Catalina Visibility

Now that i'm certified, I plan on diving Catalina multiple times this year. I'm a huge fan, probably like most of you, of visibility though. So my question is, on average and in general (of course), what are the best month's for visibility on Catalina in your guy's experience? I'm sure it varies, but i'm just looking based on experience and in general. Obviously the best time for visibility could be month "X", but if a massive rainstorm blows through, that could change. That said though, i'm looking at what are the main factors that can affect both good and bad visibility and how to spot them.

Thank you guys! See you there!

On a clear day you can see the island from the mainland, so that's 20mile + viz, but that's probably not what you mean .

Personally, I think fall (Sept-Nov) is the best for viz and water temp. Some storm activity but also when the Santa Ana's blow, and for some reason a day or two after those wind events usually have great viz. That said, this winter there were 50ft + days (usually midweek when I had to work). A good capt can usually find spots with better viz than others. Also, the viz at the dive park does not always reflect the rest of the island's dive sites.

In six years of diving in SoCal, and numerous trips to Catalina, I don't think I've identified a month or season in which the vis is any better than others. Too many factors impact visibility, which can happen at any time of year. So much of it has to do with just the wind, swell and surf conditions, which can vary day to day and aren't necessarily consistent in any particular month. I'm also a sailor and have been sailing the local waters for over 20 years, and we sail our boat all year long. Sailing conditions (wind, waves, swell etc) are not seasonally dependent - they can be fabulous or horrible on any particular day of the year.

That being said, my favorite time to dive is Oct/Nov/Dec. Water is warmest, and hey, it's lobster season!

Perhaps others have different experiences, but those are mine.

Merxlin beat me to it.

Vis here off the island can vary considerably from location-to-location, day-to-day or even hour-by-hour. Recently vis at depth (say > 50 ft) has not been fantastic, but in the shallows above 40 it has varied from very clear to somewhat turbid. Even within the dive park one can experience quite different levels of turbidity depending on the number of OW classes being held that day.

May-June tends to be plankton and bat ray dominated. Plankton blooms turn the water greenish and restrict visibility. Bat rays stir up the soft bottom when they feed and I've seen vis drop to near 0 in May because of them... again, at specific sites where they are feeding. Late spring early summer can also have restricted visibility as giant kelp deteriorates with warming water temperatures and the invasive Japanese alga Sargassum horneri dies as well.

Some of the best visibility is in fall and winter (when there aren't storms at least). Summer can be very clear during El Nino years because the warmer water doesn't contain enough nutrients to foster phytoplankton growth... but the kelp often disappears during warmer events.

Whatever you do in any season, don't try to swim behind me. I stir up a dust cloud that will blind you!

Moral of the story...just go diving! (But not behind Dr. Bill...)

Dr Bill- his own personal OW class of bat rays!

Why do you think I dive solo most of the time!

Given the winds last night, I doubt vis in the dive park is very good right now. It was already decreasing during my second dive yesterday (beginning about 1:30 pm). Of course that assumes that the boats are running again and divers can make it to the island (I think they are).

I was wondering what it was like out on Catalina last night, Dr. Bill. We were supposed to be on our sailboat at Santa Cruz Island, but we stayed at the dock. The winds were WILD! Palm fronds flying off trees and whipping all over the place, gale force winds snapping halyards and sheets like crazy, it sounded like a freaking hurricane here! We were supposed to have a four-day group cruise to Prisoners Harbor on Santa Cruz with our yacht club - cancelled. And I hear the wind picking up again out there.

Probably not a very good weekend for diving. Be safe out there everyone!

I was supposed to dive the oil rigs today but they cancelled the trip. Hoping Monday is better at Cat-

Actually conditions in the dive park were better than I expected yesterday. Up to 30, possibly 40 ft vis in the shallows at the Suejac end of the park (but 20 ft at depth). I did three dives. Surface was a bit choppy making filming in the shallows more difficult, but not impossible.