Current dive conditions

[Robert Phillips]

I am going to try to hit Shaws tomorrow around 10:30 if I can get my buddy to stay sober tonight.
Friend of mine said he had 20' vis on Sunday at Crescent Bay around Dead Man's reef but it was spotty and varied to 10-15 in places. Hopefully these conditions will stick around for a while!
Looking forward to Catalina on Sunday aboard the Bottom Scratcher!

 

[Arnaud]

kelphelper once bubbled...
...I think we should change the little thumbs down icon to thumbs up for this thread!

I was thinking about it. I'll PM one of the mods to make the thread more neutral...

 

[Arnaud]

Just spoke to a friend of mine who just dove the park today. Apparently, a major improvement compared to last week and up to 50ft of viz.

On another front, how do you guys like the new icon for the thread?

 

[OCdiving Deb]

What had been sufficiently warm yesterday became almost icy today. 57 degrees @ 35-57 ft...Brrr! It was considerably warmer in the shallows. Viz was fair... 8-10 ft. Surf was easy, but seemed to be increasing upon exit. Would I do it again under the exact same conditions? You bet! But it sure would be nice to know in advance whether to wear the hooded vest or not!

I was talking to some experts at the LDS, and we discussed expectation levels of divers.... Since I love studying the invertebrates up close, and don't mind whether I see the larger animals, I am perfectly content with poor or fair viz as long as I can see my buddy, and the entry and exit are safe.... I could watch the little reef critters all day long!

Arnaud, I love the new icon! It looks inquisitive, just like us! And you were wise to suggest neutrality... Conditions change from day to day! Thanks for taking care of it!

kelphelper

 

[Robert Phillips]

Hey drbill, any info on what the conditions were on the Island today (Friday?)
Or maybe you could give us some info on the conditions for Saturday? I want to know what to look forward to for sunday.
Thanks

 

[Otter]

Viz was 5' surge 3-4 waves occasional 4-5, but clearly enough between sets to safely get into the water.

We will try again tomorrow

 

[pasley]

Date: 26 July 2003
Time: 8:10 p.m.-8:55 p.m. 45:10 minutes
Location: Vets Park Redondo Beach CA
Visibility: Below 50 feet 10-15 Above 50ft, 5-10 (sometimes hard to see gauges) Brown haze.
Thermo cline at 50 feet Water Temp Max depth 55 Suunto degrees. Water Temp at surface 72 Suunto degrees

Critters: Octopi, halibut, sandbass the usual suspects.

 

[saf_25]

Date: 27 July 2003
Time: dive 1: 11:20 - 11:50 am.
dive 2: 3:50 - 4:30 pm
Location: Casino Point, Catalina, CA
Visibility: Aprox. 25 feet
Thermocline at 35 feet, another at 45 feet. Surface temp was 68, not sure what it was below, but you could definitely feel (and see) the thermoclines at both 35 and 45 feet (at least on the second dive they were really noticeable).

Critters: kelpfish were large and abundant, seniortias, flatfish (I think seo-o-sole?), octopus, the usual. A Garibaldi guarding a wall of eggs was very neat - since water was so warm, I was not wearing a hood and was really able to hear him "clicking" at us in his attempts to chase us away. It was a great day diving, but LOTS of other divers were out - air fills took close to 4 hours (although we later learned that this was because they were filling their rental tanks before others, and it was reported that slipping a $10 bill also bought you a closer spot in the fill line).

 

[Otter]

Much improved over Sunday, but still not like it was on Tuesday
Time: 07:30am
Viz 10-15'
Surface temp at 68F with 65F at 20'
Surge was light 1-2 ft
Waves 1-2'

 

[Arnaud]

Got back yesterday from a 3 day trip. Conditions were fairly similar on both islands with viz in the 15-20 ft range up to 30 feet, dropping to 5-10 foot in the 30-80 range and somewhat improving below that. Best viz was probably at the Isthmus reef.

Water temp ranging from a nice 72° down to 54° at 100 ft, with the thermocline starting at 20ft in most areas.

Plenty of bugs everywhere though most smaller than the legal size.

Giant sea bass at Fish Hook. Seems to love hanging out with the divers.

Very unusual sighting at Lulu (night dive): a sheep-head the size of a giant bass, probably 4ft long and 3 ft wide! I did not drink before the dive and I have two other witnesses who will testify under oath.