April '05 Dive Reports

[SNOBORDJON]

Date: 04/03/2005
Dive Location: Casino Point

Dive 1

Bottom Time: 39
Max Depth: 39
Vis: 10 -15
Temp at depth: 59
Tide information: High

Dive 2

Bottom Time: 37
Max Depth: 37
Vis: 15-20
Temp at depth: 59
Tide information: Med (rocks started to show)

Dive 3

Bottom Time: 35
Max Depth: 66 (Good old fashion reverse profile)
Vis: 10 -15
Temp at depth: 59
Tide information: Low (Steps? What steps I am a mountaineer)

Comments: This was my first time at casino point, I really enjoyed the dive. Saw an octopus, small wreck located at the buoy in front of the steps. However, I was a little disappointed. I always hear so much about Casino Point but I think there are a lot better more adventurous sites right here on the mainland. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the dive and I will go back, still, I think it will be for an over night trip.

I was there with too with Phil, and we also did 3 dives.

I am thinking that the hype was shortlived since the vis was about 20 ft.
It was fun though since phil and I had the first dives of the day there, since everyone else had to wait for a fill. Next time when the viz is better I look forward to hitting up the deeper areas. I am hoping phil downloads his fancy computer so I dont have to leave the details.

We did however see a big sheephead (no I didnt attempt to spear it) Lots of lobster and Bass, a huge crab, lots of certification divers, and a moray hiding in a ledge.

John

 

[Stryker]

Something else you should take into consideration is that LOTS of people who have been there before say that Casino Point is a place that you can dive over and over again, and its never the same dive.... I have had people tell me that you can do 2 days of diving there and not fully explore 1/4th of the park... maybe thats not true, but try again on a GREAT visibility day and maybe you will change your mind.... just my $0.02

jon, any word yet on the weekend of the 22-24th? (I am thinking probably Saturday the 23rd...) Claudette (HBDiveGirl) wants to join us also.....

 

[TeqP]

Dive #:1
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time:8:20am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:61:20
Max Depth:69'
Vis:30'
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:High
Comments: We tried to find the swim platform but were unsuccessful. As soon as we dropped down, I was 'disappointed' to see the viz (not as good as Mar Wrinkles Dive). John and I swam around in search of animals that wanted to be photographed. This was the first time I was able to use my camera with any success. So, I was snapping photos of anything and everything in sight. Saw all of the usual suspects on this dive.

Dive #:2
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time: 11:14am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:48:40
Max Depth:66'
Vis:20-25'
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:Low
Comments: The tide was low enough that the rocks near the steps were showing. We hung around the center of the dive park. The viz had deteriorated further from the first dive. I still am snapping photos of anything I can . We found the plaque for Jacques Cousteau and a small boat wreck (don't know the name).

Saw a big crab (not sure if the name is sheep crab?) John noticed that there were plenty of aluminum cans deposited nicely throughout the dive. By the time we surfaced our BCD pockets were full of cans. if you need help spotting cans in the water, John's your man . Again, saw the usual suspects.

Dive #:3
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time:1:50am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:39:00
Max Depth:58'
Vis:15-20
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:Low
Comments:Tide was low and made entry difficult for me. I was tossed around a few times but managed to finally make it. Again, stayed in the middle of the dive park. Viz was getting worse. Saw a couple decent sized bass and a sheephead that was about 20lb. Circled around a rock formation and luckily spotted a nice size eel hiding out (photo was a little dark, should've brought my external strobe). The viz wasn't that great and we wanted to make it back on the 3:45pm boat, so we called the dive early. One last fish,

Maybe one of you ichthyologists out there can tell me what kind of fish this is. Thanks. Even though the viz was not spectacular, I had three very nice and safe dives.

 

[scottfiji]

scubainspired, ok - now I know exactly what you mean. I like adventurous dives also. I like a dive with a climb down a trail, surface swim, navagation where you only find the reef half the time, and then I like to be the only one at the reef! Casino point is popular because its easy, not that there is anything wrong with that.

There are lots of adventurous dives along the coast, myself or others will definitely have to show them to you some time, or you can explore them on your own.

