The Lexy November '05 Dive Report thread
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wetrat
Contributor
Date: 11/1/05
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 7:48 pm
Bottom Time: 52 minutes
Max Depth: 49 fsw
Vis: 15 feet
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: Warm - but forgot to look.
Surface Temp: 64F
Gas mix: Air
Comments: Completed my night/limited visibility class with my DM and two other students. We had an easy entry, short surface swim and descended to about 15fsw. It was a tad surgey as we entered the crevice. There was an angry horn shark guarding the entrance tonight but he let us pass without incident. Saw a few lobster but none of us were hunters. The usual cast of characters were loitering about - blacksmith, garibaldi and baitfish. I did see one very beautiful little fish about seven inches long with black and bright yellow stripes. She was most comfortable resting on the reef. I just ordered a book about California marine life so maybe I will be able to positively ID her later. For now lets call her a treefish. The highlight of the dive was a free swimming two-spotted octopus. We were able to observe him for a good ten minutes before he oozed his way into a crack in the reef. Overall, a great dive. Nice and warm after doing wreck alley the last two weekends.
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 7:48 pm
Bottom Time: 52 minutes
Max Depth: 49 fsw
Vis: 15 feet
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: Warm - but forgot to look.
Surface Temp: 64F
Gas mix: Air
Comments: Completed my night/limited visibility class with my DM and two other students. We had an easy entry, short surface swim and descended to about 15fsw. It was a tad surgey as we entered the crevice. There was an angry horn shark guarding the entrance tonight but he let us pass without incident. Saw a few lobster but none of us were hunters. The usual cast of characters were loitering about - blacksmith, garibaldi and baitfish. I did see one very beautiful little fish about seven inches long with black and bright yellow stripes. She was most comfortable resting on the reef. I just ordered a book about California marine life so maybe I will be able to positively ID her later. For now lets call her a treefish. The highlight of the dive was a free swimming two-spotted octopus. We were able to observe him for a good ten minutes before he oozed his way into a crack in the reef. Overall, a great dive. Nice and warm after doing wreck alley the last two weekends.
Lexy
Guest
Date: Wednesday, 11/02/2005
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 4:39 PM PST
Bottom Time: 61 minutes
Max Depth: 33 feet
Vis: 12 - 15 feet
Wave height: ankle slappers -> 1 foot
Temp at depth: 63 F
Surface Temp: 70 F
Tide information: low tide
Gas mix: Air
Comments: Nothing like ending the day on a lovely note with two great dive buddies. We all were having less than perfect days at work so why not find the joy and happiness from visiting the good ole' Pacific Ocean. Teamed up with my La Paz trip/fellow hockey playin' dive buddies Paul & Craig today. We jabbered about the past trip, joking around for a while as we suited up. It was Craig's birthday so what better way to enjoy the day! We hit the surf zone (what surf?) without incident and dropped down over the sand. We took a nice right turn and cruised through lots of crevices, peeking into caves, small holes and channels. The aquatic life was plentful - the usual suspects finishing their dinner and packing it up for a long evening's siesta (blacksmiths congragating in the crevices, Garabaldi tucking into the rocky walls, a tiny little tree fish). The evening crew was just beginning to venture out - saw a gang of lobster (all shorts - sorry!) and even encountered 3 octopi. We found the "very small" swim through that passes through Shaw's. That was my first encounter, so it seemed small at first, it felt a little weird at actually seeing how dark it looks, while sliding around in 2-3 foot surge. Kinda felt like looking into the abyss. My buddies had gone through the swimthrough several times but I opted out. I was just not ready to go through it, maybe next time. No biggy... no one had a problem. We just changed routes and continued the lovely tour through Shaw's. We even saw two other divers cruising around! As we were heading back to the shore, I saw my first shovel nosed guitar fish! Pretty decent size hanging out with his little buddy - a round shaped ray. No incidents on the surf exit (barely 1 footers).
The conditions are really nice right now... viz has been better but zero red tide, ankle slappers and easy surge.
