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NauticalNickVisibility Report

18EB Buoy

(Formerly known as the 10E Buoy)

San Luis Obispo · San Luis Obispo County · California

Diver reports today · zones from today’s forecast

Visibility Breakdown

Updated through the day · times PT

Visibility by position

Break Zone
8ft
today’s forecast
Post Break
headline zone
18ft
today’s forecast
Open Water
23ft
today’s forecast

Solid = diver report · outlined = today's forecast

Cross-section from the sand out to open water, split into 3 visibility zones: Break Zone (0-50 ft from shore), Post Break (50-200 ft from shore), Open Water (200+ ft from shore).
Shore
Break Zone
0-50 ft from shore
Post Break
50-200 ft from shore
Open Water
200+ ft from shore

Break Zone: The range of water where the waves break and sediment is stirred up.

Post Break: The range past where any waves are forming, where the water starts to have a significant increase in visibility. There might be some sediment here, but swell energy is diffused and the water is calmer.

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 Post Break zone.

This chart shows measured diver reports only.

No measured readings today

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Entry type
Boat
Spearfishing
Legal
Difficulty
Intermediate
Popular activities
Scuba · Spear · Wildlife
Today's forecast

Why it reads 18 ft

Updated 6:10 AM PT today · October 27, 2026
Regional clarity baseline
Neutral
30ft
Moderate impact
Moderate swell
Hurts vis
3.9 ft
Moderate swell
Short-period chop
Hurts vis
5.0 s
Minor chop
Moderate wind
Hurts vis
10 kt
Moderate wind

Today's forecast runs

6 AM
18ft
Morning run
10 AM
—
Pending
1 PM
—
Pending

The clarity holds through the day, with a light afternoon onshore the only disturbance to the entry shallows.

High confidence

Ocean Oracle

7-Day Forecast

Days 2 to 7 are Pro

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.

Today · Tue
Oct 27
18ft
Excellent
Open Water 23 ft
Swell 4 ft at 5 s, wind 11 kt at 10 AM. No rain forecast.
Wed
Oct 28
14
Good
Open Water 21 ft
Thu
Oct 29
9
Fair
Open Water 14 ft
Fri
Oct 30
16
Excellent
Open Water 24 ft
Sat
Oct 31
19
Excellent
Open Water 27 ft
Sun
Nov 1
11
Good
Open Water 17 ft
Mon
Nov 2
13
Good
Open Water 20 ft
Unlock days 2 to 7
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Getting there

Map and parking

35.3920° N · 120.8960° W
Field notes

About 18EB Buoy

The 18EB Buoy, which local divers knew for years as the 10E Buoy, is a navigational buoy roughly 1.5 miles north of the Morro Bay Harbor entrance, marking an offshore pinnacle and the surrounding boulder field. The pinnacle top sits at about 40 feet, and the surrounding boulders and smaller pinnacles drop to roughly 80 feet on the floor. Access is boat-only from Morro Bay Harbor. The defining feature of the site is dense giant plumose anemone cover across the pinnacle and surrounding rocks, the same anemone community as the Metridium Fields breakwater dive in Monterey but reached without a long surface swim.

From the Nautilids who hunt it

Spot strategies

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How other Nautilids actually hunt 18EB Buoy: the biome they worked, the gear, the tide and time of day, and what they were after.
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