Metridium Fields

The Metridium Fields lie off the north side of San Carlos Beach, only a short swim from the crowded breakwater but much quieter. Divers locate a large steel pipe running out from the gray pump house, follow it to its end at about 40 ft, then swim a few metres north to the rocks. These outcrops carry dense clusters of giant plumose anemones up to about two feet tall that stand out white in the green water. Nudibranchs such as sea lemons and clown dorids are common, juvenile wolf eels and swell sharks hide in the rocks, and sea nettle jellyfish drift through in season. Good compass skills and buoyancy control are needed so as not to land on the anemones.