Casino Point 8/11

[D_B]

I'm going to Catalina on the 10th with my friend who's never dived in cold water. (diver since 91) Planning to dive on the 11th. We tried out her gear in the pool with my instructor , will stay shallow to keep above the thermocline , slow, easy pace, try to keep her distracted with all the stuff to look at. I did my AOW & Nat. Geo. here in 60ft vis, was so awesome that she wants to go see now what I was talking about

Questions:
What was the vis last weekend? (good , I hope,I hope I hope)
What depth was the thermocline?
Any tips on where to go IE, left of steps, or right of steps?
and if anyone is going to be there , we will set up on the left, towards the railing, you can't miss Cindy ... bright pink BC, mask and fins
I will say hi to you Dr Bill , if I see you again (didn't get a chance last time, you were just going in)

Thanks
DB

 

[headhunter]

I'm assuming that she does not have a high level of comfort with her diving, since you are trying to be very "cautious" based on temperature. Casino Point is a great place to raise that level of comfort, so this should be a lot of fun for her. In my opinion, it's just a step above diving in a pool as far as difficulty goes.

As you come off the steps if you go right and follow the breakwall toward the area where the Catalina Express docks, there is a lot of very scenic diving in very shallow water. You'll get plenty of time out of a tank and I would not be surprised if by the 2nd dive she wanted to go a bit deeper. You can go a bit deeper by taking the same route but going a little farther from the shore line. It still makes for a very comfortable dive.

Have fun and let us know how she enjoys her cold water adventure!

Christian

 

[kelpmermaid]

On Sunday 8/7, viz was not great (maybe 30' or so?) but the giant Black Sea Bass were there! I had a reading of 62F on the first dive to about 65 ft, but on the second dive, I read 70F at about 40 feet. The thermocline was somewhere around 50 ft, or so I seem to recall.

 

[scubaxris]

Any tips on where to go IE, left of steps, or right of steps?

DB,
As it turns out I will be there on Thursday as well. I am more than willing to give you an overview of the park (I have dove therre quite often) and take both of you for a tour (assuming our diving styles match). I will be there with my buddy Lauire - we should be easy to find - we both dive halcyon backplates, can lights, ect. Stop by and say hello and we will go from there. We are on the 7:15 from San Pedro and at the point sometime after 9AM.

-Christopher

PS Dr. B if your reading this here is your official warning - Lauire and I will be on you island on Thursday!

 

[D_B]

Thanks for the info and tips everyone
Planned on setting up around 9am. Very kind of you to offer to show us around , umm , with my number dives I haven't got any "syle" lol , I just planned to stay in the warmer water for Cindy's sake (i have an all black Akona suit, Knighthawk BC , and transparent blue Atomic splitfins, Cindy's is a dark & med blue Bare suit, pink BC and fins) I will look for you , thanks
Don

 

[drbill]

Just returned to the island after giving a talk at the Shark Bait Dive Club. I think I will be in the water tomorrow for at least two dives, so look forward to meeting whoever is there.

I will be in a brand new style of wetsuit... I call it the pedal-pusher. You'll see why if you remember the 50's.

Last weekend thermocline in the park was as shallow as 15 ft (brrr). Vis from 10-35 ft depending on time of day and location in the park. Thursday should be better since there will probably be no classes stirring things up.

I've been dry since Sunday evening. Look forward to wetting the gills!

Dr. Bill

 

[Reeveseye]

Last weekend thermocline in the park was as shallow as 15 ft (brrr). Vis from 10-35 ft depending on time of day and location in the park. Thursday should be better since there will probably be no classes stirring things up.

My wife and I are going to be at the park on Friday. Any info on conditions like vis, temperature, and where the black sea bass are hiding would be greatly appreciated.

 

[drbill]

John- I'll try to remember to post conditions here, although I'm sure there will be others in the group who will do so as well. I'm planning on diving Farnsworth Bank on Friday so I most likely will not be at the park until Sat/Sun.

 

[drbill]

Christopher and Lauire- it was fun diving with you on my second dive. Did you see the fish I was filming feeding on the sand? I think it was a corbina but I haven't looked at my footage yet.

Ran into two different black sea bass on dives #3 and #4. One had a BSB eye-sized chunk taken out of its head just above and forward of the eye. It was fairly skittish so I didn't get much footage but the other one stuck with me for about 40+ minutes until I started running low on air. Also saw some black croaker courting- one in breeding colors.

Nice to meet you D B and Cindy. Hope everyone got out of Dodge safely. That punk rock concert (Pennywise) really did a number on our little town. Fights breaking out right and left. Good thing the LAC Sheriffs were present in force with two helicopters. Hopefully they will never play in Avalon again. I missed a swordfish dinner with friends in Hamilton Cove because I didn't want to drive through the mess.

As for conditions- temperatures are warmer (haven't downloaded my computer to see but I expect mid to upper 60's above 60 ft. Vis was somewhat improved... 35' in some areas of the park. Black sea bass were out. Too d*mned many snorkelers though- they always jam up the stairs, block the entries and exits and generally don't have much of a clue as to what they are doing. Smile... they are our paychecks here on the island!

 

[xSandman3]

Too d*mned many snorkelers though- they always jam up the stairs, block the entries and exits and generally don't have much of a clue as to what they are doing. Smile... they are our paychecks here on the island!

We dove Casino Point on Tuesday, when the Carnival ship was there. There had to be a hundred snorklers at any given time within 15 feet of the stairs, both in and out of the water...'bout drove me nuts.