I, as much as anyone, often attribute the quality of a dive to the quality of the vizibility, when in reality there can be so many other factors which contribute to a great dive. Last Sunday morning's dive on Deadman's reef was one of those dives.
The tide was so low at 7:30 AM that Seal Rock looked like a jagged ship which had run aground on the beach. I told Marshal, "Lets take our time gearing up to let some of the tide roll back in." You couldn't wait forever though, as the rest of the day awaits completion of the dive and a return home to terrestrial life so we suited up 30 minutes later and started our swim out.
As we descended I was thinking to myself, "...is the sand really down there because I can't see it." It finally came into view with about five feet to go, so low viz. We finned towards the reef and as it came out of the gloom I determined we were somewhere along the East wall of the reef. Deadman's Reef can be a confusing place to navigate, but I have found if I locate the diver sarcophagus near the Northeast point of the reef, I can generally stay orientated. We found the sarcophagus which I hadn't seen in awhile, its really beginning to deteriorate which is maybe a good thing (see link).
Instagram post by J. Reeb • May 30, 2017 at 1:03pm UTC
From there we headed up and over the reef traveling somewhat Southwest and made a nice loop all the way to the South end of the reef and back around the East wall, passing the sarcophagus somewhere along the way until we hit the Stonehenge rock band. The viz overall varied from eight to fifteen to even twenty feet in spots coming back along the inner reef. Even in the varying viz we spotted Blacksmiths, Kelp Bass, and a nice Cabezon.
Overall a enjoyable dive!
Divemetrics: 62min, 54' 53F
J. Reeb
Dark-thirty Diver
818-635-4408 (text)
The tide was so low at 7:30 AM that Seal Rock looked like a jagged ship which had run aground on the beach. I told Marshal, "Lets take our time gearing up to let some of the tide roll back in." You couldn't wait forever though, as the rest of the day awaits completion of the dive and a return home to terrestrial life so we suited up 30 minutes later and started our swim out.
As we descended I was thinking to myself, "...is the sand really down there because I can't see it." It finally came into view with about five feet to go, so low viz. We finned towards the reef and as it came out of the gloom I determined we were somewhere along the East wall of the reef. Deadman's Reef can be a confusing place to navigate, but I have found if I locate the diver sarcophagus near the Northeast point of the reef, I can generally stay orientated. We found the sarcophagus which I hadn't seen in awhile, its really beginning to deteriorate which is maybe a good thing (see link).
Instagram post by J. Reeb • May 30, 2017 at 1:03pm UTC
From there we headed up and over the reef traveling somewhat Southwest and made a nice loop all the way to the South end of the reef and back around the East wall, passing the sarcophagus somewhere along the way until we hit the Stonehenge rock band. The viz overall varied from eight to fifteen to even twenty feet in spots coming back along the inner reef. Even in the varying viz we spotted Blacksmiths, Kelp Bass, and a nice Cabezon.
Overall a enjoyable dive!
Divemetrics: 62min, 54' 53F
J. Reeb
Dark-thirty Diver
818-635-4408 (text)
