May 05 Dive Reports

Date:
Dive Location:
Time:
Bottom Time:
Max Depth:
Vis:
Wave height:
Temp at depth:
Surface Temp:
Tide information:
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Comments:

Oh my, my! We're in May already! How am I going to hit my goal of 75 dives this year, if Mother Nature won't work with me here?!?!?!?

Ooops, sorry for the hijack! :07:

Ok, I'm a glutten for punishment! Met up with 4 dive buddies to dive Old Marineland since most dives in Laguna were shut out due to the sewage spill, high surf, and poor viz.

We met up at 8:00am. Walked down around the path west to where the Piling or pipe is sticking up from the rocks. Observed the surf to be quite a bit higher today, than it was yesterday making our normal entry over the boulders questionable. Met up with our 5th buddy to get his opinion of the entry site. I, myself, decided I was going to enter at the cove. No surf to speak of. Two others were in agreement with me, while two decided to try the boulder entry.

My group made it into the water and out to the Eastern Point today. We dropped down into a surreal tropical feeling of viz up to 25-30 viz!!! It was beautiful!!! Again, I immediately spotted several Spanish Shawls. Saw the usual sea creatures. Also spotted two octopi nesting together. I believe one might have been laying eggs and the other, acting as her protector. The protector emerged from the rock for us to play with him a bit. He was a Two Spotted Octopus. Didn't realise how colorful those spots are. Really cool. Sure wish I had a camera, for it was a great photo op. Later in the dive, Jennifer spotted a minute Dorid nudibranch. Good eye! I also saw a large sea urchin with its top lopped off. As I gazed inside, there was a Bat Starfish inside having an early dinner?!!! Had a great time exploring the south/eastern reefs there at Old Marineland.

On our way back to shore, a baby harbor seal was out to play. I was low on air and I had bouyancy issues cause I was diving with my (*#@(&#@) Al tank so I headed back to shore only to find that the baby harbor seal followed me. I got to play with him for a bit in the shallows before he returned back to the reef in search of a free meal. Again, wish I had a camera, would have been great photo op!

Exit today was better than yesterday. Surf was down quite a bit, with an occassional 2-3 footer.

Thanks Jennifer, Steve, Kurt, and Dave for a great dive!

Lexy:

We were joined (or perhaps interrupted) a large school of blacksmith. It was the coolest experience to be swimming shoulder to pectoral fin with the sheer number of blacksmith. They didn't seem to be too alarmed by our presence. I've never dive and swam in that size group - so it was a personal dive highlight. .))[/FONT][/COLOR]

Click to expand...

Nice report Lexy! yeah, isn't it nice to swim with the Blacksmith? Check out this photo, you'll appreciate it:

http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/PointDume20050327/BlacksmithSchool2

I was allowed to "enter" their school in-between exhales. (They didn't like my bubbles).

Scott

Date: 5/1/05
Dive Location: Diver's Cove, Laguna Beach
Time: 4:14 PM
Bottom Time: 45 mins.
Max Depth: 34 ft.
Vis: 10-12 ft
Wave height: 2-3 ft avg (with some 4 footers thrown in for "fun")
Surge: 3-4 ft
Temp at depth: 63 F

Decided to check out Divers Cove for the 1st time today... My buddy & I got a great parking spot right next to the stairs, so that made for a very short walk to the water! :35: Good timing made for a relatively easy entry, but the water was a little choppy during the surface swim. We swam over to the exposed reef (the one to the north) and descended in 10 ft (we didn't realize we were over a reef!). We moved away from the reef when we saw it below, and then descended further to 18 ft. The reef was full of the usual marine life (especially purple urchins!), and I was stunned to see how massive the reef was! The one thing that stood out was what we nicknamed "the abyss"- a huge (and really long) crevice that looked bottomless!!! My buddy & I just floated there, staring down into it- we were just awestruck... There were juvenile garibaldi everywhere along the wall of the crevice, and we saw a fish that we can't identify; it was at least 3 ft long and silver in color. It was a hefty looking fish- not slender at all. It was "hiding" in the depth of the crevice, but didn't seem worried about having 2 divers staring down at it.. Would love to know what type of fish it was...

