California Diver
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missy i do recall seeing that latter several times on our way back up.
August '05 Dive Reports
- Thread starter headhunter
- Start date
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If you can't make it to the shop, Sean has a 19 second avi. file here.divinman:
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CaptainMarvel
Contributor
Date: August 20, 2005
Dive Location: Veterans Park Redondo Beach
Time: 8:15 am
Bottom Time: 54 min
Max Depth: 82 fsw
Vis: 20
Wave Height: Lake Redondo
Temp at Depth: 55 deg
Gas Mix: Air (21%)
Comments: Met up with Phil (TepP) for a day of diving at Redondo yesterday. Arrived a little early only to find diving celebrity Jim McCabe (mccabejc) in the parking lot he was there for a class. After chatting with Jim a bit, Phil and I geared up and headed down the stairs. Heard from other divers that vis was fantastic. After an easy swim out (no waves), we dropped down to see they were absolutely right. Vis was a good 20 feet even before hitting the canyon. Once we reached depth, temp dropped about 10 degrees. A bit chilly but the great vis made up for that. This was my first time here, and I was surprised by how much junk is on the bottom. However, the local octopi didnt seem to mind. Found quite a few making use of beer bottles, old gloves, and other discarded items. Found a horn shark, and while we were focusing on him, a nearby scorpionfish got a little pissed about not getting any attention so he started moving aggressively toward Phil. After acknowledging him with some waving of our lights, he seemed content enough to swim away. Also saw plenty of halibut, some decorator and kelp crabs, and about 5-6 sarcastic fringehead. A good dive to start the day.
Dive #2 Veterans Park
Time: 10:30 am
Bottom Time: 64 min
Max Depth: 66 fsw
Vis: 20
Wave Height: Lake Redondo
Temp at Depth: 55 deg
Comments: Conditions remained great for the second dive. Phil and I headed back into the canyon and found more octos, horn sharks, a few scorpionfish, sarcastic fringehead, some sheep crabs, and the other usual suspects. On the way back in, we found a good-sized thornback ray completely buried in the sand. I just happened to see his nostrils blowing a bit of sand around. He quickly swam away, but it was a cool find being I hadnt seen one before.
Dive #3 Veterans Park
Time: 3:00 pm
Bottom Time: 65 min
Max Depth: 44 fsw
Vis: 8-10
Wave Height: 1-2
Temp at Depth: 64 deg
Comments: After a long surface interval spent getting air fills at Dive N Surf and grabbing burgers for lunch, we headed back to the park (and got lucky finding parking). We geared up and walked down to the jetty. The wind picked up, making it a little choppy, but otherwise not too bad. We headed out until we were even with the end of the jetty, and dropped down. As expected, the vis had dropped considerably. Maybe 10 at best. It also seemed rather dark to me, but we quickly noticed that a massive school of some type of silvery fish was casting a shadow over us. Maybe mackerels or anchovies dont really know, but there were MANY of them. We spent a bit of time looking for the old pilings but no luck. We then headed north and leisurely edged in and out of the canyon along the way. Encountered many of the critters we saw on the previous dives baby octopi, couple of horn sharks, sarcastic fringehead, various crabs, halibut. Also saw a jelly and what I thought was a juvie scorpionfish, but not so sure. It looked almost white with dark stripe-like patterns. Maybe a type of sculpin?
Dive #4 Veterans Park
Time: 5:30 pm
Bottom Time: 52 min
Max Depth: 48 fsw
Vis: 8-10
Wave Height: 1-2
Temp at Depth: 64 deg
Comments: Last dive of the day. Walked about halfway toward the jetty, swam out and dropped to about 25 feet. Followed the same plan as before headed north and rode the canyons edge along the way. Once again saw many of the same critters horn sharks, octos, fringehead, etc. Phil spotted a couple of spanish shawls about 10 yards apart from each other, although I think one or maybe both of them may have been Hermissenda Crassicornis (thats what I get for buying books with nudibranch IDs). Also saw a very large halibut. Id say between 3-4 feet long. Biggest Ive seen to date. Right after motioning Phil to take a look, a seal shot out of nowhere. He was pretty curious about us, but after a couple of minutes, he realized we couldnt do any tricks for him, so he ventured onward. We continued along the canyons edge and spotted a lone purple jelly. Soon after, we leisurely made our way toward shore. Vis was getting bad but we managed to see a few more large halibut before ascending almost in perfect line with the stairs. Despite the deteriorating vis (at least in the shallows), it was a great dive to end the day especially considering it was dive #50 for me!