Scott

Hey Scott,

Good Question, I should have taken my audience into consideration before I wrote that. What I mean by an adventurous dive; is a dive where I feel like I have to navigate to, find and explore the good stuff. Fortunately, my dive career is still in infancy, thus, making almost every dive site seem this way. Casino Point was as close to a boat dive from shore I think you can get. There were tons of other divers and stairs that lead right to the reef. For instance, Big Rock and Coral Beach I had to find for myself and being a new diver I was quite surprised that there is so much life right off shores. I did actually get some great advice on how to find the Big Rock from you. But it still felt like I had accomplished much more when I did find it, than I had at Casino Point. This point of view might be hard to imagine for so many experienced divers, however, I would be willing to bet that the reason so many of you have dived so many different place is rooted in these types of feelings. I remember watching a video clip some of you guys entering through these seemingly massive swells at a wrinkles dive a couple months ago thinking, “Wow I cant wait to develop skills like that, so I can explore every spot possible!”

 

[headhunter]

One last fish,

Maybe one of you ichthyologists out there can tell me what kind of fish this is.

Although, I am admittedly not all that good at identification, I think it's a blacksmith.

That's my guess. Now will the real ichthyologist please stand up!

Christian

 

[drbill]

Blacksmith is correct.

Dr. Bill

 

[SoCalAngel]

Gonna have to give you a B+ on this one. Where was the dive? If there's 20ft. viz around somewhere I wanna be there.

And was it 6:30 AM or PM?

Oh my goodness....Soo sorry! As Seth said, we went to Deadman's reef at Crescent Bay. Why would *anyone* ask me if it was 6:30 am or pm? I do *not* do am beach dives....I am simply tooooooo lazy! :blinking:

:gr1:

 

[scottfiji]

Maybe one of you ichthyologists out there can tell me what kind of fish this is. Thanks. Even though the viz was not spectacular, I had three very nice and safe dives.

You photographed a Blacksmith, a black-eyed Goby and a blue-banded Goby all in 1 pic. Good job!

Scott

 

[SNOBORDJON]

Dive #:1
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time:8:20am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:61:20
Max Depth:69'
Vis:30'
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:High
Comments: We tried to find the swim platform but were unsuccessful. As soon as we dropped down, I was 'disappointed' to see the viz (not as good as Mar Wrinkles Dive). John and I swam around in search of animals that wanted to be photographed. This was the first time I was able to use my camera with any success. So, I was snapping photos of anything and everything in sight. Saw all of the usual suspects on this dive.

Dive #:2
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time: 11:14am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:48:40
Max Depth:66'
Vis:20-25'
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:Low
Comments: The tide was low enough that the rocks near the steps were showing. We hung around the center of the dive park. The viz had deteriorated further from the first dive. I still am snapping photos of anything I can . We found the plaque for Jacques Cousteau and a small boat wreck (don't know the name).

Saw a big crab (not sure if the name is sheep crab?) John noticed that there were plenty of aluminum cans deposited nicely throughout the dive. By the time we surfaced our BCD pockets were full of cans. if you need help spotting cans in the water, John's your man . Again, saw the usual suspects.

Dive #:3
Date:03Apr05
Dive Location:Catalina - Casino Point
Time:1:50am
Dive Buddy:SNOBORDJON
Bottom Time:39:00
Max Depth:58'
Vis:15-20
Temp at depth:59F
Surface Temp:68F
Tide information:Low
Comments:Tide was low and made entry difficult for me. I was tossed around a few times but managed to finally make it. Again, stayed in the middle of the dive park. Viz was getting worse. Saw a couple decent sized bass and a sheephead that was about 20lb. Circled around a rock formation and luckily spotted a nice size eel hiding out (photo was a little dark, should've brought my external strobe). The viz wasn't that great and we wanted to make it back on the 3:45pm boat, so we called the dive early. One last fish,

Maybe one of you ichthyologists out there can tell me what kind of fish this is. Thanks. Even though the viz was not spectacular, I had three very nice and safe dives.

Nice report Phil!
Thanks again for the dives. Good Times!
We have to try two harbors next. But before that...crystal cove!

