At one point I looked back and almost could not believe my eyes. The wave was huge. I began back paddling with a vengeance (something I practice). I got airborne as I flew backward over that 10’+ wave. I don’t think it made it all the way to the reef before breaking. When it did, the whole cove, including the area behind the reef looked like a pot of water boiling over. I didn’t go back in.

Even in Spooners cove, which is very well protected, there were useable small surge channels and washovers to play in.

We did manage an arch, a couple of caves, and a little bit of rock play outside Spooners cove, but with much caution and some luck.

The picture below shows Vickie heading toward an opening in some sea stacks on this route. The picture was taken on our last trip to that area when conditions were much calmer. When the swell is up you either have to go through as per the arrow or go all the way around to the right.

I went though the stacks going both directions and both times I was shot through the maze of rocks like a pinball careening off of walls of water building up against the rocks. I don't want to say that it was luck, but it was definitely a state of semi-control. On the way back, before I went through it seemed like Vickie was lining up behind me to follow (if I lived). I took me a while to transition out and by the time I turned around she was out of sight. I waited, and waited, and waited. I began to wonder if she had changed her mind or had capsized in the maze of tall rocks. When I went to look for her I decided not to go back through the rocks since two swimmers (out of two) would be a very bad thing. Happily, before I could round the stacks she came into view. We need to work on our on the water communication.

The picture below shows water breaking against a large rock in a small cove. This is a typical play spot in this area and one of the few that was useable on the day we went. I rode the back of a wave over the reef into the cove, turned to face the opening of a tunnel that exits the cove to the left, rode out a medium size set of waves that came barreling through the tunnel into the cove, then sprinted through the tunnel in between sets. If this is fun for you, then Montana De Oro is a good place to go paddling.

With a larger group of strong paddlers we could have done more, but many combat rolls would have been likely and swims a real possibility. A lower tide would have helped, but I think this area is more commodious to fun when swell at the San Luis Buoy is 5 feet or so.

We went far enough to see the domes of the Diablo Canyon reactors before turning back.

As I looked out over the water to the west on the way back I saw a very disturbing sight. The dark clouds over the water had a wide shaft converging with the water about 1 mile out to sea. I thought it was a strong rain cell. I told Vickie we needed to get moving as I expected some rough water when the cell arrived. Actually, it was fog, and we were soon in it. With our GPS units both tucked safely away in a plastic box in the back of our truck, the rest of the trip back to Spooners cove was a nerve wracking balancing act between loosing visual contact with the break line (the shore was out of sight most of the time) and staying out of the break. Spooners cove is only about 700 feet wide and I was afraid if we got too far out we would blow past it and not even know it was there. On the other hand if got in too close the 8'-to-10' breakers in that area would punish us severely

While following the break closely on our right we monitored our compass heading. When it began to turn past 50-60 degrees combined with the changing shape of the waves as they refracted around the headland that marks the southern boundary of Spooners, I knew we were in the clear. The penalty for missing the cove would have been a very long walk with the boats or possibly a long paddle to the entrance of Morro bay, so we were happy to be back in that cove.