Dive Location: Veterans Park Redondo Beach
Time: 8:15 am
Bottom Time: 54 min
Max Depth: 82 fsw
Vis: 20
Wave Height: Lake Redondo
Temp at Depth: 55 deg
Gas Mix: Air (21%)
Comments: Met up with Phil (TepP) for a day of diving at Redondo yesterday. Arrived a little early only to find diving celebrity Jim McCabe (mccabejc) in the parking lot he was there for a class. After chatting with Jim a bit, Phil and I geared up and headed down the stairs. Heard from other divers that vis was fantastic. After an easy swim out (no waves), we dropped down to see they were absolutely right. Vis was a good 20 feet even before hitting the canyon. Once we reached depth, temp dropped about 10 degrees. A bit chilly but the great vis made up for that. This was my first time here, and I was surprised by how much junk is on the bottom. However, the local octopi didnt seem to mind. Found quite a few making use of beer bottles, old gloves, and other discarded items. Found a horn shark, and while we were focusing on him, a nearby scorpionfish got a little pissed about not getting any attention so he started moving aggressively toward Phil. After acknowledging him with some waving of our lights, he seemed content enough to swim away. Also saw plenty of halibut, some decorator and kelp crabs, and about 5-6 sarcastic fringehead. A good dive to start the day.
Dive #2 Veterans Park
Time: 10:30 am
Bottom Time: 64 min
Max Depth: 66 fsw
Vis: 20
Wave Height: Lake Redondo
Temp at Depth: 55 deg
Comments: Conditions remained great for the second dive. Phil and I headed back into the canyon and found more octos, horn sharks, a few scorpionfish, sarcastic fringehead, some sheep crabs, and the other usual suspects. On the way back in, we found a good-sized thornback ray completely buried in the sand. I just happened to see his nostrils blowing a bit of sand around. He quickly swam away, but it was a cool find being I hadnt seen one before.
Dive #3 Veterans Park
Time: 3:00 pm
Bottom Time: 65 min
Max Depth: 44 fsw
Vis: 8-10
Wave Height: 1-2
Temp at Depth: 64 deg
Comments: After a long surface interval spent getting air fills at Dive N Surf and grabbing burgers for lunch, we headed back to the park (and got lucky finding parking). We geared up and walked down to the jetty. The wind picked up, making it a little choppy, but otherwise not too bad. We headed out until we were even with the end of the jetty, and dropped down. As expected, the vis had dropped considerably. Maybe 10 at best. It also seemed rather dark to me, but we quickly noticed that a massive school of some type of silvery fish was casting a shadow over us. Maybe mackerels or anchovies dont really know, but there were MANY of them. We spent a bit of time looking for the old pilings but no luck. We then headed north and leisurely edged in and out of the canyon along the way. Encountered many of the critters we saw on the previous dives baby octopi, couple of horn sharks, sarcastic fringehead, various crabs, halibut. Also saw a jelly and what I thought was a juvie scorpionfish, but not so sure. It looked almost white with dark stripe-like patterns. Maybe a type of sculpin?
Dive #4 Veterans Park
Time: 5:30 pm
Bottom Time: 52 min
Max Depth: 48 fsw
Vis: 8-10
Wave Height: 1-2
Temp at Depth: 64 deg
Comments: Last dive of the day. Walked about halfway toward the jetty, swam out and dropped to about 25 feet. Followed the same plan as before headed north and rode the canyons edge along the way. Once again saw many of the same critters horn sharks, octos, fringehead, etc. Phil spotted a couple of spanish shawls about 10 yards apart from each other, although I think one or maybe both of them may have been Hermissenda Crassicornis (thats what I get for buying books with nudibranch IDs). Also saw a very large halibut. Id say between 3-4 feet long. Biggest Ive seen to date. Right after motioning Phil to take a look, a seal shot out of nowhere. He was pretty curious about us, but after a couple of minutes, he realized we couldnt do any tricks for him, so he ventured onward. We continued along the canyons edge and spotted a lone purple jelly. Soon after, we leisurely made our way toward shore. Vis was getting bad but we managed to see a few more large halibut before ascending almost in perfect line with the stairs. Despite the deteriorating vis (at least in the shallows), it was a great dive to end the day especially considering it was dive #50 for me!
