SoCal Dive Reports - Let us know about your dive!

[drbill]

Sean, I haven't heard anything about kelp being removed from the park (either our native giant kelp or the invasive exotic Sargassum). Most likely it is the unseasonably warm water combined with intermittent rough seas that has weakened and pulled loose some of the kelp. Warm water has fewer nutrients so the kelp dies out from "starvation."

Great to see your group out here, Ayisha.

I almost had a dive report to post on Sunday after a six week dry spell. However, after the wind calmed down and I decided to dive, I discovered both my main and pony cylinders were out of vis! They expired during my long dry spell, but are in the shop to get inspected for next weekend!

 

[enigmata]

Date: 08 Nov 2008
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach
Time: 9:30am
Bottom Time: 40 minutes
Max Depth: 25 feet
Vis: 15-20 feet
Wave height: 2-4 feet
Temp at depth: 59F
Surface Temp: 66 F
Tide information: Lo 11:50am,11:33pm, Hi 5:41am,5:29pm
Gas mix: 21% O2
Comments: Went along with some students doing their checkout dives today. Saw the usual mix of garibaldi along the reef to the right and the Shelly of Shaws statue (it's there, lot of overgrowth on it). Silt blocked a lot of visibility past 20 feet.

 

[tc]

Dive Site: Yukon
Date: 11/21/08
Conditions: Flat calm on first dive, small swell on second
Water Temp: 57
Visibility: 30, maybe pushing 40 in spots.

Really nice day on the Lois Ann. Flat calm for the first dive, lots of life on the wreck and vis was so nice we decided to stay there for the second dive. Foot to two swell by then but only a light current running/ Even had a sea lion come over to play during the safety stop.

Hadn't been on the wreck for a few years, the life all over has really gotten big. Need to do this more often.

 

[pasley]

Date: 21 Nov 08
Dive Location: Picnic Beach, Heisler Park, Laguna Beach CA
Buddy(ies): Ron
Time: 9:59
Bottom Time: 43
Max Depth: 30
Vis: 20+
Wave height: 1 foot or less,
Temp at depth: 63F Suunto Degrees
Surface Temp: don't know maybe
Tide information:
Gas mix: 21% regular air
Best moment: Dive 300
Things to do differently next time: Do it sooner.
Comments:This was a very pleasant dive with two other divers I met at the Laguna Sea Sports Dive club. Great company and good visibility. Spotted a small leopard shark in the shallows on the beach side of a rock about 15 feet from shore. Back on shore with 1653 PSI out of 3442.

 

[DiveNav]

encountering a Giant Sea Bass in the wild (I had fed them at the AOP in the past).
This one was really big .... much bigger than the ones at the AOP.

He (or she?) kind of scared me ...

Full report is here

Regards

AM

 

[divemedic1316]

Febuary 8th 2009 Visability at the Yukon was 25 feet this AM. The Ruby E was about 15 feet. No swell or Surge on either. Thermocline was at 60 feet 50 degrees.
Scuba Diving San Diego - Dive Boats - Scuba Tours - Daily Boat Dives - Dive Connections Inc. San Diego CA Home Page

 

[DiverDave65]

Dive Site: Coronados Islands, San Diego
Date: 05 June 2009
Conditions: mostly flat, slight surge, no currents
Temp: above 30 ft, 60-65F, below 30 ft 53F
vis: 30 feet

My first dive on the Coronados Islands. Went with Waterhorse out of OEX dive on Mission Bay. Great boat and FANTASTIC CREW.....Capt Ryan and divemaster Greg. The crew was superb and really made the difference for me; lots of help with equipment and donning gear. I don't have much cold water experience so just a little help with fins etc was a big deal to me.

Nice to have a slightly larger boat for this long ride (1 hour and 20 mins each way). Great lunch with hot soup a big help for keeping warm in between dives during surface interval.

I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed with the diving. I know this is not the Caribbean, but I was expecting more sea life etc out there. We did run into a few sea lions, but not as many as I'd hoped for. The rocky areas at the dive sites were covered with sea urchins and starfish; other than that, not really much to hold my interest. Visibility not as good as advertised, I realize this varies every day.

I'm glad I made the trip and very thankful to the crew....I would dive this shop/boat anytime....in fact, I was hoping to dive the wrecks with them but they were booked the rest of the weekend. Greg recommended the Lois Ann and I took them up on that.....check my next dive report.

Overall good experience.

 

[DiverDave65]

Dive Sites: Yukon and Ruby E
Date: 06 June 2009
Conditions: slight chop at surface, no surge or currents underwater
Temp: 51F coldest at depth
Vis: 50-60 feet

Did the two classic wrecks with the Lois Ann. Fantastic dives and Fantastic crew!! Capt JR and divemaster Eric made all the difference, once again, esp when it came to equipment donning assistance and entry/exit at the sites. I can't emphasize this enough. I highly recommend the Lois Ann and their crew.

The dives were much better than I expected....my first times on these two sites and got beginners' luck; lots of divers on the boat said the vis was the BEST they'd ever seen. I thought both wrecks were pretty spectacular in terms of sea life and growth on the wrecks and the overall condition of both wrecks. Not enough time/air to see all of the Yukon, but that will bring me back. The Ruby E was spectacularly colorful.

I'm not used to diving cold, so rented the 7mm farmer john and that helped, but towards the end of the second dive, I was REALLY cold and noticed that my dive partners were, too. I expected to see lots of dry suits on this trip, but surprisingly, only 1 small woman on the boat had one. I think if I lived in southern Calif I would get a hold of some kind of dry suit, even if just an older neoprene one. On the two days of diving I did in the area, I noticed that the 7mm farmer john or a 7mm with hooded vest was OK for temps 60F and above, but once I went deeper than 30 feet and the temps dropped into the 50's, I was FREEZING.

If I had to do it again, I would do the wrecks on multiple days and skip the Coronados islands.....also would like to try the Pt Loma kelp beds next time.

My hats off to all you divers in S Cal that dive under such cold conditons all the time....it is definitely a completely different experience (and much more challenging) than almost any of the diving I have done in over 30 years in the Carib and the Pacific. I was fortunate to do it on two days that were sunny and relatively warm with flat seas.....winter conditions and rough seas might have caused me to bail out of the multiple dives on either day.

 

[Teamcasa]

Dive Sites: East Quarry Long Point
Date: 18 July 2009
Conditions: Weather was nice, a touch windy in the afternoon
Temp: 58F at depth
Vis: at worst 5 feet at best 20 feet

The Great Escape had a good group of divers but the conditions just were not that good. We did have fun and thats what is really all about.

 

[fnfalman]

Farnsworth
18 JUL 09
Condition: Cloudy but sunny later, warm air, with lots of wind, high swells
Temp: 55F at depth
Viz: 20+ft at depth

The ride over was pretty rough but amazingly enough once we rounded the west end, the water got a bit easier on us. First dive in was pretty good with some current but do-able. Viz was pretty decent considering that other places were having near zero visibility. After the first dive, wind and sea started to pick up and so we moved to another site (somewhere close to Eagle Rock), but viz was even worst there. Then a handful of hardy divers wanted to go for the 3rd dive but the wind was really bad and anchor started to slip so Captain Kyaa canceled the last dive and we headed back.