Diver_Jan
Contributor
Yes ladies and gents, you got it right ~Repel Beach!!!
I thought my fellow dive friends went a little loco when they mentioned that we had to 'Repel' to the dive site.
It's actually a pretty steep path, then, the last 8 or 10' you need to use a rope to 'repel' yourself to the rocky shoreline. I must admit, I was a little nervous at first, but I did just fine. Going down, and going up. What gave me the most trouble were the rocks on the beach! My booties were made for nice sandy beaches, not sharp rocks. After painlessly making it to the edge of the water, my dive buddy Kevin Lee and I got our fins and mask together we entered the *chilly* water. Ouch, ouch again! Tons of sea urchins in shallow water. Really had to watch where we stepped. Once we got our mask and fins on, Kevin assisted me to an area where it was about 10' of water to check out my ear, for this was my first dive since my ear injury back in late April. I am happy to report, No Problemo! VBG We continued on with another buddy team that were spear fishing. We kicked out past the cove out to the outer reef before dropping down. Kicking out to Deadman's is a piece of cake compared to this reef! This must have been twice the distance, or so it seemed. Once we dropped down, we were ontop of a rocky reef. I was amazed of all the colorful star fish including the beautiful and plentiful Sun Stars. They were a pale blue color! I also spotted a few different nudibranchs, two varieties of sea hares, and an interesting fellow that was about 6 inches long, the diameter of a fat pencil, white in color, and had spikes all over it's body. Also spotted a few scorpion fish, rock fish, girabaldi, a type of goby, sheep crap, green abalone, muscles, variety of sponges, and plant life. Unfortunately, my UW housing wasn't sealing like it should, so I didn't have it with me.
Our hunting buddies nabbed a few fish with their spear guns. On ascent, Kevin and I spotted a fairly large sheep crab. We both went for it. It tried to pinch us with its claws until I grabbed both of them with my hands. Being in fairly shallow water, we surfaced. I did not have a game bag with me, so here I was at the surface holding this large crab by its claws. When our other team surfaced, I was able to get it into one of the game bags. Later on that evening, we shared the crab with the rest of the group. I have to say, he was pretty tastey!!!
Dive Summary:
Repel Beach, La Bocana, Baja, Mexico
5/29/04
Surf: 2-3'
Surge: 5-6'
Viz: 10-30'
Temp: Chilly 50 degrees at 42'
(we had reports of it being 40 degrees at 50'!)
Dive time: 35"
Dive Buddy: Kevin Lee
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I know that I did!!!
I thought my fellow dive friends went a little loco when they mentioned that we had to 'Repel' to the dive site.
It's actually a pretty steep path, then, the last 8 or 10' you need to use a rope to 'repel' yourself to the rocky shoreline. I must admit, I was a little nervous at first, but I did just fine. Going down, and going up. What gave me the most trouble were the rocks on the beach! My booties were made for nice sandy beaches, not sharp rocks. After painlessly making it to the edge of the water, my dive buddy Kevin Lee and I got our fins and mask together we entered the *chilly* water. Ouch, ouch again! Tons of sea urchins in shallow water. Really had to watch where we stepped. Once we got our mask and fins on, Kevin assisted me to an area where it was about 10' of water to check out my ear, for this was my first dive since my ear injury back in late April. I am happy to report, No Problemo! VBG We continued on with another buddy team that were spear fishing. We kicked out past the cove out to the outer reef before dropping down. Kicking out to Deadman's is a piece of cake compared to this reef! This must have been twice the distance, or so it seemed. Once we dropped down, we were ontop of a rocky reef. I was amazed of all the colorful star fish including the beautiful and plentiful Sun Stars. They were a pale blue color! I also spotted a few different nudibranchs, two varieties of sea hares, and an interesting fellow that was about 6 inches long, the diameter of a fat pencil, white in color, and had spikes all over it's body. Also spotted a few scorpion fish, rock fish, girabaldi, a type of goby, sheep crap, green abalone, muscles, variety of sponges, and plant life. Unfortunately, my UW housing wasn't sealing like it should, so I didn't have it with me.
Our hunting buddies nabbed a few fish with their spear guns. On ascent, Kevin and I spotted a fairly large sheep crab. We both went for it. It tried to pinch us with its claws until I grabbed both of them with my hands. Being in fairly shallow water, we surfaced. I did not have a game bag with me, so here I was at the surface holding this large crab by its claws. When our other team surfaced, I was able to get it into one of the game bags. Later on that evening, we shared the crab with the rest of the group. I have to say, he was pretty tastey!!!
Dive Summary:
Repel Beach, La Bocana, Baja, Mexico
5/29/04
Surf: 2-3'
Surge: 5-6'
Viz: 10-30'
Temp: Chilly 50 degrees at 42'
(we had reports of it being 40 degrees at 50'!)
Dive time: 35"
Dive Buddy: Kevin Lee
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I know that I did!!!