Date: 8/21/2005
Dive Location: Crescent Bay Pinnacles
Time: 8:01 a,m.
Bottom Time: 71 min.
Max Depth: 42 FSW
Vis: 5-25, mostly 20-25 depending on where you were
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: 61 Suunto Degrees
Surface Temp: 62 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 5.4 High 11:27AM
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Buddy: Undrwater
Comments: Met up with UndrWater (aka Russell) for a dive to check out some new toys he has acquired of the dive variety. Foggy on top, but the ocean looked calm enough. We swam out to the end of the rocks projecting out into the ocean at the west (north) end of the beach. Dropped down though some brown haze (red tide) and came out into fair visibility at about 10-15 feet depth with the visibility being about 15 to 20 feet. Swam along the reef towards the pinnacles with a red cloud on one side and relative clear water on the other. Then it happened, we turned the corner and the vis was 25+ of clear light blue water teaming with fish. One of those, this is why I dive dives. We ducked in and out of the cloud of red tide. Found the usual suspects. The sandy bottom was carpeted in one place by a sea of small juvenile blacksmiths. In other places the water above us was covered in fish.
If you were not diving today, you missed out.
Dive Location: Crescent Bay Pinnacles
Time: 8:01 a,m.
Bottom Time: 71 min.
Max Depth: 42 FSW
Vis: 5-25, mostly 20-25 depending on where you were
Wave height: 1-2 feet
Temp at depth: 61 Suunto Degrees
Surface Temp: 62 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: 5.4 High 11:27AM
Gas mix: Air (21%)
Dive Buddy: Undrwater
Comments: Met up with UndrWater (aka Russell) for a dive to check out some new toys he has acquired of the dive variety. Foggy on top, but the ocean looked calm enough. We swam out to the end of the rocks projecting out into the ocean at the west (north) end of the beach. Dropped down though some brown haze (red tide) and came out into fair visibility at about 10-15 feet depth with the visibility being about 15 to 20 feet. Swam along the reef towards the pinnacles with a red cloud on one side and relative clear water on the other. Then it happened, we turned the corner and the vis was 25+ of clear light blue water teaming with fish. One of those, this is why I dive dives. We ducked in and out of the cloud of red tide. Found the usual suspects. The sandy bottom was carpeted in one place by a sea of small juvenile blacksmiths. In other places the water above us was covered in fish.
If you were not diving today, you missed out.
Kayak Diver
Guest
Date: August 21, 2005
Dive Location: Cat Rock, Anacapa Island
Time: Early afternoon
Bottom Time: An hour
Max Depth: 76 ft.
Vis: About 50+ ft.
Wave Height: None, but semi-strong current
Temp at Depth: 61 (?) deg, felt colder
Gas Mix: Air (21%)
Beautiful dive. The boat anchored at a bold outdrop in about 25ft. water depth. We swam northeast toward deeper water, and against a moderate current. Reached a strong thermocline before decending too deep...the water was shimmering. Just below the thermocline, brittle stars were everywhere. Their density increased with a little more depth, until they completely covered everything...rocks, sand, everthing. It was really beautiful. We followed rocky ridges, stopping at the occasional bold outcrop with kelp attached to the top to look for critters in the joints. We stayed down for as long as possible, and then headed back through the current to shallower waters. Just above the thermocline, a huge school of barracudas greeted us. There must have been hundreds. They swam past in an arcuate path, less than 10 ft. away. I just hovered there, as still as possible, and watched them swim by. It took 12+ slow breathes before they all past. I then swam towards the denser kelp forest that is closer to the island. Large bat rays glided by.
