Dive Steller Cove
This little spot is an absolute gem. It’s about a mile south of Lester Beach in D.L. Bliss State Park with a large tree with bare roots presiding over it. There are no trails to the small beach, so you have it all to yourself when you arrive, which I did by canoe.
Just off shore, you get the trademark Tahoe teal waters over a shelf about ten feet deep with a lovely sandy bottom with interesting boulders and sunken trees. Further out, due east, the shelf drops to around 35 feet. Keep going east and a little south, and you’ll hit a lip that will give you vertigo as you float over the edge. The walls here drop straight down, dead vertical, much steeper than around Rubicon Point. To the northeast of the first shelf, it drops off quickly, but it’s a sandy slope covered in boulders.
You’ll see schools of Lahontan redsides hanging out around the edge of the lower shelf and occasional trout coming in to hunt.
Entry and exit are nice and easy. The only pain is getting here, but it’s well worth it. Truly a beautiful site.
Fast facts
- Access: Shore dive accessed by boat (I use a canoe), diveable year round if you can get there
- Surface swim: Short
- Parking: I put in at Lester Beach in D.L. Bliss State Park, which costs $10/day
- Crowds: Non-existent in the cove itself
- Dive experience level: Intermediate to advanced
- Highlights: Amazing dead-vertical cliffs that step down 50-60 feet at a time down hundreds of feet, cool rocks on the shelf to explore
Boat access shore dive: Steller Cove
Obviously, you’re not diving the trailhead, but this is the only way I could get it in the map. See the double cove thing east of the campground? You want the south one.