2-28-09 La Jolla Cove Report (Pictures)

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Hi all!

Well I completed my first San Diego dive this morning at La Jolla Cove and thought I would share a dive report. I'm not sure how helpful it is since it seems most people are on boats but I've always enjoyed reading reports so here you go!

Got to the cove at about 10 am, wanted to see how long it would take to get fills and gear from a dive shop, turns out it's about 30 minutes. Drove up to the cove and uttered a few foul words at the parking situation (Rent gear day before and get there early, duly noted!), got geared up in 75 degree weather (I'm used to Monterey) and was like a rocket to get into the water! The swells coming in the cove were pretty small with a couple larger 2 or 3 foot sets, when we got in the surf zone we got fins on and kicked out as fast as we could since it's a bit rolly inside that cove. Tried to make it out to the first yellow buoy and the legs gave out so decided to drop about 3/4 of the way there. Lots of torn up sea grass and kelp in the water and pretty strong surge at first, once we got out a little further the vis opened up to about 15-20 feet and was quite pleasant actually. As I said this is my first San Diego dive so forgive me if what I relate is quite ordinary: Lots of lobsters all over the place (presumeably since the area is protected), saw a big sea hare, and then happened upon an area that was just full of fish, there must have been 20 garibaldi, 15 female sheepheads and a bunch of others I can't name but they all were staying in the same area, some picking up rocks and spitting them out, others just hanging out. I mean it was so full of fish, I accidentally kicked a garibaldi!! Very cool. The highlight of the dive however was when I glance to my left only to see a 5 and 1/2 shark about one foot from my face!!! Before this I had only ever seen a leopard shark which was scrawny compared to this guy! Of course my camera bumbled around until he was out of sight but what a great animal! I'm unsure of whether it was a soupfin shark or a sixgill, perhaps you guys can help me out? Everything I've read suggests it was a soupfin but it's face struck me as being very rounded like a six gill. I was in about 40 ft of water when I saw it. Unfortunately I can't relate any other helpful identifying features since I was dumbstruck. We headed back in and when we got back into the cove there were some big rollers, it was just past 11 am and the swells that were coming in were anywhere between 3 and 6 feet. I found it quite fun and a bit of a rollercoaster. To exit I just crawled out of the surf zone, shameless. All the people on the beach looked at my buddy and I like we were crazy crawling along like that. Is that not a general practice around here? The sand was very soft and I always exit that way after having dove at Monastery Beach in Carmel if any of you are familiar with it! Anyway, long winded enough.

Here is the short version and the pictures (Please help identify the fish that are not Garibaldis)

Dive time: 58 minutes
Depth: 48 feet
Temp: 55-60
Vis: 10-20 (better deeper)

Thanks for such a great introduction to your lovely SoCal diving!!

 

[FrankPro1]

Here is the short version and the pictures (Please help identify the fish that are not Garibaldis)

Female Sheephead are the two fish in the bottom picture. Nice photos! Thanks for the dive report.

 

[shaq858]

I'm finishing up my open water in two weeks. I've only snorkeled the cove. I can't wait to see what's in my backyard. Thanks for the report!

-Dave

 

[fnfalman]

Excellent report!!!

A shark sighting AND kicking a garibaldi in the same dive. It don't get better than that!!!

BTW, I've crawled out of the surf once or twice too. Better than getting tumbled and turtled.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Yup. What you experienced is a typical "good vis" Cove dive. Conditions were very nice last Saturday. I did a dive at La Jolla Shores in the early afternoon with 30 ft. vis in spots.
About the shark encounter...
For me, the easiest way to tell the soupfin (tope) from the sixgill is to count dorsal fins. The soupfin is a sleek/skinny shark with the "traditional" 2 dorsal fins - one prominent dorsal fin halfway down its body (you can't miss it) and then a smaller one directly above the anal fins. The sixgill shark only has 1 small dorsal fin and it's set waaaaay back directly over the anal fins. It really is funny looking, since it's lacking that traditional prominent dorsal fin halfway down its body. Also, the sixgill has a broader head with those six loooong gill slits. From local dive reports, it appears that the soupfins typically exhibit shy behavior toward divers, whereas the sixgills have been known to bump/harrass divers in the area (Point Loma kelp beds).

Both kinds of sharks have been sighted at La Jolla Cove at the depth you describe.

Did you see any giant sea bass? They're shy and typically hang out halfway up in the water column with their heads in the kelp.
What about seals or sea lions? They can be really playful in the Cove area. They're pretty used to seeing divers there.

Glad you had a good dive.

Don't worry about crawling out during your exit. That happens. What lifeguards don't like is newbie divers getting too close to the rocks with medium-to-high surf and doffing their fins too early. Big mistake. A number of years ago when I did my first dive at the Cove, a stranger joined up with our dive group. We assumed he knew what he was doing and how to exit, since he said that he had dived the site before. We surfaced outside the Cove to take an accurate heading into shore. For some reason, he decided to swim in on the surface and made a lot of mistakes -- too close to rocks, removed fins early, flailing about. Let's just say I've never heard anyone at the beach swear as loudly as the on-duty lifeguard did that day. He was not happy when he had to haul the shaken diver onto the beach. His last words were: "I don't ever want to ******* see you on my ******* beach again."

Have fun and dive safe.