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 4:39 PM PST
Bottom Time: 61 minutes
Max Depth: 33 feet
Vis: 12 - 15 feet
Wave height: ankle slappers -> 1 foot
Temp at depth: 63 F
Surface Temp: 70 F
Tide information: low tide
Gas mix: Air
Comments: Nothing like ending the day on a lovely note with two great dive buddies. We all were having less than perfect days at work so why not find the joy and happiness from visiting the good ole' Pacific Ocean. Teamed up with my La Paz trip/fellow hockey playin' dive buddies Paul & Craig today. We jabbered about the past trip, joking around for a while as we suited up. It was Craig's birthday so what better way to enjoy the day! We hit the surf zone (what surf?) without incident and dropped down over the sand. We took a nice right turn and cruised through lots of crevices, peeking into caves, small holes and channels. The aquatic life was plentful - the usual suspects finishing their dinner and packing it up for a long evening's siesta (blacksmiths congragating in the crevices, Garabaldi tucking into the rocky walls, a tiny little tree fish). The evening crew was just beginning to venture out - saw a gang of lobster (all shorts - sorry!) and even encountered 3 octopi. We found the "very small" swim through that passes through Shaw's. That was my first encounter, so it seemed small at first, it felt a little weird at actually seeing how dark it looks, while sliding around in 2-3 foot surge. Kinda felt like looking into the abyss. My buddies had gone through the swimthrough several times but I opted out. I was just not ready to go through it, maybe next time. No biggy... no one had a problem. We just changed routes and continued the lovely tour through Shaw's. We even saw two other divers cruising around! As we were heading back to the shore, I saw my first shovel nosed guitar fish! Pretty decent size hanging out with his little buddy - a round shaped ray. No incidents on the surf exit (barely 1 footers).
The conditions are really nice right now... viz has been better but zero red tide, ankle slappers and easy surge.
Date: 11/02/05
Dive Location: Catalina Island/Casino Point/Su-Jack
Bottom Time: 49 minutes
Max Depth:93ft
Avg Depth: 36ft
Vis: 15-25
Surface Temp: 63F
Temp at depth:60F
Surface Conditions: pretty calm, not much chop, Gorgeous Day.
Date: 11/02/05
Dive Location: Catalina Island/Casino Point/Ummm....Here and there
Bottom Time: 46 minutes
Max Depth:82ft
Avg Depth: 43ft
Vis: 15-20
Surface Temp: 63F
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Conditions: pretty calm, not much chop, Gorgeous Day.
It was a blue water day at Catalina. Clear and warm both topside and below the surface. Camera issues reduced my images to just a few.
Here they are.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/Catalina 110205/
Terry S.
Dive Location: Catalina Island/Casino Point/Su-Jack
Bottom Time: 49 minutes
Max Depth:93ft
Avg Depth: 36ft
Vis: 15-25
Surface Temp: 63F
Temp at depth:60F
Surface Conditions: pretty calm, not much chop, Gorgeous Day.
Date: 11/02/05
Dive Location: Catalina Island/Casino Point/Ummm....Here and there
Bottom Time: 46 minutes
Max Depth:82ft
Avg Depth: 43ft
Vis: 15-20
Surface Temp: 63F
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Conditions: pretty calm, not much chop, Gorgeous Day.
It was a blue water day at Catalina. Clear and warm both topside and below the surface. Camera issues reduced my images to just a few.
Here they are.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/divinman/Catalina 110205/
Terry S.
Lexy
Guest
Date: Friday, 11/4/05
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 7:06 AM PST
Bottom Time: 57 minutes
Max Depth: 43 feet
Vis: 6-8 feet, mix of pea green to red tide
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: 62 degrees
Surface Temp: 68 degrees
Tide information: slack
Gas mix: Air
Quick Summary: Viz is down today. Surge was 1-3 feet. Lots of fish life out and about including octopi, tree fish, small sheephead, grande sized garabaldi, rock wrasse, senorita, loads of blacksmith + juvie blacksmith. Surf was very managable. All in all a-ok except for the visibility.