Dive Location: Cat Rock, Anacapa Island
Time: Early afternoon
Bottom Time: An hour
Max Depth: 76 ft.
Vis: About 50+ ft.
Wave Height: None, but semi-strong current
Temp at Depth: 61 (?) deg, felt colder
Gas Mix: Air (21%)
Beautiful dive. The boat anchored at a bold outdrop in about 25ft. water depth. We swam northeast toward deeper water, and against a moderate current. Reached a strong thermocline before decending too deep...the water was shimmering. Just below the thermocline, brittle stars were everywhere. Their density increased with a little more depth, until they completely covered everything...rocks, sand, everthing. It was really beautiful. We followed rocky ridges, stopping at the occasional bold outcrop with kelp attached to the top to look for critters in the joints. We stayed down for as long as possible, and then headed back through the current to shallower waters. Just above the thermocline, a huge school of barracudas greeted us. There must have been hundreds. They swam past in an arcuate path, less than 10 ft. away. I just hovered there, as still as possible, and watched them swim by. It took 12+ slow breathes before they all past. I then swam towards the denser kelp forest that is closer to the island. Large bat rays glided by.
Date: August 20, 2005
Dive Location: Anacapa Island (4 dives)
Boat: Spectre
Max Depth: 46 ft
Vis: About 25 - 50+ ft.
Wave Height: None. Negligable current
Temp at Depth: 63 - 64
Gas Mix: 32% dives 1 & 2 (for this???) and Air for dives 3 & 4
Buddy: Claudette (HBDiveChica)
Claudette and I dived the Spectre (both first timers on that boat) on Saturday. I have more thoughts on the Spectre I'll save for another thread.
Having dived Anacapa on the Peace a zillion times, I sort of knew what to expect. Well, I thought I did.
These were guppy dives of the highest order. And for me, king of the guppy divers to mention that, you know how mellow and shallow they must have been. Of course I was expecting the usual Anacapa fare - cooler water, muted viz, deeper dives and square profiles, so I filled and schlepped both waterheaters with 32 for this 4 dive day.
It turned out to be amazing viz, very warm (66 on top, 63-64 "at depth") and very shallow... like in the 20's and 30's. Our average depth over our first 80 minute dive was 28 feet. The DM got wise to us real fast, and issues the obligatory "we need you back in 60 minutes" warning. OK. The other three 60 minute dives were shallower, still. Oh well.
It was super mellow, and we decided it would be macro day. While most people were rototilling about, and blasting past us, knocking things over and just rushing, she and I dived very, very slow and had our faces pressed to the ground, the rocks and the walls.
She can fill you all in with better details, as her prose is first rate. Suffice it to say that this was long, slow, close quarter macro divng. I'm gonna make me an Uncle Pug magnifier because I liked these dives a lot.
We saw Nudi's all over the place. Tunicates, a wacky flatworm (got only one shot, poorly focused, but you'll get the idea) a couple of Sheephead fighting right in front of us (a quickdraw grab-n-shoot... kinda sux but you'll get the idea) and fearless lobster. One Kyle-kid sized one I rolled up on didn't even move. I got right in his grill for a macro shot and he didn't even blink. Well, he couldn't but you get the idea. Some cool shell I've never seen before (Claudette called it a "coffee bean" shell...) and some other fun, small stuff. I can identify almost nothing - so any assistance with the pics is helpful.
Harbor seals playing with us (thankfully no elbow chomping... guess its you, Phil, and not Claudette...) and sea lions barking and dive bombing us. Just 4 mellow, slow, warm, fun dives. Mellow crossing, great day, dreat dive buddy and loads of jolly fun. And I can say I've dived the Spectre.
Some images attached, more available here.
---
Ken
Dive Location: Anacapa Island (4 dives)
Boat: Spectre
Max Depth: 46 ft
Vis: About 25 - 50+ ft.
