Howell Rock

Howell Rock is a single large rock in the east part of San Luis Obispo Bay, 1.6 miles east of the Point San Luis lighthouse and reached by boat from Port San Luis Harbor. NOAA charts 13 feet of water over the top of it, and the base sits at roughly 50 feet, so the rock stands about 35 feet clear of the bottom. Its sides are broken into crevices, and the rock surfaces carry heavy invertebrate growth, plumose anemones among it. Kelp is thin here.

Bare rock, deep crevices and the invertebrate crust across every exposed surface make Howell Rock a rocky reef biome, and with little kelp over it the rock itself is what a diver sees. The water standing above and around the rock, used by larger fish and seasonal pelagic species moving through the bay, is a pelagic biome.

Underwater photography is the main draw, since the invertebrate growth is dense and the fish are present without being the reason to come. Scuba and spearfishing both happen here. The rock lies in the east half of the bay, which faces south and sits behind Point San Luis, so it is sheltered from the prevailing northwest swell and stays diveable on days when the open coast does not. The shallow depth and mild current suit divers still building boat experience.

There is no MPA at this site. Hook-and-line fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations.