Bluff Cove
Palos Verdes Estates · Los Angeles County · California
Visibility Breakdown
Visibility by position
Solid = diver report · outlined = our reading
Inside the Cove: The sheltered water inside the cove. Waves are small here, but sediment that washes in tends to stay, so it often reads murkier than the water outside.
Outside the Cove: The water just past the mouth of the cove, along the reef and kelp. Most of the diving happens here, and it is the number the page headlines.
Open Water: This zone is far out enough from the shore that the water is at its clearest. It’s deep enough that sediment is not disturbed by the wave energy at the surface. Haze can sit near the surface, so the water is usually clearer the deeper you go.
Through the day
Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.
Every bar is a reading for the Outside the Cove zone.
✓ = reading reviewed by hand
auto = reading not yet reviewed by hand
Did you dive today?Please share the visibility to make our algorithm more accurate.
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Why it reads 6–10 ft
Medium confidence
7-Day Forecast
Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.
Map and parking
Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
Free street parking on Paseo del Mar between Via Almar and Palos Verdes Drive West. Two unmarked, steep, rope-assisted trailheads near 609 and 650 Paseo del Mar drop to the cove and to Flat Rock Point. No restrooms, water, or lifeguards on site. Fills on weekends and clear days.
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See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
About Bluff Cove
Bluff Cove drops below the Palos Verdes Estates bluffs as a north-facing cobblestone notch in the peninsula's shoreline, on some older charts still labeled Palos Verdes Cove. The beach itself is rounded pebble and cobble rather than sand, framed to the south by Flat Rock Point, the flat rock platform that gives the cove its most-used entry. Just off Flat Rock, a small rock called Bit Rock breaks the surface and marks the anchor of the reef complex offshore. Divers know the reef by its named breaks, Little Reef, Boneyards, and Middles, all of which show up as working surf on a west swell with an offshore southeast wind, strongest through the winter. When conditions allow, the standard entry is a giant stride off the flat rock platform, followed by a swim out through the kelp toward Bit Rock and the outer reef.
Biomes here
Species found here
Researched habitat and range candidates. A listed species may be seasonal or depth-limited; this is not a confirmed sighting at this location.
Spot strategies
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