stevsgarage
Contributor
We arrived at the marina at about 7:00 in the morning. We went about the regular routine of signing in and loading our equipment onto the boat. The weather was fairly calm with only a slight mist, very good for this time of morning along the San Diego coast. The ride was a little over an hour south to the Coronado Islands just over the boarder, off the coast of the little village of Rosarito. There was little excitement other than spotting an occasional sea lion on a buoy or along the shore. This gave us some time to collect our thoughts, get to know the others on the boat and to receive instructions from the dive master.
I met a guy from New Jersey named Ed, who like me was here without a scuba buddy. He was new to diving and had so far only dove in lakes around his home. He was here on business and thought he would sneak in a couple days of diving. (Good plan) Since I had dove here before and already new what and ware I wanted to go he let me plan and lead the dive, although we did openly discus our plan and I was open to any thoughts he had.
Water temperature was 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit but I felt prepared. I wore my shark skin shorty under a Henderson two-layer Farmer John style and a thick hood with plenty of apron to tuck in. I carried 24 lbs. of weight and although I had a little trouble descending at first I felt the weight was about right and had no trouble descending on the second dive.
The dive boat anchored at approximately 60 feet of water at our first site. It was a place called "The KeyHole"; because of a passage between two islands touching together forming a keyhole shape. After exiting the boat we descended down to 55 feet when Ed began having trouble with his ears. We ascended up to 35 feet and leveled off. His ears cleared up and we began swimming toward the keyhole opening staying between 35 and 45 feet. The visibility was very good and you could easily see over 80 ft. The sloping wall of the island was very much alive with various plants typical of this area and the small to medium fish life was very abundant. I was also amazed at how many starfish we found. Im certain I saw four different types.
Once we got close enough to the keyhole to see through and to fill the current as it surged through the opening we turned right, (sort of west) and followed the curve of the island staying near 40 feet, as we had planned, until we used half of our air. We then followed the same path back. It always amazes me how different the same thing looks so going the other way.
The air seemed quite cold after coming up from the dive but I felt very smug in the down like vinyl coat that I found at Wal Mart that wadded up into a small pouch making it easy to stow with my gear. Once everyone was back on board we circled around the islands to the second sight; a place called "The Lobster Shack". Story has it that Mexican fishermen used to fish lobster here and there was a small shack where they would spend the night.
On this dive I wanted to stay very shallow because I had been told that sea lions would often check you out at the shallower depth plus the fish like to feed in the sea grasses along the shore. Although we werent fortunate enough to be joined by any sea lions, the kelp, grasses, and fish life were spectacular. We stayed between 5 and 15 feet following the shoreline from East to West like before. There was one place were a large boulder rose up out of the water out about 10 feet from shore and the grasses curled up forming a tunnel were many larger fish hung out. We passed through the tunnel carefully timing our movements with the surges, then circled around the boulder going a little deeper on the way back.
Upon returning to where the boat was anchored we planned to just hang out and use up a little air. As we returned to the boat the largest school of fish I had ever seen was following along the shoreline of the island in what looked like the Milky Way. As I sat on the bottom looking up, this continuous line of fish swam past us. Many other divers in the area also stopped to watch the spectacle. These foot long silvery fish came out from around the island from the east and continued in a thick stream as far as was visible to the west. Occasionally they would turn just right into the sunlight and glitter blindingly like a disco ball.
Back on the boat we had a crock-pot full of hot chili and shared our experience of the day before beginning our ride back to the San Diego marina.
I met a guy from New Jersey named Ed, who like me was here without a scuba buddy. He was new to diving and had so far only dove in lakes around his home. He was here on business and thought he would sneak in a couple days of diving. (Good plan) Since I had dove here before and already new what and ware I wanted to go he let me plan and lead the dive, although we did openly discus our plan and I was open to any thoughts he had.
Water temperature was 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit but I felt prepared. I wore my shark skin shorty under a Henderson two-layer Farmer John style and a thick hood with plenty of apron to tuck in. I carried 24 lbs. of weight and although I had a little trouble descending at first I felt the weight was about right and had no trouble descending on the second dive.
The dive boat anchored at approximately 60 feet of water at our first site. It was a place called "The KeyHole"; because of a passage between two islands touching together forming a keyhole shape. After exiting the boat we descended down to 55 feet when Ed began having trouble with his ears. We ascended up to 35 feet and leveled off. His ears cleared up and we began swimming toward the keyhole opening staying between 35 and 45 feet. The visibility was very good and you could easily see over 80 ft. The sloping wall of the island was very much alive with various plants typical of this area and the small to medium fish life was very abundant. I was also amazed at how many starfish we found. Im certain I saw four different types.
Once we got close enough to the keyhole to see through and to fill the current as it surged through the opening we turned right, (sort of west) and followed the curve of the island staying near 40 feet, as we had planned, until we used half of our air. We then followed the same path back. It always amazes me how different the same thing looks so going the other way.
The air seemed quite cold after coming up from the dive but I felt very smug in the down like vinyl coat that I found at Wal Mart that wadded up into a small pouch making it easy to stow with my gear. Once everyone was back on board we circled around the islands to the second sight; a place called "The Lobster Shack". Story has it that Mexican fishermen used to fish lobster here and there was a small shack where they would spend the night.
On this dive I wanted to stay very shallow because I had been told that sea lions would often check you out at the shallower depth plus the fish like to feed in the sea grasses along the shore. Although we werent fortunate enough to be joined by any sea lions, the kelp, grasses, and fish life were spectacular. We stayed between 5 and 15 feet following the shoreline from East to West like before. There was one place were a large boulder rose up out of the water out about 10 feet from shore and the grasses curled up forming a tunnel were many larger fish hung out. We passed through the tunnel carefully timing our movements with the surges, then circled around the boulder going a little deeper on the way back.
Upon returning to where the boat was anchored we planned to just hang out and use up a little air. As we returned to the boat the largest school of fish I had ever seen was following along the shoreline of the island in what looked like the Milky Way. As I sat on the bottom looking up, this continuous line of fish swam past us. Many other divers in the area also stopped to watch the spectacle. These foot long silvery fish came out from around the island from the east and continued in a thick stream as far as was visible to the west. Occasionally they would turn just right into the sunlight and glitter blindingly like a disco ball.
Back on the boat we had a crock-pot full of hot chili and shared our experience of the day before beginning our ride back to the San Diego marina.
