Great diving at Casino Point

[bperc]

My friend Larry and I went over to Catalina to dive Casino Point. We hadn't been in a couple of years. We had a great time and the diving was awesome. The visibility was at least 80 feet the first day and varied from 40 to 80 the other two days depending on the number of OW divers rototilling.
We got to meet Dr. Bill and had a couple of good discussions with him. He is a great guy and a wealth of knowledge. Thanks to Dr. Bill, who told us where to find a couple of nudibranchs on the backside of the Sujac. We found a lawn chair next to the Sujac and took a couple of photos in it.
I saw three abalone in the dive park. That was encouraging to me because I had not seen any before. Here are a few photos from our dives.

Larry makes a new friend.

Oscar does a swim by.

Hypselodoris Californiensis on the Sujac

Me resting after kicking to the Sujac.

Looking up at ~50 feet

My first sighting of an abalone at Casino Point.

Octopus resting under a pipe.

The white tail damsel near the steps.

 

[TSandM]

Very nice pictures!

We found a Hypsie on the SuJac when we were there at the end of September, too. My understanding is that they are uncommon -- I wonder if there is something in what's growing on the boat that attracts them?

 

[drbill]

Glad you two had a great time.

It is interesting that the Hypselodoris, which reportedly disappeared from the SoCal mainland in the late 70s, has been sighted so frequently he at Casino Point. I thought they were gone for the year until I saw the one on the Suejac. Nudibranchs often hang out on the Suejac because the water at that end of the park is colder (deep water from the harbor mouth) and there are oftenb currents that sweep the wreck's structure... both good for the critters that nudis feed on. However, I've observed the majority of the Hypsies this past year on the rocky reef in shallow water. Their colors make for spectacular images.

Good on the whitetail damsel. I had a diver check Monday to make sure it was still there after the strong winds and waves over the weekend. It is.

 

[bperc]

Glad you two had a great time.

Yes we did. I am looking forward to my next visit.

 

[fnfalman]

Sweet pic!!!

I hope that white tail damsel will still be there when I hit Casino Point sometimes in December.