Comments: Met up with Kevrumbo bright and early for a morning dive. We took time to talk about the dive site, gear and dive plan. After suiting up, we made our way through the surf zone without incident. The red tide foam was present on the surface. Descened down into murky green water, right over the reef and took a left turn to find decent viz. Unfortunately, the end of the reef was where it opened up to about 8 feet (on the generous side). We spotted several octopi and one even darted right in front of me. I'm not sure who was startled more! Lots of fish out this morning. The blacksmith were curiously eyeing our lights. We hit our turn around pressure and lazily made our way back around the reef, coasting over sand and finally ascending in about 10 feet of water. Surf exit was equally nice with the tide starting to come back up.
Thanks Kevin for the great dive and making the trek down to OC at such an early hour!
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove
Time: 7:06 AM PST
Bottom Time: 57 minutes
Max Depth: 43 feet
Vis: 6-8 feet, mix of pea green to red tide
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: 62 degrees
Surface Temp: 68 degrees
Tide information: slack
Gas mix: Air
Quick Summary: Viz is down today. Surge was 1-3 feet. Lots of fish life out and about including octopi, tree fish, small sheephead, grande sized garabaldi, rock wrasse, senorita, loads of blacksmith + juvie blacksmith. Surf was very managable. All in all a-ok except for the visibility.
Comments: Met up with Kevrumbo bright and early for a morning dive. We took time to talk about the dive site, gear and dive plan. After suiting up, we made our way through the surf zone without incident. The red tide foam was present on the surface. Descened down into murky green water, right over the reef and took a left turn to find decent viz. Unfortunately, the end of the reef was where it opened up to about 8 feet (on the generous side). We spotted several octopi and one even darted right in front of me. I'm not sure who was startled more! Lots of fish out this morning. The blacksmith were curiously eyeing our lights. We hit our turn around pressure and lazily made our way back around the reef, coasting over sand and finally ascending in about 10 feet of water. Surf exit was equally nice with the tide starting to come back up.
Thanks Kevin for the great dive and making the trek down to OC at such an early hour!
Kevrumbo
Banned
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My Pleasure Lexy! Thank you again for your company and a wonderful tour of Shaw's Reefs --an amazing representative microcosm of Catalina Marine Life. A murky shore dive at Shaw's still beats almost any beach dive in the South Bay on a good viz day!
Date: Nov. 4
Dive Location: Marine Room (La Jolla)
Time: 5:07pm
Bottom Time: 1 hr 7 min
Max Depth: 77 ft
Vis: 1-20 ft
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: 63F
Tide information: very low
Since it was low tide, I chose Marine Room as tonight's dive site and was pleased as always
Easy entry due to low, weak surf and the surface swim was relatively short thanks to the low tide. Dropped down into poor vis, 1ft or less... the kind of dive where you have to keep a hand near the ground to occasionally get your bearings (by touching the sand). At one point, I looked down before putting a hand on the sand and there was a rather large thornback ray directly underneath me- nice to see, but not touch! The visibility cleared up around 25 ft and continued to improve the deeper we got. Octos of all sizes were out and about, along with pipefish, scorpionfish, several types of shrimp & crabs, lizardfish, 2 dendronotus frondosuses, many types of fish, sheepcrabs,rays, etc.. Ran into a very sociable 4+ft halibut who allowed me to get within a foot or so of it to snap some pics. Checked out the ladder, which was full of fingeheads as usual.. then headed north along the wall until it curved sharply. At this point, my buddy was cold and motioned that he wanted to head to shallows (was 52F at depth), so we made our way back in.. cruised through the sand dollar bed and surfaced in 13 ft due to lack of vis. Nice dive, lots of life out!
Dive Location: Marine Room (La Jolla)
Time: 5:07pm
Bottom Time: 1 hr 7 min
Max Depth: 77 ft
Vis: 1-20 ft
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 52F
Surface Temp: 63F
Tide information: very low
Since it was low tide, I chose Marine Room as tonight's dive site and was pleased as always
Easy entry due to low, weak surf and the surface swim was relatively short thanks to the low tide. Dropped down into poor vis, 1ft or less... the kind of dive where you have to keep a hand near the ground to occasionally get your bearings (by touching the sand). At one point, I looked down before putting a hand on the sand and there was a rather large thornback ray directly underneath me- nice to see, but not touch! The visibility cleared up around 25 ft and continued to improve the deeper we got. Octos of all sizes were out and about, along with pipefish, scorpionfish, several types of shrimp & crabs, lizardfish, 2 dendronotus frondosuses, many types of fish, sheepcrabs,rays, etc.. Ran into a very sociable 4+ft halibut who allowed me to get within a foot or so of it to snap some pics. Checked out the ladder, which was full of fingeheads as usual.. then headed north along the wall until it curved sharply. At this point, my buddy was cold and motioned that he wanted to head to shallows (was 52F at depth), so we made our way back in.. cruised through the sand dollar bed and surfaced in 13 ft due to lack of vis. Nice dive, lots of life out!
