This picture was taken at Diablo Pinnacles, five miles down the coast from Pt. Lobos. The vis was awesome that day and I had no idea that within an hour of taking this shot I would be fighting for survival in the face of an unforgiving ocean. The sea was calm as we rounded Pt. Lobos and headed south but by the time we reached Diablo Pinnacles it was getting windy. We decided to dive anyway since the seas were still small. We went down the anchor line to the bottom at 100 feet and spent the rest of the dive working our way up the Pinnacles. By the time we reached 80 feet I could already feel the surge. Surge at 80 feet does NOT bode well for surface conditions. We surfaced a few minutes later in 4 foot seas and a 25-30 knot North wind. The Ocean is a very scary place when you are in a 12 foot boat with 4-5 foot waves breaking all around you. The hour it took us to get back to Whaler's Cove was the most terrifying one of my life. Never again will I underestimate how quickly conditions can change off the Big Sur coast!