Rocky Entries

Stillwater Cove
Sonoma County

	Location:	About 1 mile south of Ocean Cove
	Mile Marker:	Between SON 3717 & SON 3731
	Access:	Shore or boat. Small power boats and paddlecraft can be launched across the sandy beach.
	Facilities:	Loading/unloading parking Picnic Tables BBQs Toilet Changing rooms Water Fountain (at the day parking area inside the park) Campsites Hot Showers (for campers only)
	Nearest Public Telephone:	There's a public telephone at the day use parking lot at the top of the stairs located across Highway 1 from the loading/unloading parking area closest to the beach.

The popular abalone dive area is to the left of the wash rocks.
In the center of the picture, the water is about 25' deep with plenty of abalone under the kelp understory.

Stillwater Cove is a county park located 4 or 5 miles north of Fort Ross. Keep an eye out and you can not miss the entry to the campground area. But don't turn in there. Continue a few hundred yards farther and you'll pass a dirt parking area as the road goes sharp right. That parking area is where most leave their vehicles. But not yet. Continue until you reach the hard left turn at the bottom of the ravine. You'll see a small loading/unloading parking area on your left. Enter there, park, dump your gear, and then take your vehicle back up the hill to park in the lot. From the loading/unloading area, there's a paved path leading to beach that passes toilet facilities and some picnic tables.

Stillwater Cove is the easiest access point on the Sonoma coast. This is where I usually launch a kayak to access some pretty spectacular freediving within a 15 minute paddle.

If you go on down to the water's edge, you'll see a handful of wash rocks inside the cove. The large wash rock on the right and closest to shore is worth checking out for a first time diver. There aren't any legal sized abalone to be had but small ones can be seen. The swim is easy, it's very protected, and abalone can be found in cracks starting a foot or two underwater. It's a good place to learn to recognize what you're looking for. Leave the ab iron ashore and you won't be tempted to pointlessly pop an undersized animal.

Again from shore, there's a large wash rock 150 yards out and slightly to the left. Another 100 yards or so farther out is yet another, smaller wash rock. The line connecting these rocks defines the boundary of a shallow reef. On the right (north) side of that boundary, the depth quickly reaches 25' and more. On the left side, the depths vary from 20' to as shallow as 4'. It's in the area on the left side that most abalone diving is done. That's a large area and, given enough time and patience, you should be able to get your limit.

On the north side of the cove, just beyond the first washrock, there's a ridge that varies from 8' to 25' deep. Every time I check that ridge, I start seeing abs in 15' of water as I'm heading toward Japan. So I'd suggest either the north side of Stillwater Cove or outside the farthest wash rocks on the south side of the cove. The "farthest wash rocks", though, is quite a ways for most divers.

If you can hit 25'/30', the center of the cove 50 yards out is full of nice size abs.

Last Modified: January 31, 2005

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