Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005
Long Point Pinnacles at the Old Marineland Site
Splash time: 0815
Max. depth: 67 fsw
Coldest: 55 F (Aeris)
Viz: 25 to 30+ down below the red tide layer at about 40fsw
Run time: 1 hour 13 minutes of Wow!-Check-it-out FUN!
Sleeping in on the weekend??? Not if there's diving to do!!
Mo2vation and I were pointed toward Palos Verdes by sunrise, amazed at the relentless clarity of the blue skies and sparkling ocean views.
The Marineland parking lot was solitude itself, awash in that glorious aroma of fennel heating in the morning sun. We scoped out Cobble Beach: "Perfectly doable... let's keep it as a back-up plan in case we get denied at the point." Those pinnacles out there are so gorgeous that it's worth daring surf at the point to get there.
Drysuit on shore on a blazing hot SoCal day? Oh, the humanity! A Drysuit for an hour-thirteen in 55F water between 45 and 67 fsw? "How do I love this? Lemmie count da' ways..."
Of course, there was the slight issue of waves, surge and high-ish tide out at the point. The set waves were explosive... but the lulls were just foamy swirls... surely we can time this! I love the smell of adrenaline in the morning! Sort of forgot about everything else, and let Posidon eventually shove us out through a working channel into deeper, quieter water. Whew... Alright! Let's go diving!
Water around our fins looking like barley soup? Oh, it'll get better... it always gets better... (...oh, please, let it get better...pleasepleaseplease...)
And, man, oh man, did it EVER get better!! The viz absolutely rocked down around the biggest pinnacles in 55 to 67 fsw of clear black water. There was barely a glimmer of light from above, (the Bloomin' Blanket was blocking it all,) but with dual 18W flamethrowin' HIDs, we splashed our own portable sunlight all over these gorgeous towers exploding with life. Nudibranchs were scattered evenly over every surface, like confetti on party tables... We counted 11 different species within the first several minutes of exploring. Hermissenda, Ansidoris, Cuthonae, Flabellina, Cadlina, Triopha... the list goes on. 1/2 inch midgets, and 4 inch King Kongs.... they were everywhere.
The huge pinnacles continue to be swathed in gorgonia, corynactis, sponges, cucumbers, tube worms, keyhole limpets, and peopled with Catalina and ghost goby's, painted greenlings, Garibaldi, kelpfish, rockfish, and octopus... lots of octopus. The male painted greenlings are in their mating coloration: dark-dark brown with white spots. We even watched some dramatic courtship maneuvering between one pair next to a little rocky cave... very cool! And there were more nudibranchs... everywhere!
Oh.. oh... we even saw a big greenish Moray eel tucked into a deep hole in the middle of a huge swim through canyon between pinnacles. I've only seen Morays here once or twice before, so this was really fun.
I realized today how many of the crevices and caves actually penetrate all the way through the pinnacles and boulders... Many!! That wasn't apparent with the 4C eLED I'm usually sporting... but the 18W MaxiVision arc-light reveals ALL!
We gradually headed east toward Cobble beach, in no rush to leave the spectacular pinnacles. The viz funked up again at about 40fsw, so we hugged the 45-foot contour line until my SPG went 'ding'. It's a cool feeling to do a slooooooow horizontally-oriented ascent in orange smog-alert conditions, and slip through the ceiling to a blue and gold California day. The water was still glassy as we motated towards Cobble Beach for an easy walkin'-tall-like-da'-bipeds-we-be exit. Having had intimate experiences with other styles of Marineland exits, my gratitude-meter was pegged at the top.
Oh, man, I LOVE this spot!
Thank you, Ken, for a truly spectacular Marineland Day... We earned this one!
You rule! It's how you roll! Fun day!
Dive on!
Claudette