So my buddy told me about this spot he's been diving lately in Malibu, so I decided to check it out myself. Its a shore entry dive at Corral Canyon in Malibu, get the park closest to the no parking sign near the 76. This makes it easier to lug your gear down the dirt path to the beach.
Walk west along the beach along the houses and enter, the surf has been really tiny and conditions great for the last week. I have managed 3 dives here, 2 day and one night. Be careful when walking in as there are submerged rocks and it could be quite easy to twist an ankle. Once out and finned up, start a moderate surface swim out towards the kelp.
We drop down and the viz has been about 10-15ft, its a sandy bottom so its easy to stir it up keep swimming till you find the boulder piles and little pinnacles in the sand. Max depth is about 30ft and the average is about 25ft. First dive we did we spotted a ton of Sheep crab from juveniles to huge aggressive adults, not much in the way of fish besides some wrasse and kelp cods. Macro life is pretty amazing, lots of anenomes, Orange Peel Doris Nudibranchs abound, and lobster too.
Night dive was ok, I think it could be better we didnt find much besides a ton of large crabs, a baby horn shark and 2 Spanish Shawl Nudi's.
Fri 09/10: This was a highlight dive for me, I am a photographer on land and have just taken the plunge with an underwater kit. UW photography is another kind of difficult and the learning curve has been tough and disapointing to say the least. Backscatter has been my enemy but slowly as I understand it more, things are getting better.
This dive was amazing!!! We did our usual swim out and dropped down, we headed a little further out and in a south westerly direction. Orange Peel Dorids popped up everywhere, awesome! A large flounder, check... sheep crabs, check, beautiful fan worms, check, then the highlight for me a Navanax Nudibranch, beautiful and deadly...if you are another nudi that is, its a predatory nudibranch and eats other nudi's. Awesome! He was about 1.5" long and hard to photograph but I tried none the less. My buddy found a 'sleeping' leopard shark which got the flash treatment and then he clocked a 4" Navanax which was a great score and in a better position for pics.
All pics below, yes I know some are very back scattered but they are getting better! Current kit: Olympus SP-350, Olympus housing, Inon 165 closeup lens, 2 x Sea and Sea YS-90 Duo strobes, all pics manual and RAW.
Walk west along the beach along the houses and enter, the surf has been really tiny and conditions great for the last week. I have managed 3 dives here, 2 day and one night. Be careful when walking in as there are submerged rocks and it could be quite easy to twist an ankle. Once out and finned up, start a moderate surface swim out towards the kelp.
We drop down and the viz has been about 10-15ft, its a sandy bottom so its easy to stir it up keep swimming till you find the boulder piles and little pinnacles in the sand. Max depth is about 30ft and the average is about 25ft. First dive we did we spotted a ton of Sheep crab from juveniles to huge aggressive adults, not much in the way of fish besides some wrasse and kelp cods. Macro life is pretty amazing, lots of anenomes, Orange Peel Doris Nudibranchs abound, and lobster too.
Night dive was ok, I think it could be better we didnt find much besides a ton of large crabs, a baby horn shark and 2 Spanish Shawl Nudi's.
Fri 09/10: This was a highlight dive for me, I am a photographer on land and have just taken the plunge with an underwater kit. UW photography is another kind of difficult and the learning curve has been tough and disapointing to say the least. Backscatter has been my enemy but slowly as I understand it more, things are getting better.
This dive was amazing!!! We did our usual swim out and dropped down, we headed a little further out and in a south westerly direction. Orange Peel Dorids popped up everywhere, awesome! A large flounder, check... sheep crabs, check, beautiful fan worms, check, then the highlight for me a Navanax Nudibranch, beautiful and deadly...if you are another nudi that is, its a predatory nudibranch and eats other nudi's. Awesome! He was about 1.5" long and hard to photograph but I tried none the less. My buddy found a 'sleeping' leopard shark which got the flash treatment and then he clocked a 4" Navanax which was a great score and in a better position for pics.
All pics below, yes I know some are very back scattered but they are getting better! Current kit: Olympus SP-350, Olympus housing, Inon 165 closeup lens, 2 x Sea and Sea YS-90 Duo strobes, all pics manual and RAW.
