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Location: | About 1/4 mile offshore of Glass House. |
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Mile Marker: | SON 3632 |
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Access: | Boat |
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Facilities: | None |
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Nearest Public Telephone: | To the south, there's a telephone located in the
Timber Cove campground office. An intercom is
connected between the beach and office. To the north, there's a public telephone at the day use parking lot in theStillwater Cove County Park. That parking lot is located at the top of the stairs located across Highway 1 from the loading/unloading parking area closest to the beach. |
Between Timber Cove to the south and Stillwater Cove to the north, there's a long (1 mile?), shallow cove. The northern end is known as Stockhoff Cove; the southern, Nine Inch Cove. A line drawn between the westernmost points of land of Stockhoff and Nine Inch Coves runs parallel with and almost directly over 1/2 mile long Cemetery Reef. When the kelp hasn't been ripped out by winter storms, Cemetery Reef's shallowest sections are easy to locate by finding the kelp canopy.
Because of its offshore (1/4 mile) location, Cemetery Reef offers good abalone pickings for strong freedivers. Also because of it's offshore location, Cemetery Reef merits an additional warning: watch out for offshore currents. They can come up unexpectedly and quickly. For an account of what can happen, checkout my Interesting Day on the North Coast entry in my dive log section. One obvious warning sign is when no kelp can be seen at the surface on days when there's lots of kelp floating in more protected coves.
Cemetery Reef supposedly gets its name from the cemetery overlooking the cove. Because I've never spotted any cemetery overlooking the cove, I'm not so sure whether this account is accurate. New divers to the area, however, might want to be forewarned that it's quite common to encounter small, sealed urns while diving the reef. Usually, they're cloissone urns, about 8" to 10" in height, and, if they haven't been in the water too long, are quite pretty. They also fuel speculation about the source of the name "Cemetery Reef". But, rest assured, there's nothing gruesome involved. The urns are offerings, usually rice, made by local Buddhist monks. I believe it's wiser to leave them where I find them. But that's a personal call.
Last Modified: January 30, 2003
