December '04 Dive Reports

[scottfiji]

Date: 12/17/04
Dive Location: Las Tunas, Malibu (night dive)
Time: 6:30PM
Bottom Time: 59 minutes
Max Depth: 32 ft.
Vis: low vis (5-10 feet?)
Wave height: small
Temp at depth: 59
Tide information: Low

Pasley and I met up for a nice night dive. Access and entry was easy, and the area was somewhat lit. My hooded vest kept me warm. We dropped into 15ft of water and swam south towards deeper adventures. Thanks to our chem-lights we stayed together fairly well for the dive.

I was able to capture and release several species of crabs, 2 juvenile horn sharks, a couple short lobsters, and a spotted cusk eel. A giant kelpfish, baby scorpionfish, many large chestnut cowries, red rock shrimp, and various perch were spotted. I was hoping for more marine life (like a flock of octopus), but it was still a very enjoyable dive with a great dive partner.

Scott

 

[Otter]

Time In: 07:30AM
Surf: 1-2 with the occasional set of 2 or 3 chest-head high. Easy to time.
Surge: 2-4
Viz: 15-20. At least 15 at the end of the reef and 20 closer to shore.
Temp: 57 Suunto degrees
41' for 44 minutes

Went with some friends, one of which hadn't dived in a year. Saw a few bugs, a couple of octopus, and an eel. Nice dive and nice to not to be a training dive. Even though we were a couple of hours before slack tide, conditions were good. Thank Santa Catalina for saving us from the storm waves. As we were leaving, a family group of 4 divers were arriving. They had just aborted Cleo Street due to waves.

 

[Frank O]

Date: 12/17/04
Dive Location: Las Tunas, Malibu (night dive)
Time: 6:30PM
Wave height: small

Interesting about that much-anticipated northwest swell event that was supposed to come through Friday. One friend mentioned fairly good surf at Huntington Beach at dinnertime Friday, but for the most part it seems to have been a non-event.

 

[Frank O]

Date: 12/14/04
Location: Vets Park, Redondo Beach
Time: 8 p.m.
Run Time: 38 minutes
Max Depth: 85 ft
Vis: 30 ft+ in shallows, ~10-15 ft at depth
Wave Height: Stomach to chest height
Temp at Depth: 59 F

A slightly late report ... Went looking for squid at Redondo Tuesday evening. On the swim out, saw two or three juvenile bat rays cruising midwater maybe 10 ft below us. Overall ran across perhaps 4 or 5 isolated squid, one of which was depositing an egg sac. Other marine life included several juvenile thornback rays, a few scorpionfish, one or two sarcastic fringeheads. As we headed back up we ran into a zone of numerous swimming crab couples mating. Camera strobe controller malfunctioned (later turned out to be flooded), thankfully the mfr (Ikelite) is replacing it for free.

 

[mccabejc]

Date: 12/19/04
Dive Location: Leo Carrillo (Malibu)
Time: 11:20 am
Bottom Time: 62:30
Max Depth: 31 foots
Vis: 25-30 max.
Wave height: 3-4 ft. (occasional)
Temp at depth: 57 deg.
Surface Temp: 63 air, 59 water
Tide information: +2 ft., going high

Comments: We decided to make an entry at the small cove on the west side of lifeguard tower #2. We noticed the maximum surf was in the 3-4 ft. range, with long periods of flat seas. The weather was gorgeous, warm, and clear as a result of Santa Ana winds. We timed our entry by checking the reef point on the west (right) side of the cove, and when there were no waves breaking out there we headed out into the water. After waiting for a set to pass we eased into the lake. We had decided to kick out to the first patch of kelp, then head East (left) and explore. I teamed up with Headhunter and HBDiveGirl. SBDiver and DesertCamel also joined us, and planned to head west. On the way out the viz looked pretty poor. When we finally dropped down, the bottom didn't appear until we were about 5-10 ft. above it. We dropped down into 20 ft. of water, above a sand bottom. As we headed east, the terrain was fascinating: alternating patches of sand and small freestanding reefs. Visibility improved substantially (probably because as we went east we ended up being further from shore). We came upon 3 or 4 separate reefs, all worth exploring in detail. We saw tons of gorgonians, probably 6 or so octopus hiding in cracks, senioritas, black eyed gobys, blacksmith, and HBDiveGirl showed me a couple of sculpin-looking fish. I forget what she called them... I was told there a bunch of cowries, but I missed them. Also saw some beautiful featherdusters for the first time which looked almost like small sponges, and they quickly retracted when my hand came near. Very cool. At one point I happened to look up and saw a school of smelt (?) circling above us, and sun rays filtering through them. A spectactular sight. I motioned to my buddies, and we ended up floating on our backs looking up at them. Very cool.

