Diving the Mendocino Coast for Abalone

The trip started at 6:00am as we hit the road from Pasadena to Mendocino, a 9 hour drive with the most scenic part being north of San Francisco. The landscape went from high desert in LA county to major agriculture in the central valley and redwood forest in Mendocino.

As we came around a bend following an emerald river through some of the oldest trees in the world, some from before Christ, we came upon the coast with large rocks and cliffs jutting out of the pacific. Everything is some shade of green around here and beckons for time to be spent around a fire. We arrived a little later to out campground in Albion, thanks to Davis for the recommendation, and quickly setup camp. We where against time for an afternoon dive. My friend Brian and his wife also made it to camp a little later and we eventually had the Smurfette , Brian's inflatable Achilles boat, set up in the ocean. It was time to get some abalone! Well low and behold the cranky craft decided that it didn't want to co-operate, we where just out of the river mouth as the engine over heated and Brian says, "Get the oars and paddle for shore." So our grand hurrah was deflated but fortunately the boat decided to fail near shore and the paddle was a quick one. We cleaned things up and with little light I decided to try and swim out from Albion beach to find some reef and hopefully some abalone. However with the fading sun and only murky sandy water I decided it wasn't worth the effort and that abalone dinner would wait till tomorrow.

One of the locals from the camp pointed us to a few different spots that had been productive for him in the past so I tried my luck with a shore dive the following morning. I had everything all planned out except for one thing. I dove down in some ruff water as the swell was 8-10 feet but there was a natural barrier protecting us from the waves yet the water was still choppy. Visibility was a clear 1-3 feet, which made for a game of peek a boo with some underwater structure but that wasn't the problem. I dove down and managed a 9 inch abalone as my first abalone ever. This was a good start my next one was around 7.5 inches but I made a mistake that hurt my wallet. I had my abalone iron and gauge tied to a 75 foot nylon rope I was using as a float line. Well this line doesn't float so well and with the visibility being so low I lost track of the line and lost my whole setup. I learned the hard way that an abalone float tube is a great tool to have when ab diving. So I had the number of a local dive shop, Sub-Surface Progression Dive Shop, and made a bee line for them in Fort Bragg. I bought a new iron another gauge and rented a float tube. That was a $40 mistake, I still need a float line but oh well. With two abalone in the bag I need to get my third for my limit. By this point I was ready to take the first one I could so I could fry them in my wok. That night dinner was very tasty as we ate abalone and drank whiskey around a large fire and chatted till the wee hours and enjoyed a clear starry sky, something you don't see in LA.

The next day I had to be on top of things as we where heading back to Pasadena. I grabbed my gear and went to the beach and to my surprise the visibility opened up to 6 feet. I made quick work of the abalone with the float tube and then went in to grab my spear as there where some fish hanging around. I managed head shots on a Greenling, a Sargo and a couple of Perch but missed an opportunity on some rock fish because I only had my abalone iron when I saw them.

We headed back to camp to help the ladies clean things up and then made the journey back to Los Angeles after returning the float tube. Would I do it again, in a heart beat, but I would take more time off to explore and I would bring an abalone float.

Quote from ddonnell

Congrats man! Looks like a great trip!

My favorite part of the drive is right before you pop out onto PCH, absolutely beautiful!

How did you prepare the snails?

Cheers!

Display More

I did the classic egg and bread crumbs then I tried garlic, salt and pepper and fried them in a little olive oil. Then last night I put one in the pressure cooker for 35 minutes at 15 psi then I pulled it out and cut it into chunks and noticed it was still a little tough so I put the chunks in for another 15 minutes at 15 psi and used them as a garnish for a salad. I would like to smoke an abalone over some oak or some other kind of wood in strips and try it that way too. But so far fried is the best way. I will have to try your jalapeno, cheese and abalone won ton recipe next.

Quote from Apnea addict

Slice the ab thin, pound it out. Saute some green onion, garlic and fresh grated ginger in a wok or large saute pan with canola oil, crank the heat up until the pan is real hot (being careful not to burn your garlic and ginger) and toss the tenderized abalone in for maaaaybe 30-45 seconds (any longer and you will end up with rubber bands!). Get it off the heat right away and finish with a teaspoon or two of both sesame oil and chili oil. Bell pepper, broccoli, and mushrooms are optional, but I'll often do them in a separate pan so that I can be sure the pan the ab goes into is sufficiently hot. Serve over rice. It will come out tender and deeeeelicious. Mmm, makes my mouth water just thinking of it!

That sounds very tasty. I will try that out too.

I made the Jalapeno won ton poppers last night and they where very tasty as accompaniment to some kale salad and halibut steaks.

Quote from Sockeye

Looks like fun! I really want to get back up there.
Do you have a meat grinder?

Yeah I do have a meat grinder. I usually make Rabbit and Venison sausage and if the temperature is right I make Saucisson sec. I have been wanting to make a seafood sausage but I just haven't done it yet. What do you recommend?