disapPOINT VICENTE

[MaxBottomtime]

The ocean has been relatively calm for the past week. The south side of Palos Verdes has been protected from swells by Catalina and San Clemente Islands. It seemed to be the perfect time to dive the pinnacles off Pt. Vicente. Merry Passage set the alarm clock for Zero Dark Thirty and we were out the door. We arrived to find a current and the water filled with dead salps. Visibility on the reef was a soupy twelve feet. The fish must have been hunkering down as it did not resemble an MPA. We made one dive and crawled back home.

 

[geoff w]

Your pictures make conditions look really clear! We went out Sunday to dive the Kopco Star, with calm conditions and the water looking bluer than it has for a very long time. When I splashed in, the water looked so clear, and it seemed like I could see the bottom at around 85 feet. Unfortunately, all I could see what the top of the muck layer starting at about 40 feet, and going all the way to the bottom. Bottom viz was at best 12 ft, with a bit of current, but it's still a pretty wreck. Second dive on a big chunk of the La Jenelle wreck a few miles away provided similar conditions. When are conditions going to return to normal?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

2032.