Sweet day in Monterey

So I'm going off topic here for a bit to revisit one of my (semi) past loves, freediving. Heard there were halibut in pretty close at Monterey, and just had to go look for'em. As it turned out, didn't see many, but still had a beautiful dive.
The sea was dead flat when Mario and I rolled up, sunny, with some patchy fog offshore and enough breeze to give a little ripple to the surface texture. We suited up and entered the water near Lover's Point. The shallows were quite clear, but once you went out a little way the top 10-15' took on a decidedly yellow-red tint (nacent algae bloom, I think) and the vis was only 5' or so. But on each dive, you would pierce that layer and suddenly it would open up to 30-40 and was just stunning. The top layer completely diffused the incoming sunlight so that everything was bathed in this perfectly even glow, and there was no surge at all, so it was crystal clear all the way to the bottom The overall effect was like sliding into a frozen crystal, everything still, everything perfect, and as I slowly came to rest near the bottom, I became part of that seascape. Felt like I could stay down forever.
Hadn't been diving much lately, so I was taking it pretty easy, but after a little while somehow that relaxed approach flowed into some really nice, long dives. The water was a relatively toasty 56, which also helped.
Anyway, after 3 magical hours we left, having spooked a couple of small flatties and played some with the harbor seals which were abundant that day. Reminded me of why I love diving.