lamarpaulski
Contributor
The ferry from Newport hit some swells but not many people got sick. Gorgeous day with mild Santa Ana keeping it clear and Avalon was beautiful above and below water. The viz looked good at the docks and stayed good at the Park. Viz was very nice (40-60) and temps were 63 to 59 depending on depth. First dive had a good current towards the harbor. Saw usual suspects in the Park and one very large stingray. Biggest stingray I've ever seen outside tropical waters and he was slowly gliding through water so I was able to get quite close...almost the size of a bat-ray. I could not locate the local Cardinalfish in their caves @ at 18 feet, just short of su-jac. Maybe their colonization attempt ended in disaster ? I encountered a mob of lobsters in one small cave surrounding an octopus and half poking half whipping him with their spiny antenna. Looked like an organized mob action. This seemed to discourage the octopus and he/she flowed into a crevice. Tested out my red HOG jet-fin take offs with spring straps and really liked them. Tried out my "morph back-up light w/video head" really, really, liked it. Took DRIS awhile to get it to me but it was worth the wait. Amazing how much light it puts out for its size and the video head really improved my gopro videos. Thing is so bright you could use it as primary light on most night dives. (I took the advice of Scubaboarders on these products..turned out (so far) to be great.)
Met some nice fellow divers..incl.a couple from Moreno Valley. The CDS guy at the filling station indicated the filling/rental station is going to continue operate at the Casino BUT its still a good idea to double-check via a call. Having a screwed up back I appreciate the convenience of weights and tanks being right there rather than schlepping them.
It was a good day ..so good I slept on the boat all the way back.
Met some nice fellow divers..incl.a couple from Moreno Valley. The CDS guy at the filling station indicated the filling/rental station is going to continue operate at the Casino BUT its still a good idea to double-check via a call. Having a screwed up back I appreciate the convenience of weights and tanks being right there rather than schlepping them.
It was a good day ..so good I slept on the boat all the way back.