Wave Height: None. Negligable current
Temp at Depth: 63 - 64
Gas Mix: 32% dives 1 & 2 (for this???) and Air for dives 3 & 4
Buddy: Claudette (HBDiveChica)
Claudette and I dived the Spectre (both first timers on that boat) on Saturday. I have more thoughts on the Spectre I'll save for another thread.
Having dived Anacapa on the Peace a zillion times, I sort of knew what to expect. Well, I thought I did.
These were guppy dives of the highest order. And for me, king of the guppy divers to mention that, you know how mellow and shallow they must have been. Of course I was expecting the usual Anacapa fare - cooler water, muted viz, deeper dives and square profiles, so I filled and schlepped both waterheaters with 32 for this 4 dive day.
It turned out to be amazing viz, very warm (66 on top, 63-64 "at depth") and very shallow... like in the 20's and 30's. Our average depth over our first 80 minute dive was 28 feet. The DM got wise to us real fast, and issues the obligatory "we need you back in 60 minutes" warning. OK. The other three 60 minute dives were shallower, still. Oh well.
It was super mellow, and we decided it would be macro day. While most people were rototilling about, and blasting past us, knocking things over and just rushing, she and I dived very, very slow and had our faces pressed to the ground, the rocks and the walls.
She can fill you all in with better details, as her prose is first rate. Suffice it to say that this was long, slow, close quarter macro divng. I'm gonna make me an Uncle Pug magnifier because I liked these dives a lot.
We saw Nudi's all over the place. Tunicates, a wacky flatworm (got only one shot, poorly focused, but you'll get the idea) a couple of Sheephead fighting right in front of us (a quickdraw grab-n-shoot... kinda sux but you'll get the idea) and fearless lobster. One Kyle-kid sized one I rolled up on didn't even move. I got right in his grill for a macro shot and he didn't even blink. Well, he couldn't but you get the idea. Some cool shell I've never seen before (Claudette called it a "coffee bean" shell...) and some other fun, small stuff. I can identify almost nothing - so any assistance with the pics is helpful.
Harbor seals playing with us (thankfully no elbow chomping... guess its you, Phil, and not Claudette...) and sea lions barking and dive bombing us. Just 4 mellow, slow, warm, fun dives. Mellow crossing, great day, dreat dive buddy and loads of jolly fun. And I can say I've dived the Spectre.
Some images attached, more available here.
---
Ken
TeqP
Contributor
Scott - Nice report, I enjoyed the dives and 'classic' burger (especially during dive 3Cap'NMarvel:
).CONGRATS ON #50. Only 450 more till 500!!!
scottfiji
Contributor
Location: big rock, Malibu, 3:30PM 8/19/2005
Max depth: 34ft
temp: 62 degrees
vis: 5-15ft
bottom time: 82 minutes
waves: 1ft
Had a great solo dive at Big Rock, saw lots of good critters, you'll see them all in the photos. 2 Large bat rays and a large cabezon escaped my camera.
School of Black Perch
School of Rubberlip Perch
Location: Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes, 8/20/2005 3:45PM
Max depth: 30ft
temp: 65 degrees
vis: 5-9ft (10-15ft shallower than 11 feet)
bottom time: 77 minutes
waves: none
dive buddy: brenda jean
Vis at malaga cove wasn't great, due to a low tide. Saw lots of juvie spotted sand bass, rock wrasses, and found 1 angel shark, dusted him off for a while, got photos and video. we found an octopus out in the open. the algae was just beautiful in the 8-12ft depth range. best vis was a few feet from shore. I came right up on a couple large bat rays that escaped my camera.
Best photos from both dives (scubapost registration required I think):
http://forums.scubapost.net/showthread.php?t=924
(complete photo gallery from dives, no registration required)
http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/scottfiji/?g2_page=3
(click photos to enlarge, then click "add comment" on the left to leave a comment)
Enjoy! Scott
Max depth: 34ft
temp: 62 degrees
vis: 5-15ft
bottom time: 82 minutes
waves: 1ft
Had a great solo dive at Big Rock, saw lots of good critters, you'll see them all in the photos. 2 Large bat rays and a large cabezon escaped my camera.
