Best conditions, worst visibility of the year

[MaxBottomtime]

I've been watching the swell models and beach cameras all week in anticipation of the flat ocean of today. It was very warm, the sea was pretty flat and the new battery switches solved an electrical problem we had been experiencing. I thought I had fixed a shifting problem, but the fix didn't hold. Still, I wanted to take the boat out this morning to check the repairs.

The water was very green in the marina and everywhere off Redondo Beach. I decided to try for Biodome, but the water there was greener and darker than I had ever seen. I told Merry I would jump first to check it out, but she didn't want to overheat on the surface so she joined me. We hoped it would clear up on the way down, but visibility was barely a body length.

We headed home after one dive. I ordered a new shift cable so that will give me something to do before the water clears up, if it ever does.

 

[fdpdrum345]

Solid pics. Thanks for the post. Is there a map of entry and exit points for the area or do you have to do a boat dive off PV? Want to take the GF, but she hasn't dove there yet, and I don't have a suitable dive boat.

 

[Bubblesong]

Pix are gorgeous!
Could visibility be due to plankton blooms? I ask because you mention greenish water.

 

[Ready4Launch]

Hey! I just realized who you are! I started following your Instagram a couple of weeks ago. Great photos. And, I write this, I'm flitting between Scubaboard and a kayak diving essay by Craig H., and he references you in it! Ha! Awesome.

 

[Ready4Launch]

Oh, and viz out at Anacapa west end and Santa Cruz was pretty great on Sunday! Gunsight, Goldfish, and Flame.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Great pics! I took a friend's 35' Tiara over to the West End of Catalina on Saturday, came back on Sunday. Dove Eagle Rock, Johnson's Rock, High Spot, etc... for bugs. Conditions were flat calm until about a half hour out of Newport Harbor, then Victory at Sea... UW vis was 35' or so everywhere we dove.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Solid pics. Thanks for the post. Is there a map of entry and exit points for the area or do you have to do a boat dive off PV? Want to take the GF, but she hasn't dove there yet, and I don't have a suitable dive boat.

Dive Sites - Google My Maps
Biodome is definitely a boat dive only, although there are many shore accessible sites along Palos Verdes. Most are goat trails, but there are a few that are paved.

Pix are gorgeous!
Could visibility be due to plankton blooms? I ask because you mention greenish water.

We've had a persistent plankton bloom since May. Every time it looks as if it is beginning to clear, it returns with a vengeance. This year's bloom is the longest lasting one I've ever seen.

 

[fdpdrum345]

Thanks @MaxBottomtime