fnfalman
Contributor
Went to Casino Point with a new dive buddy on Friday. I generally prefer not to go to the dive park during the summer time because of too many people, but I have yet to make it over for the year 2013 and Friday was the only day my new buddy can do it. So we schlepp our gears...dare I say, my gears, on the Cat Express to be Catalina bound.
At 8 AM there were a handful of divers in the water so it was pretty sweet. By our third and final dive at around 1 PM, there were a bunch of snorkelers around and a few more divers, but over all it wasn't bad. I'm sure that Saturday and Sunday will see even more snorkelers and divers.
Water is warm (obviously), but there's a bit of thermocline at around 40-ft. Not enough to chill, just enough to tell. Currents were mild outside of the kelp line but they were going everywhere. The north side of the steps showed current going one way and the south side of the steps showed the current going the other way. Not enough to cause any exertion, but enough to play with. Viz was blah outside of the kelp line too, lots of particulates - not too surprising because of the currents.
Other than the usual suspects, we found some pretty sweet stuff. On the first dive as we headed out to the swim platform, we spotted a really funky tubular looking jellyfish that I have never seen before. Then we saw a small octopus at one of the pipes that was laying on the sea floor. It retreated into its hole but when I stuck my finger out, it reached for my finger and played with my finger a bit. Saw a bunch of small scallops all over the place and fed an abalone. Saw several eels and gawked at them a bit. However, the highlight of the first dive was the spotting of the tiny tropical damselfish at the stair as we returned. My buddy spotted it and I thought he was pointing to a juvenile Garibaldi that I saw but he steadfastedly pulled my flashlight hand about and showed it to me. Very cool.
Second dive was towards the south side and we found Jacques Cousteau plaque. My buddy never saw it before. We worked our way back north again and I saw a black seabass but by the time I attracted his attention, the GSB already left. We swung back south again and we saw a lone barracuda chasing bait fish. Haven't seen a barracuda for about two years now, so that was a nice bonus.
Third dive, we headed way south and worked back in and out of the kelp line. On the way out, I saw a bright yellow California Sidegill. I neverr thought I would see that thing at Casino Point. Then both of us saw another black sea bass hugging the kelp line. I don't know if it was the same one I spotted earlier or not, but it eyeballed us for about five seconds then did a 180. We must have been too ugly or something. Cruising back to the stairs, we got to a rock that was really close to the Scuba Luv float buoy and I found another one of those tropical damselfish.
Of course during surface interval we ran into Dr. Bill chillin' in his golf cart.
All in all a great day at Casino Point. Finding that damselfish really made my day. That's another "first" that I can chalk up.
At 8 AM there were a handful of divers in the water so it was pretty sweet. By our third and final dive at around 1 PM, there were a bunch of snorkelers around and a few more divers, but over all it wasn't bad. I'm sure that Saturday and Sunday will see even more snorkelers and divers.
Water is warm (obviously), but there's a bit of thermocline at around 40-ft. Not enough to chill, just enough to tell. Currents were mild outside of the kelp line but they were going everywhere. The north side of the steps showed current going one way and the south side of the steps showed the current going the other way. Not enough to cause any exertion, but enough to play with. Viz was blah outside of the kelp line too, lots of particulates - not too surprising because of the currents.
Other than the usual suspects, we found some pretty sweet stuff. On the first dive as we headed out to the swim platform, we spotted a really funky tubular looking jellyfish that I have never seen before. Then we saw a small octopus at one of the pipes that was laying on the sea floor. It retreated into its hole but when I stuck my finger out, it reached for my finger and played with my finger a bit. Saw a bunch of small scallops all over the place and fed an abalone. Saw several eels and gawked at them a bit. However, the highlight of the first dive was the spotting of the tiny tropical damselfish at the stair as we returned. My buddy spotted it and I thought he was pointing to a juvenile Garibaldi that I saw but he steadfastedly pulled my flashlight hand about and showed it to me. Very cool.
Second dive was towards the south side and we found Jacques Cousteau plaque. My buddy never saw it before. We worked our way back north again and I saw a black seabass but by the time I attracted his attention, the GSB already left. We swung back south again and we saw a lone barracuda chasing bait fish. Haven't seen a barracuda for about two years now, so that was a nice bonus.
Third dive, we headed way south and worked back in and out of the kelp line. On the way out, I saw a bright yellow California Sidegill. I neverr thought I would see that thing at Casino Point. Then both of us saw another black sea bass hugging the kelp line. I don't know if it was the same one I spotted earlier or not, but it eyeballed us for about five seconds then did a 180. We must have been too ugly or something. Cruising back to the stairs, we got to a rock that was really close to the Scuba Luv float buoy and I found another one of those tropical damselfish.
Of course during surface interval we ran into Dr. Bill chillin' in his golf cart.
All in all a great day at Casino Point. Finding that damselfish really made my day. That's another "first" that I can chalk up.