School of Black Perch
School of Rubberlip Perch
Location: Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes, 8/20/2005 3:45PM
Max depth: 30ft
temp: 65 degrees
vis: 5-9ft (10-15ft shallower than 11 feet)
bottom time: 77 minutes
waves: none
dive buddy: brenda jean
Vis at malaga cove wasn't great, due to a low tide. Saw lots of juvie spotted sand bass, rock wrasses, and found 1 angel shark, dusted him off for a while, got photos and video. we found an octopus out in the open. the algae was just beautiful in the 8-12ft depth range. best vis was a few feet from shore. I came right up on a couple large bat rays that escaped my camera.
Best photos from both dives (scubapost registration required I think):
http://forums.scubapost.net/showthread.php?t=924
(complete photo gallery from dives, no registration required)
http://gallery.scubapost.net/v/scottfiji/?g2_page=3
(click photos to enlarge, then click "add comment" on the left to leave a comment)
Enjoy! Scott
Diver_Jan
Contributor
Saturday, August 20th
4:45pm
Shaw's Cove
Met up with Chris R for a late afternoon dive at Shaw's Cove (wanted to avoid Lifegaurd altercations).
Wow! What an excellent choice!!! Man, am I sorry though, for I didn't take my camera in with me due to the red tide we have been having.
From the top of the stairs looking down, we were pleased that there was no surf to speak of. However, we did see TWO strains of red tide parallelling the shore. A big wide patch past the outer reef, and a narrower stream in the shallows, hence, no camera. BIG MISTAKE! I have to say that this was one of the BEST dives ever that I have experienced in Laguna.
We kicked out aways over crystal clear water over the sand. We dropped down into 15' FSW right on top of a Thornback Ray that skirted off as he saw us coming down on top of him. We made our way closer to the reef making our way to the 'Arch'. On our way there, we spotted a couple of Spanish Shawl's and a Hopkin's Rose (missed photo opp). Into the Arch, it was not that good of viz, but manageable. We dove through and decided to do the 'swim through' under the rock. This was so cool, for we were greeted by several white Sea Anemones through the trench that took us back to the east side of the reef. Just as we were to go over our last ledge, we spotted a really cute baby Sea Hare (another missed photo opp). As we were gazing at this little creature, out of the blue, a vast wall of Sardines swiftly went over the top of us. What a start! My heart was racing!!! It was so cool, must have been thousands of these little guys. Once they cleared out of the way, we continued out dive, heading south on the reef. Next, we spotted a Moray Eel being cleaned by Red Rock Shrimp. Shortly after that, we spotted our fist Octopus, then more Spanish Shawl's, Blue Banded Goby's, Black Eyed Goby's, Treefish, JV Treefish, female Sheephead, JV Sheephead, Giribaldi's as well as juvies, Brown Rockfish, a good sized Cabezon, another Octo. Lots of different colored Anemones, tube Anemones, Bat Stars, Ochre Stars, Brittle Stars, Spiney Sand Stars, Sand Dollars, Leafy Hornsmouth, Chestnut Cowries, to name a few. Also dozens of schools of Blacksmith were out and about. We saw so much on this time, too much to list in one email.
To top the dive off, the highlights were this: We spotted purple hydrocoral!!! I had seen it before at Shaw's, but this time I was with a buddy that saw it too! Too cool.
Ok, now here is the REAL THRILL: ***THE MOTHER OF ALL EELS***!!! I spotted an eel 'body' in the rocks. I got Chris' attention to check it out. We followed the rock down until we found it's head poking out at the bottom. My god, this one was BIG! We weren't going to take any chances on trying to feed this one, so I decided to try to get the eel to turn around so that we could get a better look. So, I gently tapped the eel on his upper body that was exposed through the rock. Chris and I both anticipated the eel would turn around. WRONG!!! The eel came out ENTIRELY of it's hole towards us and swam upwards towards a rocky crevice. I think the eel was as long as I am tall, if not longer. I would say his/her body was 10" in diameter. Both Chris and I were in shock, but then doing the 'High 5' in midwater. Darn, another missed photo opp! What an exciting dive!!!