LLKZ16
Contributor
Kevrumbo:
:confused2
Someone's been diving the wrong sites. I would rather dive Palos Verdes than anywhere else on Earth. There are so many amazing things to see. Buchanan's Reef and the main reef at Marineland have more nudibranchs and colorful life than many coral reefs.Kevrumbo:
HBDiveGirl
Contributor
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Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005
Long Point Pinnacles at the Old Marineland Site
Splash time: 0815
Max. depth: 67 fsw
Coldest: 55 F (Aeris)
Viz: 25 to 30+ down below the red tide layer at about 40fsw
Run time: 1 hour 13 minutes of Wow!-Check-it-out FUN!
Sleeping in on the weekend??? Not if there's diving to do!!
Mo2vation and I were pointed toward Palos Verdes by sunrise, amazed at the relentless clarity of the blue skies and sparkling ocean views.
The Marineland parking lot was solitude itself, awash in that glorious aroma of fennel heating in the morning sun. We scoped out Cobble Beach: "Perfectly doable... let's keep it as a back-up plan in case we get denied at the point." Those pinnacles out there are so gorgeous that it's worth daring surf at the point to get there.
Drysuit on shore on a blazing hot SoCal day? Oh, the humanity! A Drysuit for an hour-thirteen in 55F water between 45 and 67 fsw? "How do I love this? Lemmie count da' ways..."
Of course, there was the slight issue of waves, surge and high-ish tide out at the point. The set waves were explosive... but the lulls were just foamy swirls... surely we can time this! I love the smell of adrenaline in the morning! Sort of forgot about everything else, and let Posidon eventually shove us out through a working channel into deeper, quieter water. Whew... Alright! Let's go diving!
Water around our fins looking like barley soup? Oh, it'll get better... it always gets better... (...oh, please, let it get better...pleasepleaseplease...)
And, man, oh man, did it EVER get better!! The viz absolutely rocked down around the biggest pinnacles in 55 to 67 fsw of clear black water. There was barely a glimmer of light from above, (the Bloomin' Blanket was blocking it all,) but with dual 18W flamethrowin' HIDs, we splashed our own portable sunlight all over these gorgeous towers exploding with life. Nudibranchs were scattered evenly over every surface, like confetti on party tables... We counted 11 different species within the first several minutes of exploring. Hermissenda, Ansidoris, Cuthonae, Flabellina, Cadlina, Triopha... the list goes on. 1/2 inch midgets, and 4 inch King Kongs.... they were everywhere.
The huge pinnacles continue to be swathed in gorgonia, corynactis, sponges, cucumbers, tube worms, keyhole limpets, and peopled with Catalina and ghost goby's, painted greenlings, Garibaldi, kelpfish, rockfish, and octopus... lots of octopus. The male painted greenlings are in their mating coloration: dark-dark brown with white spots. We even watched some dramatic courtship maneuvering between one pair next to a little rocky cave... very cool! And there were more nudibranchs... everywhere!
Oh.. oh... we even saw a big greenish Moray eel tucked into a deep hole in the middle of a huge swim through canyon between pinnacles. I've only seen Morays here once or twice before, so this was really fun.
I realized today how many of the crevices and caves actually penetrate all the way through the pinnacles and boulders... Many!! That wasn't apparent with the 4C eLED I'm usually sporting... but the 18W MaxiVision arc-light reveals ALL!
We gradually headed east toward Cobble beach, in no rush to leave the spectacular pinnacles. The viz funked up again at about 40fsw, so we hugged the 45-foot contour line until my SPG went 'ding'. It's a cool feeling to do a slooooooow horizontally-oriented ascent in orange smog-alert conditions, and slip through the ceiling to a blue and gold California day. The water was still glassy as we motated towards Cobble Beach for an easy walkin'-tall-like-da'-bipeds-we-be exit. Having had intimate experiences with other styles of Marineland exits, my gratitude-meter was pegged at the top.
