Interesting Beach Article Link

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/article_9f992d04-3d49-5e95-9b73-fe34abf1453f.html

Training Swim Oceanside Pier One Mile After Work Thursday

The water was much less choppy today than yesterday so I swam without the fins.  Warm water still.  Poor visibility.  No significant current to deal with-just a mild chop.  I had a good swim; I was working on my kick to try to get more out of it.  And it's FREE!  I love the ocean!

Training for Oceanside Labor Day Pier Swim

Choppy water today, lots of bouncing around swimming out.  I wore fins and webbed gloves because the body has its aches and pains.  Water temp about 70 again.  Visibility good past the surf zone-about 15 feet.  I didn't see any fish today-I was expecting some since yesterday was so neat with the fish around.  The waves were small inside for the small number of surfers.  A decent training swim.

Fish in Oceanside

So today I finally saw FISH in the ocean at the pier during my after-work swim.  The visibility was good-about 12 feet, maybe more-and I saw hundreds of little fish as I swam back into shore.  This was just after turning the corner at the end of the pier coming in.  I don't know what they are-they look like little bait fish.  Then, about 40 yards from the beach, with the good visibility, I saw a good dozen or more larger fish-about a foot long-drifting around the bottom of the water.

Avila Beach Pier Swim Saturday

I'm visiting in San Luis Obispo and stopped by Avila Beach early this afternoon to check out the swimming there.  I looked around for Rob, but as I am totally unfamiliar with the place I didn't see him.  Since kids were playing in the water, I figured the water was warm enough to swim it in trunks.  I had looked the temperature up on www.surfline.com and it said it was 59 degrees.  Not bad.  I think it may have been warmer than that.  I decided just to swim around the short Avila Pier since it was new to me.
The water was calm.  I got used to it in a few minutes.  I was surprised to see that visibility was lousy, almost nonexistent, and cloudy.  
The scenery at Avila is great!  Parking is a chore.  I didn't bring any cash but I got a free spot out on the main road very close to the beach.
I saw one black seal close in to the beach but it didn't come near me as I swam, as far as I know.  I just swam out on the south side, then around and back in on the north side.  No fins or cap, just goggles.  I'm guessing the swim was about one-third of a mile, maybe one-half mile max.  Uneventful but enjoyable.  I couldn't find my camera so no pictures.