The surge was pretty moderate, hardly noticable at times and the vis was better than we were expecting (10-12 ft, possibly more at times). I've never seen so many urchins in one location before, so good buoyancy is a must for this dive!!!
Surfaced after 45 min bottom time, and 2 dolphins popped up 20 yards behind us! A 3rd dolphin followed about a minute later. The water was still somewhat choppy on the surface, and unfortunately the swells had picked up while we were underwater.. Not so good timing on the exit caused both me & my buddy to get shwacked by a large wave..and we ended up on our rear ends, and FULL of sand! :nosmilie: hehehe.. Overall, a pretty good dive... (but NOWHERE as good as Catalina yesterday!!).

May 1, 2005
Dive #1 of 2
Avalon wreck, Palos Verdes
Splash: 9:45 AM
Max depth: 73fsw
Run time: 58 minutes
Temp at depth: 53F (Aeris)
Vis: 40+
Still smiling about the great viz he saw on the wreck of the Avalon last week, Ross-O gave Beth, Carlos, and me a reason for sunrise wake-ups on a Sunday: "Let's go back and see that great viz...again!" Warm sun and glassy water made it feel like a relaxing Spring day, but motoring into bone jarring swells kept us attentive...which is why we saw the beautiful grey whale cruising at the surface, nostrils just barely visible, occasionally showing it's barnacle-encrusted head about 60 yards away. Continuing on, the Captain pinned-the-anchor-on-the-wreck, again...exactly...as we saw when we slipped down the line to the wreck's sunlit bow at 65fsw. But Something was Odd!! I didn't need to turn on my light, I didn't find the wreck by running into it with my head, and I could actually see many parts of the wreck at once, as well as see all three buddies...OMG, 40 visibility? Mainland coastal water I can See through?!?!?!? It was a very good day to dive...bow section upper edge was packed with Spanish shawl nudibranchs and eggs, as well as other lovely nudi's. Large lingcod lounged about, schools of senoritas and blacksmith filled the air-like water, Garibaldi-guys defended several red-algae-carpeted nests, and long deep spaces under the hull sheets were packed with lobsters, just needing a sparkly light-ball and a sound track to resemble the disco palaces of the 70's... Ross led us to a cool atmospheric swim-through at the cranes. At 53F it eventually got cold, so we sculled over to the clearly visible anchor line and ascended through an interesting "snow storm" of light colored particulates... algae bloom remnants? Up to sunshine and mustard-shaded green hills of Palos Verdes, rockin'-rollin' surface swell and an active motor-trip over to Buchanan's reef. This was my first time on the Avalon, and I'm hooked and delighted. Great day, great dive!

Dive #2 of 2
Buchanan's Reef, off old Marineland site
Splash: 12:30 PM
Max depth: 54fsw
Run time: 49 minutes
Temp at depth: 52F (Aeris)
Vis: 20-30
Pinnacle after rocky pinnacle was easily visible as we descended onto the reef. I'd only been here once before, in murky 8-10 viz, and it was dramatically more fun in today's 20-30 foot clarity. What's up with the Spanish shawl population explosion?? Fun to see that garish purple/orange combo Everywhere... other pretty nudibranchs were scattered around, too. The varying current made for fun, active diving around the mini-walls and deep slot crevices. A big pale cabezon hunkered attractively. There were so many beautiful carpets of corynactis, coon-striped shrimp, giant keyhole limpets, gorgonia, Catalina gobies, feather duster worms, and light-bulb tunicates that I felt like I was browsing at a jewelry counter...with a flash-light, while shivering and moving freely in all three dimensions. OK, it was A LOT better than any jewelry shop I've ever been in... I was DIVING, for cryin' out loud...it's paradise!!! Carlos turned us 'round at the perfect time and we casually fin-strolled back to the anchor line and relatively warmer safety stops up to the sunny surface. I loved this day of diving and I really need a dry suit.... way more fun than jewelry!
SoCal diving when the viz cooperates: Fantastic.
Thanks Ross, Beth, and Carlos for ALL the fun.

Anacapa May 1st, aboard the Spectre.
A gorgeous day on the water. Water temp around 60, air temp 70+, viz about 35ft. We did Landing Cove, Cathedral Cove and Garden Spot. Got some good footage of nudibranchs, big sheapheads, and sea lions. Looks like algae bloom is calmed down for now but varies day to day. Pray for sunshine and get wet as often as possible. See ya in the water.

