Tyler Bight

Tyler Bight is a sheltered cove on the south side of San Miguel Island, just east of the Judith Rock State Marine Reserve and west of the underwater ridge at Wyckoff Ledge. The cove takes shelter from the prevailing northwest weather behind the south face of the island, and the kelp inside it holds calmer conditions than most of San Miguel. The dive site covers the kelp and reef around the cove and out into the slightly deeper water on the seaward edge, with depths from fifteen feet at the inshore kelp to seventy on the open water side.

Tyler Bight is the only elephant seal rookery in the southern half of California. The animals haul out on the cobble beach inside the cove for the breeding season, and the surf line along the rookery is closed to boat traffic at that time of year. California sea lions also breed and give birth in the cove, and underwater encounters with juvenile sea lions are routine. The bottom holds the more usual San Miguel mix of large lingcod, sheephead, and rockfish, and dive charters know the bight as the south-side spearfishing site that pairs with Wyckoff for a two-tank day on the island.

Giant kelp anchored on the rocky reef around the cove and growing up through the water column to the surface makes Tyler Bight a kelp forest biome. A rocky reef biome holds the bare structure between the kelp patches, with the cracks and ledges that hold the big lingcod. The sand-and-cobble beach inside the cove, washed by the shorebreak, adds a surf zone biome.

Access is boat only. Charter dive boats run to Tyler Bight from Santa Barbara on multi-day trips to San Miguel, with the crossing four to five hours under power. The cove provides one of two designated overnight anchorages on the south side of the island (Cuyler Harbor on the north side is the other). San Miguel Island is owned by the U.S. Navy, and the National Park Service requires a signed access permit and liability waiver for any landing, with rangers escorting all visitors on the marked trails.

Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California recreational rules. The Judith Rock State Marine Reserve sits immediately west of the cove and protects the waters around Judith Rock and Castle Rock, with the western boundary at 120°26.6′ W. The cove at 120°24.7′ W is east of the rock at 120°25.3′ W, and the dive community treats Tyler Bight as outside the reserve. Divers running west toward Judith Rock should chartplot the boundary before harvesting, since the eastern extent of the reserve is close.