Oh, man, I LOVE this spot!
Thank you, Ken, for a truly spectacular Marineland Day... We earned this one!
You rule! It's how you roll! Fun day!
Dive on!
Claudette
Long Point Pinnacles at the Old Marineland Site
Splash time: 0815
Max. depth: 67 fsw
Coldest: 55 F (Aeris)
Viz: 25 to 30+ down below the red tide layer at about 40fsw
Run time: 1 hour 13 minutes of Wow!-Check-it-out FUN!
Sleeping in on the weekend??? Not if there's diving to do!!
Mo2vation and I were pointed toward Palos Verdes by sunrise, amazed at the relentless clarity of the blue skies and sparkling ocean views.
The Marineland parking lot was solitude itself, awash in that glorious aroma of fennel heating in the morning sun. We scoped out Cobble Beach: "Perfectly doable... let's keep it as a back-up plan in case we get denied at the point." Those pinnacles out there are so gorgeous that it's worth daring surf at the point to get there.
Drysuit on shore on a blazing hot SoCal day? Oh, the humanity! A Drysuit for an hour-thirteen in 55F water between 45 and 67 fsw? "How do I love this? Lemmie count da' ways..."
Of course, there was the slight issue of waves, surge and high-ish tide out at the point. The set waves were explosive... but the lulls were just foamy swirls... surely we can time this! I love the smell of adrenaline in the morning! Sort of forgot about everything else, and let Posidon eventually shove us out through a working channel into deeper, quieter water. Whew... Alright! Let's go diving!
Water around our fins looking like barley soup? Oh, it'll get better... it always gets better... (...oh, please, let it get better...pleasepleaseplease...)
And, man, oh man, did it EVER get better!! The viz absolutely rocked down around the biggest pinnacles in 55 to 67 fsw of clear black water. There was barely a glimmer of light from above, (the Bloomin' Blanket was blocking it all,) but with dual 18W flamethrowin' HIDs, we splashed our own portable sunlight all over these gorgeous towers exploding with life. Nudibranchs were scattered evenly over every surface, like confetti on party tables... We counted 11 different species within the first several minutes of exploring. Hermissenda, Ansidoris, Cuthonae, Flabellina, Cadlina, Triopha... the list goes on. 1/2 inch midgets, and 4 inch King Kongs.... they were everywhere.
The huge pinnacles continue to be swathed in gorgonia, corynactis, sponges, cucumbers, tube worms, keyhole limpets, and peopled with Catalina and ghost goby's, painted greenlings, Garibaldi, kelpfish, rockfish, and octopus... lots of octopus. The male painted greenlings are in their mating coloration: dark-dark brown with white spots. We even watched some dramatic courtship maneuvering between one pair next to a little rocky cave... very cool! And there were more nudibranchs... everywhere!
Oh.. oh... we even saw a big greenish Moray eel tucked into a deep hole in the middle of a huge swim through canyon between pinnacles. I've only seen Morays here once or twice before, so this was really fun.
I realized today how many of the crevices and caves actually penetrate all the way through the pinnacles and boulders... Many!! That wasn't apparent with the 4C eLED I'm usually sporting... but the 18W MaxiVision arc-light reveals ALL!
We gradually headed east toward Cobble beach, in no rush to leave the spectacular pinnacles. The viz funked up again at about 40fsw, so we hugged the 45-foot contour line until my SPG went 'ding'. It's a cool feeling to do a slooooooow horizontally-oriented ascent in orange smog-alert conditions, and slip through the ceiling to a blue and gold California day. The water was still glassy as we motated towards Cobble Beach for an easy walkin'-tall-like-da'-bipeds-we-be exit. Having had intimate experiences with other styles of Marineland exits, my gratitude-meter was pegged at the top.
Oh, man, I LOVE this spot!
Thank you, Ken, for a truly spectacular Marineland Day... We earned this one!
You rule! It's how you roll! Fun day!
Dive on!
Claudette
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