DIve Report 5/2/04: Woods Cove (Night Dive)

Surf: 1-2' Going in; 2-4' coming out

Swell: minimal going out; BIG coming in

Surge: minimal initially; moderate to heavy towards end of dive (see report)

Temp: a nice toasty 59 degrees Suunto!!!

Depth: 39'

ABT: 67 minutes

Met up with Jennifer Yee tonight. Due to high tide, decided to check out Moss Point. Hmmm...tide was REALLY high, with strong sets coming in one after another plus, there looked like alot of surge coming in over the reef to the east. Decided to pass on Moss and check out Woods. Woods seemed to be a little bit more protected and didn't have the sets coming in one after another. Looked like there was a little bit of surge, but we decided to give it a go. Got geared up, made our way down the stairs, was greeted by an interesting Aboriginy horn player, did our buddy check, and in the water we went. We were greeting by a suprisingly nice toasty water. A nice change from the 52 degree water we had been seeing.

We dropped down into about 18' fsw into remarkable viz. What a wonderful dive. Saw all kinds of critters: three Octopuss, a horn shark, large bugs, tons of blacksmith, giribaldis, tree fish, female sheephead, sand bass, greenlings, gobys, golden gorgonians, red gorgonians, hermit crabs, Leafy Hornsmouth, Chestnut Cowries, red turban snails, keyhole limpets, rock scallops, a variety of worms, sea anemones, and sponges.

We took a south heading looking for Miller's Reef. Not sure if we found it or not. Returning, we took a N/W heading and came upon what I believe to be the airplane wreckage. One of the wings of the plane is a cool reef with lots of stuff growing on and underneath it. Hitting our turn around point, we kept heading North until we hit a large rock formation. Not know whether to go over it, or around it, we decided to go around (west). As we got shallower, I noticed the surge was picking up quite a bit. At one point, Jennifer was below me. I attempted to kick down noticing we were going through an Arch. It was really cool. However, just as I was enjoying this cool structure, a very strong surge kicked up and WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!! Out I went, tumbling mid water. Before I got my bearings about me, I was at the surface being pounded by heavy surf. I immediately kicked out of the area. Once I got my wits about me, I looked around for Jennifer. She fortunately had surfaced near me. I have to admit, that was pretty scary!!! We decided to surface swim for shore. As we kicked to shore, the surf was picking up, REALLY picking up. Then I noticced that we weren't in the right cove, for our landmarks weren't where they were supposed to see. Also, in the next cove west, I could see the Condo Hotel from Cress Street. So we doubled back past where we popped up, fighting large swells and surf. We made it back to our cove and with timing, we were able to walk out without incident.

All in all, it was a fantastic dive!!! Lots to see, great viz, good temps.

Thanks Jennifer for a great time!

Jan

Date: 5/3/05
Dive Location: Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach
Time: 6:45 am
Bottom Time: 52 mins.
Max Depth: 35 ft.
Vis: 5 - 10 ft
Wave height: 1 - 2 foot, with an occasional 3-footer sneaking through
Surge: 3-4 ft
Temp at depth: 62F above thermicline, 59F below

Got back from a week of diving in Cozumel and Cancun and had to convince myself I hadn't become a warm water wimp. While watching the waves & waiting for my buddy a surferdude/fisherman told me that he'd lost a rod & reel yesterday and asked if I'd look for it. Found it about 3 minutes after entering ... with a 1' bass still attached! Imagine the photo if either of us had a camera. Cut the bass loose and stored the rod & reel to pick up on the way back. Also picked up the bag of chips and 6-pack container they'd dropped alongside the reef.

Strong current running through the arch (expected it, since a line of foam extendced E out of Notch across the cove). Disgression got better part of valor & we turned back. Saw a small eel, then a really huge one on the way to moaning tunnel. Continued on in cut past moaning tunnel, looking for eggs remaining from Easter egg hunt a few weeks back ... didn't find any. Visibility on W side of reef was much better than inside the cove ... Deadman's would probably be a good dive today. Circled back, picked up the rod & reel, and exited.

Couldn't find surfer-dude when I exited; he was driving a huge white van with "Laguna Kayak Company" or something like that painted on it. Couldn't find the van in the area and information wasn't much help. If any of you know which business this might be please send me PM and I'll get it back to him: I'm planning to trade the rod & reel in exchange for an agreement to be more careful with the litter.