Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve covers the granite headland just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, on the coast between the Carmel Highlands and Big Sur. On land it holds one of only 2 native stands of Monterey cypress. Offshore, the Point Lobos State Marine Reserve protects about 5.5 square miles of water along 4.5 miles of shoreline. Scuba divers, freedivers, and snorkelers reach that water in 2 places only, Whalers Cove and Bluefish Cove, and every dive begins at the concrete ramp in Whalers Cove.

Point Lobos had a long working history before it became a reserve. Chinese fishing families lived on the west side of Whalers Cove from about 1850 until about 1879, and Portuguese whalers arrived in 1862 to hunt gray whales migrating from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. The landowner Alexander Allan went into business with the Japanese marine biologist Gennosuke Kodani, and in 1902 Kodani built an abalone cannery on ground leveled by a granite quarry. That flat is still called Cannery Point. The state bought the headland from Allan's heirs in 1933. In 1960, 750 acres of water beside it became what the Point Lobos Foundation calls the first underwater reserve in the United States, and the protected water has since grown to its present size.

Both coves hold giant kelp. It anchors on the granite and grows to the surface, which makes the dive water a kelp forest biome. At the center of Bluefish Cove, a rock and sand bottom at 60 to 65 feet lies apart from the kelp-covered slopes, and that bottom is a rocky reef biome. The canyon biome starts at the mouth of the same cove, where a chain of pinnacles rises from water deeper than 100 feet, with steep faces and narrow ravines between them.

Entry costs $10 per vehicle, and the posted hours run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the last entry at 6:30 p.m. The reserve has about 150 parking spaces, against more than 1 million visitors in 2017. Vehicles longer than 21 feet may not enter, and dogs are not allowed. Diving requires an advance reservation, and the reserve takes only 10 teams of 2 divers a day, so a group of 3 needs 2 reservations. Divers can book any date in the current month or the next. Each diver pays $20 on weekdays or $30 on weekends and holidays, plus a processing fee, and shows a certification card at registration. Registration closes 2 hours before the reserve does. Only 4 boats may launch from the ramp each day. Outside Whalers Cove and Bluefish Cove, the reserve's shoreline is closed to diving and other water activity. NOAA Fisheries recommends staying at least 50 yards from seals and sea lions.

Fishing, spearfishing, and collecting of any kind are prohibited inside Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, which covers this water from the tide line down to 408 feet.