Always wondered what it was like to snorkel / swim Point Dume, so we did it. Waves were 1 to 3 ft at 8 seconds, making it an easy entry. Vis was not bad - saw the bottom most of the time in 10 - 15'; at 40 - 50' by the wall near the pinacle the bottom reef was mainly a blur, but still distinguishable. Water was pretty clear and NO GREEN!

Past Pirate's Cove at the ridge heading toward the pinnacles the waves grew to 4 to 5 feet smashing on the rocks and quite a bit of surge over the ridge. The current was light, but East to West (we had hoped for more of a free ride past the point, so we had to swim against current). Took about 45 minutes of easy finning to reach Dume Cove from our entry at tower #1. We then played for about an hour in Dume Cove.

In the cove, the water was mainly flat with a few 1 to 3 footers toward the end of our journey. Definitely do not need scuba at Dume Cove - saw everything from the surface and the freediving was fastastic - mostly in 7 to 10 feet of clear water. Lots of cool reef ridges and many sardines and juvenile perch. An occaisional 'keepable' bass and large opaleye; seniortias and just one garibaldi. Hear the sonar squeeks and clicks of dolphins, but none came near us. Just one sea lion busy eating the bait fish.

Exited near the staircase and walked over the hill back to our car at Westward beach; seemed a lot easier than the stairs at Mesa Lane.

We talked with a surfer at the cove and he said the current does usually run mildly east to west at the surface closer to the point, but west to east further out by the pinnacle point.

Will definitely do this one again! Next time will bring a boogie board and some water and snacks and make a day of it.