Old Marineland Long Point Reef 1.29.09

[FrankPro1]

First Dive at Long Point. Followed Phil Garner's advice and did a descent between the metal post and grate. Dialed in 180 degrees and followed that heading into 60ft of water. Must have missed the pinnacles on our way out because we got to 60ft where only smaller rocks and sand was. Long Point is really cool. Tons of life, much more variety of animals then 120 reef. Saw FOUR different types of nudis! That beats SpKelpDivers and I's rank for only 2 which was over at the 120 reef. On way back to shore we found some large pinnacles in the 35-40ft mark and did some swim arounds. Really can't wait to get back there and explore it further.
Dive Profile:

Sea Life:
NudiBranch's: Porter's Chromodorid, Spainsh Shawl, Yellow Dorid, Hermissenda crassicornis
Fish: Cabazone, Barred Kelp Bass, Kelp Bass, Sheephead, Black Smith, Blue Banded Gobi, Black Eyed Gobi, Garabaldi, Senorita, Various types of Rock Fish
Other: Golden Gorgonian Sea Fans, Other Dark Brown Sea Fans, Bat Star, Sunflower Sea Star, Yellow and Dark Blue Sea Cucumber, Nudibranch Egg's

The Jewel of the Dive: Hermissenda crassicornis

A not so good pic, but was our first Porter's Chromodorid:

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Did you follow the edge of the reef back? It's easy to miss Ted's Pinnacle, but there are a lot of tall formations between 55-65'. I'm glad you had fun. BTW, Don talked to the Big Chiefs today and we will now be allowed in the main gate on Sundays and park at the hotel, making the hike much nicer.

 

[Mo2vation]

Nice.

Last week when Dette and I were there, we saw tons of Hermi's.

Its been awhile, but when the ML Hermi's go off its a sight to see. They carpet the place.


---
Ken

 

[FrankPro1]

Did you follow the edge of the reef back? It's easy to miss Ted's Pinnacle, but there are a lot of tall formations between 55-65'. I'm glad you had fun. BTW, Don talked to the Big Chiefs today and we will now be allowed in the main gate on Sundays and park at the hotel, making the hike much nicer.

When we found just sand and small reef formations we decided to go closer to shore at a mild angle. This lead us back to some larger pinnacles "some that went from 35-40ft of water all the way up to what looked really close to the surface". We tried looking for a definitive edge to the reef "like the ones found down at Abalone Cove" but couldn't find any shelf. We should have stayed parallel with the shore "40 degrees?" but took a more aggressive degree favoring shallower water. I was still really stoaked to see all that we did and I can't wait for you or one of the other locals to show us the ropes and introduce us to the Lady of the Garden. Certainly won't be the last time there.

I have to give you and the other Long Point lovers props. That surface swim was pretty hefty! I've done free-dives starting from the cobblestone beach which ended up over by Long Point, but I've never took a direct quick swim over there. It was a leg burner to say that least. I love my XL Spring Strapped Jets Fins while I'm under the water, but they aren't the most leg friendly fin for the surface.

Nice.

Last week when Dette and I were there, we saw tons of Hermi's.

Its been awhile, but when the ML Hermi's go off its a sight to see. They carpet the place.


---
Ken

We saw two Hermi's, one Yellow Dorid, tons of Shawls and one Porter. We can't get enough nudi action. There the underwater easter egg hunt that I dreamed about as a kid.