Souza Rock

Souza Rock is an offshore pinnacle about 3 miles off Avila Beach, reached by boat from Port San Luis Harbor or Morro Bay Harbor. The pinnacle rises from a floor at 120 feet or more to a kelp-covered summit roughly 15 to 20 feet below the surface. The defining structural features are a large cave at about 95 feet on the south side, an arch at the bottom of the pinnacle, and a vertical cave that runs through the center of the rock.

The hard rock structure of the pinnacle itself is the rocky reef biome. The sheer vertical faces, the 95-foot cave, the bottom arch, and the through-rock cave together give the site significant vertical relief and overhead environments, which make it a canyon biome as well. Bull and giant kelp anchor on the shallow summit and grow up to the surface, putting a kelp forest biome on top of the pinnacle, and the open water around the structure, where larger fish and seasonal pelagic species transit, is a pelagic biome.

Scuba is the dominant activity, with the cave and arch features the primary draws for advanced and technical divers, while recreational divers typically work the kelp summit between 15 and 40 feet. Spearfishing in the kelp at the summit is regular. Currents are moderate, but the offshore exposure puts the site out of reach on any moderate swell. The cave and arch features require appropriate training and lights.

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