We saw some more of the usual suspects (my way of dodging because I didn't know the names for all the stuff I saw), and when my air was getting around 1300 psi I motioned to my buddies to head back. I was the air hog on this one (though my final SAC was a reasonable 0.53), since I was in "first time exploration mode" trying to zoom all over to check the layout. The others were being more relaxed and stopping to smell the flowers, which I need to learn to do. I just love zipping around a new site and getting an overall picture of the place. I do the same thing when I go on vacation to a new place. Gotta drive around and see what's around before I can settle in and relax. Anyway, when I was around 800 psi Headhunter motioned that we should surface and get our bearings. Turned out we were right in front of the cove, but still pretty far out. We decided to drop down and head north into shore. So we dropped back to 25 feet and headed 330 degrees towards the beach. The viz dropped quickly, and when I looked around and didn't see them I decided to continue to the beach instead of turning around and trying to find them in the swirling sand. At about 10 ft. depth I headed up, and immediately saw HBDiveGirl and then Headhunter surface about 15-20 yards behind me.

It was a very relaxing dive, and this became one of my favorite dive sites. The whole area is riddled with patches of kelp and reefs, and I can imagine that you could dive here many times and not see it all. But I'm going to try.

Okay, now that I completed botched my description, maybe Headhunter and HBDiveGirl can you tell everyone what we actually saw...

 

[pasley]

Leo Carrillo was where I went 3 times a month when I first started out. There is a lot there to see and it can be a great dive site. I still enjoy it and dove it late last month. Bottom line, there is a lot of great diving all along our coast. I am trying to hit all the dive sites at least once, but tend to go the first time wiht someone who has been there before. To see them all will take years and I keep going back to old favorites.

 

[Otter]

Shaw's Cove 12/20/04

Time In: 07:30PM
Surf: 1-2 .
Surge: 0-1
Viz: 15-20.
Temp: 59 Suunto degrees
40' for 41 minutes

A nice Night dive for an advanced class. No surge in the arch/crack. Saw good size eel 1/2 into the crack and then went out 3/4 of the way. Saw several octopus on the way out including a good size one under a rock. He/she wasn't worried about us and just stared at us. We turned around and headed back to the crack where we joined by a sea lion hunting just outside of the arch. On the way in, one of the divers spotted a couple of eyes under the sand. The halibut was sure we hadn't seen it and allowed us to get very close before deciding he had been made -- turned out to be about 2' long...resting in about 10' of water. Really nice conditions....go dive!

 

[Davee]

Date:12/19/04
Dive Location: Front side San miguel
Time:1105
Bottom Time:49
Max Depth:65'
Vis:40
Wave height:5' at 18sec intv.
Temp at depth:54
Surface Temp:59
Tide information:
Comments: beautiful dive, the best weather i have seen in a long long time, on the way out to san miguel, the ocean was glass!!!!! to bad our top speed was 17 kts. the most lobsters ive seen on one dive during the day so far, and one of my favorite dives of all times.

Date:12-19-04
Dive Location:Santa Rosa Island : Talcott Shoals
Time:1:45
Bottom Time:39
Max Depth:70'
Vis:30'
Wave height:5' at 18 sec intv.
Temp at depth:55
Surface Temp:59
Tide information:
Comments: we have attempted this dive numerous times, but this is the first weather coroporated with us, and it was a beautiful dive, but there was a strong current making us waste our valuable air trying to swim against it. the reef was bautiful, and there was alot of life there, i did not spot any lobsters.

 

[divinman]

Date: 12/21/04
Dive Location: Vallecetos Canyon/La Jolla
Time: 17:44
Bottom Time: 46:50
Max Depth: 61ft
Vis: 8-18 give or take
Wave height: ankle to waist, no force
Temp at depth: 59
Surface Temp: 59
Tide information: incoming. 1 hour to crest

Images are HERE: http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/Vallicetos

Comments:

Sean, John and I met up for a night dive at the shores. Conditions were cool on surface with an off shore flow making it breezy as we geared up. Once in the water we kicked out to ~where the buoy should be and dropped down to pleasant visibility at 36ft. Turning west we headed to the canyon edge. In route we came across the smallest horn shark I have ever seen. Check out the picture with my hand for scale. TINY. Farther along in the sand we found a few red octopuses, some squid darting here and there and the usual suspects of fish and crabs. The big swells have pushed alot of kelp debris up against the canyon wall. These detritus heaps harbor tons of life for the patient watcher. While skimming slowly over the mounds I spotted a J. Barbarensis nudibranch. I have only seen these on the wrecks farther south so I was pleased to luck upon this one.



We continued to explore. Finding more horned sharks, pipefish, sheepcrabs and more as we headed up over the rim and in toward shore. The more shallow we got, the less the visibility became. Finally at about 13ft visibility was reduced to zero and we surfaced for the kick in.



Lovely night for a dive. You should all join us next time.



Terry

 

[ShakaZulu]

Yes Terry, we don't all have dry suits..........but I will try next time. Where do you guys post info on these dives?? Next time I want to dive with you and look at everything you see. I've never seen those pipe fish. Nice Nudi's.