John

 

[CaptainMarvel]

Date: 4/2/05
Dive Location: Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy: Lexy
Time: 9:52 am
Bottom Time: 64 min
Max Depth: 33 ft
Vis: 8-10 ft
Wave height: 1-2 ft (when there were actual waves)
Temp at depth: 57 f
Surface Temp: 59 f
Tide information: Low
Comments:

This was my first dive at Crescent (or Laguna for that matter), so I was pretty excited to check it out. Surface conditions were good – hardly any breakers or chop. Lexy, OCscuba949, and I had an easy swim out, but OC had trouble getting down – not enough weight. We tried a couple of things, but to no avail. Unfortunately, OC had to abort. So Lexy and I dropped down and headed to the reef. Vis was okay and the surge wasn’t bad. We made our way through various areas of the reef looking for anything interesting. Saw the usual suspects -- mostly garibaldi (some were quite large), blacksmith, etc. Also saw some lobsters hiding out here and there. At one point, Lexy signaled that she saw something BIG, but Elvis had left the building before I had a chance to see him. Afterward, she said it was a very large sheephead – sorry I missed it. On the way back, I saw what was probably the same BIG pink starfish that Jim saw. All in all a good dive… although it was probably a bit more exciting for me than it would have been for any regulars since this was my first dive here.

Date: 4/2/05
Dive Location: Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy: OCscuba949 (Brian)
Time: 1:50 pm
Bottom Time: 32 min
Max Depth: 31 ft
Vis: 5 ft
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 58 f
Surface Temp: 64 f
Tide information: Med-High
Comments:

It turned out to be gorgeous day. Jim and Steve were ready for dive number two, so Brian and I started gearing up to join them. However, turned out Brian needed a fill, so he headed to LSS, I kicked back and enjoyed the weather, and Jim and Steve ventured out for their second dive. A bit later, Brian and I geared up and headed out. The surf had kicked up and it was becoming pretty choppy. We swam out to roughly the same spot as my first dive, and dropped down to find that the vis had deteriorated from the morning – about 5’ max. Brian followed me through the reef as I checked out different areas than the first dive. Unfortunately, didn’t see anything too interesting. We made our way back in, then headed to Husky Boy burgers for lunch. Good call, Jim. Great burgers!

Date: 4/3/05
Dive Location: Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy: Rouky (Erik)
Time: 8:39 am
Bottom Time: 49 min
Max Depth: 38 ft
Vis: 5-10 ft
Wave height: 1-2 ft
Temp at depth: 58 f
Surface Temp: 60 f
Tide information: Low
Comments:

Met Jim, Lexy, Erik, and Steve in the morning. Couldn’t decide whether to dive Crescent again or try Shaws. Jim’s wife made the final call after spotting some dolphins not too far from the reef. Lexy ended up having to abort due to a leak in her alternate, but the good thing is that she ended up winning the McCabe Diver of the Week award! Erik and I buddied up and swam out with Jim and Steve. Upon descending, Jim and Steve disappeared within minutes, so Erik and I ventured through the reef. Vis varied but was mostly decent. Surge was pretty minimal so it was pretty easy to check out all the cracks and crevices. Like Saturday, saw the usual suspects. Erik found a home to 3-4 lobsters, who looked ready to battle for their turf. Shortly afterward, I found an octopus tucked away in a tiny crevice, and motioned to Erik so he could snap a shot. It felt a bit colder than the day before, but a good dive nonetheless!

Date: 4/3/05
Dive Location: Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach
Buddy: sToddu (Steve)
Time: 11:17
Bottom Time: 47 min
Max Depth: 36 ft
Vis: 5 ft
Wave height: 1-3 ft
Temp at depth: 60 f
Surface Temp: 62 f
Tide information: Low-Med
Comments:

Jim decided to hang out on the beach with Myrna (probably the right choice) as Steve and I buddied up for a second dive. The surf had kicked up quite a bit and it was pretty choppy, but not enough to bail. Steven and I swam out and dropped down next to the reef. Vis was pretty bad – a lot of particulates. Surge was also fairly strong at various points. We checked out some areas of the reef we hadn’t been to on the previous dives. Unfortunately, didn’t see anything too interesting. But I liked the dive in that it was more experience gained diving in those conditions. I also liked having to put my navigations skills to work.

------------------

All in all a great weekend of diving. It was great meeting Jim, Steve, Brian, Lexy, and Erik. Had a lot of fun – hope to dive with all of you again. And for those of you going to Wrinkles this weekend, I'll see you on Saturday!

-Scott