Barbary Coast Divers
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Jade Cove, from California Dive News and another source
If there is a Mount Everest of California shore diving it’s Jade Cove. Located along an isolated portion of the Big Sur coast, the cove can only be reached after crossing a wide meadow, then descending a rugged trail switch backing down a 100-foot cliff before reaching the small, isolated beach. Not an easy task wearing a dive suit and carrying a tank and weight belt.
Conditions vary from day to day. One day conditions can be ideal and the next, a nightmare of crashing waves and treacherous currents. But bad days can sweep the bottom and reveal an undersea treasure found nowhere else in the world, Monterey jade.
A semi-precious nephrite, divers have been harvesting this treasure of the central coast for over three decades. In 1971, diver Don Wobber of Pacific Grove and two companions, lifted a 9000-pound boulder off the bottom worth $180,000. The stone was pulled from the water by rope, chain and griphoist. Since then, the State has prohibited divers removing jade by mechanical means. You may take only what you can carry
.
It was a cool morning when my two partners, David, Roger, and I descended the last painful feet of the cliff to the cove. After a rest we entered the churning water, climbing over a submerged field of boulders and swimming slaloms around the floating bladders of bull kelp before entering deeper water.
Moving over the rolling surface, we passed between two great rocks guarding the entrance to the cove. We leave the protection of surrounding cliffs and head out to sea to maximize our chances of finding jade.
Placing as much distance from shore as safety would allow, we deflate our BC’s and submerge under the surface. Visibility was unusually good, about 20 feet. We reached the bottom at 30 feet and separated, each diver had to discover his own treasure
The rocky bottom was heavy with kelp palms, cutting down the sunlight from above. Jade is where you find it, as in all treasure hunts. Monterey jade is spinach green in color. The natural color filtration of the water can hide the precious stone from even the most skillful observer. Even with my dive light I couldn’t always tell a stone’s true color. I meticulously searched the bottom, looking under rocks, searching under the sand and clearing endless stones away. Part of the technique is to feel each suspected stone. In spite of the cold water I did not wear gloves. Jade has a touch all its own. Smooth and polished as if by a jeweler. I rubbed each suspected stone between my fingers trying to perceive its true identity and scratched the surface with my knife. Jade is one of the hardest of stones and the metal point of a knife blade will not leave its mark on its surface. Each stone I found that looked good, I placed in my diver’s bag.
I moved along the bottom, making my way to shore. My bag got heavier with each foot of ground covered. Stopping at the mouth of a small cave along the side of a boulder, I turned on my dive light and peered into the narrow opening. Inside, the beam of my light reflected off green colored walls reaching back for several feet. The entire cave was composed of thick walls of Monterey jade. So close, yet unobtainable.
Once on the beach I shifted through my dive bag. Throwing stone after stone away until all were gone. No jade. A few moments later, Roger came out of the surf. He, too, came out of the water empty handed.
We waited on the beach for the next half hour until David popped up just past the surf line, dragging something behind him. Once on shore, David opened his bag and pulled out a football size piece of jade. Deep green, with iridescent white striations, the rock was at least 25 pounds and took David half an hour of digging to dislodge it from the sand.
Though my dive yielded only worthless stones, I felt richer for the experience. It was a great dive on a warm, spring day, with good friends, along a beautiful coastline.
Dive Spot At-A-Glance
Location: Off Highway 1, 60 miles south of the Monterey Peninsula, about
2 miles north of Gorda. Look for a sign along the side of the road, “Jade
Cove.” A dirt shoulder on the opposite side of the road provides
parking.
Access and entry: You must climb a wooden stairway over a barbed wire
fence and walk a well defined pathway across an open meadow leading to
cliffs overlooking the cove. A trail switchbacks down the steep cliffs.
You’ll need your hands to climb down the last few feet of the cliff.
Finish by crossing over a slippery, algae-covered boulder field to the
sheltered beach of the cove.
Skill level: Intermediate to advanced.
Depth: 30 feet.
Visibility: 0 to 20 or 30 feet, depending on season and conditions, which
can vary from day to day.
Photography: Take something inexpensive. Something you don’t mind
breaking.
Hunting: Too far to come just to hunt.
Facilities: None.
Conditions: Best in April, but that’s no guarantee. Diving here is
strictly hit or miss.
Approximately seventy-five (75) to one hundred (100) yards off shore lay a large bed of “Elk” or “Bull” kelp, (Pelegophyous Porra). This kelp is the largest of the California marine plants and grows in abundance in the Jade Cove area. It is easily recognized above water by the mass of huge leaves and bladder floats. Underwater the kelp is attached to permanent object by a hold fast which supports a large stem void of leaves or branches, until it terminates at the surface into a large solitary bladder float, which in turn branches into six (6) to twelve (12) broad leaves. No difficulty should be encountered with this kelp underwater because of the absence of leaves and its massive size; on the surface it is like swimming through a logjam
At a depth of approximately twenty (20) feet, the bottom kelp (Pterygophora Californica) of this area is encountered. This kelp seldom exceeds three feet in height, and it grows in great abundance. Because it is short bottom growing kelp, it is rather easy to become entangled or snared by it when searching for jade. However, any diver who has had experience with Catalina kelp should not have any difficulty in diving in it or freeing himself from it.
Marine life is extremely scarce by comparison to southern waters. There are no lobsters! The fish are of the perch variety, and are spooky. There are some red abalone but these too are extremely scarce. If Duncan Hines were in the diving business, he would recommend Jade Cove for game.
Diving for jade: Jade most commonly is found underwater where there is a “flow” of rocks: that is, where strong tidal and wave action has piled up a number of small rocks in one area. This type of are generally located between two large rocks in a crevice, or up against a rock where the larger rock has acted as a baffle and trapped the smaller rocks behind it. After locating a “flow” the area should be visually inspected for bright shiny rocks with little or no marine growth. If none is seen it is quite possible the lighter rocks have covered the jade, because of its weight. A systematic rock by rock search of the flow should be undertaken if conditions permit
Jade in this area may vary from light green in color to a dark, shiny black. Serpentine, which is also found in abundance here, has no commercial gem stone value but has the same color characteristics, however jade is much harder. The novice diver rock hound that cannot readily identify jade underwater by sight and touch must utilize another method of identifying jade. Jade has hardness rating of seven (7). In layman’s language this means that a knife or sharp metal instrument cannot scratch it. The best method to positively identifying jade underwater is to carry a beer can opener (the common church key) on a rubber band around the wrist. When a likely specimen is located, scrape the opener across it in several places. If it scratches the rock forgets it; it is probably serpentine. If small microscopic particles of metal are deposited from the opener into the scratched areas, it is probably jade.
Jade is heavy and slick; therefore some sort of bag to carry it is essential. The average pieces found are less than the size of a softball, so small a small goodie bag or event a large mans sock will suffice.
updated 8/26/05