Due to the great conditions, we got to spend some time past the south end of the reef. We spotted some rock structures further south that we explored. Then we headed back north/west and came around through a crevice that I'm familiar with up through two vast walls. Spotted a third Nudibranch, a yellow dorid I believe. On our way back in, Christ spotted two more of these critters, and I spotted yet another Octo.
More Thornback Rays, Sting Rays, and C-O Turbots coming in across the sand.
Water temp: 56 Suunto
Max Depth: 48'
Viz: 10-20+
Bottom Time: Enjoyable!!! 70 Minutes
4:45pm
Shaw's Cove
Met up with Chris R for a late afternoon dive at Shaw's Cove (wanted to avoid Lifegaurd altercations).
Wow! What an excellent choice!!! Man, am I sorry though, for I didn't take my camera in with me due to the red tide we have been having.
From the top of the stairs looking down, we were pleased that there was no surf to speak of. However, we did see TWO strains of red tide parallelling the shore. A big wide patch past the outer reef, and a narrower stream in the shallows, hence, no camera. BIG MISTAKE! I have to say that this was one of the BEST dives ever that I have experienced in Laguna.
We kicked out aways over crystal clear water over the sand. We dropped down into 15' FSW right on top of a Thornback Ray that skirted off as he saw us coming down on top of him. We made our way closer to the reef making our way to the 'Arch'. On our way there, we spotted a couple of Spanish Shawl's and a Hopkin's Rose (missed photo opp). Into the Arch, it was not that good of viz, but manageable. We dove through and decided to do the 'swim through' under the rock. This was so cool, for we were greeted by several white Sea Anemones through the trench that took us back to the east side of the reef. Just as we were to go over our last ledge, we spotted a really cute baby Sea Hare (another missed photo opp). As we were gazing at this little creature, out of the blue, a vast wall of Sardines swiftly went over the top of us. What a start! My heart was racing!!! It was so cool, must have been thousands of these little guys. Once they cleared out of the way, we continued out dive, heading south on the reef. Next, we spotted a Moray Eel being cleaned by Red Rock Shrimp. Shortly after that, we spotted our fist Octopus, then more Spanish Shawl's, Blue Banded Goby's, Black Eyed Goby's, Treefish, JV Treefish, female Sheephead, JV Sheephead, Giribaldi's as well as juvies, Brown Rockfish, a good sized Cabezon, another Octo. Lots of different colored Anemones, tube Anemones, Bat Stars, Ochre Stars, Brittle Stars, Spiney Sand Stars, Sand Dollars, Leafy Hornsmouth, Chestnut Cowries, to name a few. Also dozens of schools of Blacksmith were out and about. We saw so much on this time, too much to list in one email.
To top the dive off, the highlights were this: We spotted purple hydrocoral!!! I had seen it before at Shaw's, but this time I was with a buddy that saw it too! Too cool.
Ok, now here is the REAL THRILL: ***THE MOTHER OF ALL EELS***!!! I spotted an eel 'body' in the rocks. I got Chris' attention to check it out. We followed the rock down until we found it's head poking out at the bottom. My god, this one was BIG! We weren't going to take any chances on trying to feed this one, so I decided to try to get the eel to turn around so that we could get a better look. So, I gently tapped the eel on his upper body that was exposed through the rock. Chris and I both anticipated the eel would turn around. WRONG!!! The eel came out ENTIRELY of it's hole towards us and swam upwards towards a rocky crevice. I think the eel was as long as I am tall, if not longer. I would say his/her body was 10" in diameter. Both Chris and I were in shock, but then doing the 'High 5' in midwater. Darn, another missed photo opp! What an exciting dive!!!
Due to the great conditions, we got to spend some time past the south end of the reef. We spotted some rock structures further south that we explored. Then we headed back north/west and came around through a crevice that I'm familiar with up through two vast walls. Spotted a third Nudibranch, a yellow dorid I believe. On our way back in, Christ spotted two more of these critters, and I spotted yet another Octo.
More Thornback Rays, Sting Rays, and C-O Turbots coming in across the sand.
Water temp: 56 Suunto
Max Depth: 48'
Viz: 10-20+
Bottom Time: Enjoyable!!! 70 Minutes
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