shoupart
Contributor
Hey there! So I was jonesing to go diving on Saturday but heard conditions were terrible all up and down the coast, and I'm pretty much a beach diver only.
But thankfully, on Friday Eco Dive Center had some contest on their newsletter, and I won it, and found myself the next day diving on the Spectre at Anacapa Island.
So- a big thanks to Eco Dive Center for this wonderful treat, and here's my reports from the day:
First dive of the day. We hit up the same spot as last time I was here, which was a little disappointing. Viz wasn't as good as last time, either. I was buddied up with a girl named Karen. Her bro accompanied us.
We swam down, headed east, played around in the rocks and that lobster cave. I brought my camera but didn't really intend to use it much, but had it, just in case I saw a torpedo ray or something cool.
We went on a ways, but then Karen was running low on air- she had like 700 psi while i still had 1800 psi! When I signed how much I had, she gave me a stunned look.
We headed back, found the anchor. I saw them off and went off on my own, playing around in the opposite direction. It was somewhat fun. I went back in to the lobster cave and examined it more carefully, looking at all the giant bugs living in them. The best part was where the anchor was- there was a cool clearing of gravel rock and a hole in the rocks, like a gap, that I swam through with some sheephead and photographed them.
#2
Went to Cathedral again. Again I got lost and distracted. Sea Lions were in the area , hopping in from the beach.
We set out, hit the islands of rock, then went into the sand, where a sea lion buzzed us. I also saw a big bat ray, but it was scooting away as soon as it saw me coming. I tried getting Karen's attention but she was too far behind me. She was having trouble with keeping up and wasn't very streamlined, also using her hands and not being very efficient.
I saw a weird little kelp worm on my dive computer, then i flicked it off and it kicked through the water. Strange.
We also came across a jellyfish that I video'ed for a while.
The sea lions also returned when we'd united with another couple of divers, and I got video of them zooming around some more.
#3
Anacapa's visibility wasn't so hot, so we scooted down to Santa Cruz Island. It was better here but had a current. We swam towards shore, using the anchor line, and made our way out. It was allright, sort of a rocky terrain, like Marineland. Not a lot to see but urchins galore. A lot of fish, especially garibaldi and small stuff. I was hoping to see something rare, but no luck. I even smashed up a bunch of urchins but nothing really came to the feast.
We drifted around, trying to figure out the way back, looking for the line, but had no luck. Eventually we just had to ascend and surface swim back.
#4
THis was my favorite dive of the day! Just incredible. We came to a lagoon-like area on Santa Cruz Island, sort of surrounded in arms of rock. It looked like a blast to explore!
We jumped in and noticed it seemed colder here at first. It was the first site we were at where hunting was allowed, so I began searching for scallops as Karen and Mark followed. We headed to the edges and explored the ledges. I was poking around underneath one when I turned to see an ENORMOUS sea lion swimming around our group- it was gigantic. It was definitely bigger then me, and made a few passes, on one it was making honk-like noises underwater as it belched bubbles. It seriously reminded me of a semi-truck barrelling down the highway, blasting it's horn at some VW Beetles. I initially wondered if it was an elephant seal, because it behaved so differently from the pinnipeds I've seen so far. It didn't do crazy fast acrobatics through the water, it just glided through, never changing depth, just moving effortlessly like an airplane.
We watched it, stunned, and then headed onward, getting shallower and warmer water. It got more surgy, but the viz got better. I found a swell shark egg case and saw a lingcod. We sort of made a big circle, mostly staying quite shallow.
Karen was running low on air so I began trying to navigate us back to where the boat was. But I wasn't quite sure, so we ascended to about 20 feet deep and looked for the anchor line, but it wasn't showing up. Eventually we just ascended anyways, and it turned out, we were right at the boat!
Sweet.
I'll try to post some pictures/videos soon from the dive...
Also, if this post should belong in another thread (like 'Dive Reports), I don't mind if some administrator needs to move it.
But thankfully, on Friday Eco Dive Center had some contest on their newsletter, and I won it, and found myself the next day diving on the Spectre at Anacapa Island.
So- a big thanks to Eco Dive Center for this wonderful treat, and here's my reports from the day:
First dive of the day. We hit up the same spot as last time I was here, which was a little disappointing. Viz wasn't as good as last time, either. I was buddied up with a girl named Karen. Her bro accompanied us.
We swam down, headed east, played around in the rocks and that lobster cave. I brought my camera but didn't really intend to use it much, but had it, just in case I saw a torpedo ray or something cool.
We went on a ways, but then Karen was running low on air- she had like 700 psi while i still had 1800 psi! When I signed how much I had, she gave me a stunned look.
We headed back, found the anchor. I saw them off and went off on my own, playing around in the opposite direction. It was somewhat fun. I went back in to the lobster cave and examined it more carefully, looking at all the giant bugs living in them. The best part was where the anchor was- there was a cool clearing of gravel rock and a hole in the rocks, like a gap, that I swam through with some sheephead and photographed them.
#2
Went to Cathedral again. Again I got lost and distracted. Sea Lions were in the area , hopping in from the beach.
We set out, hit the islands of rock, then went into the sand, where a sea lion buzzed us. I also saw a big bat ray, but it was scooting away as soon as it saw me coming. I tried getting Karen's attention but she was too far behind me. She was having trouble with keeping up and wasn't very streamlined, also using her hands and not being very efficient.
I saw a weird little kelp worm on my dive computer, then i flicked it off and it kicked through the water. Strange.
We also came across a jellyfish that I video'ed for a while.
The sea lions also returned when we'd united with another couple of divers, and I got video of them zooming around some more.
#3
Anacapa's visibility wasn't so hot, so we scooted down to Santa Cruz Island. It was better here but had a current. We swam towards shore, using the anchor line, and made our way out. It was allright, sort of a rocky terrain, like Marineland. Not a lot to see but urchins galore. A lot of fish, especially garibaldi and small stuff. I was hoping to see something rare, but no luck. I even smashed up a bunch of urchins but nothing really came to the feast.
We drifted around, trying to figure out the way back, looking for the line, but had no luck. Eventually we just had to ascend and surface swim back.
#4
THis was my favorite dive of the day! Just incredible. We came to a lagoon-like area on Santa Cruz Island, sort of surrounded in arms of rock. It looked like a blast to explore!
We jumped in and noticed it seemed colder here at first. It was the first site we were at where hunting was allowed, so I began searching for scallops as Karen and Mark followed. We headed to the edges and explored the ledges. I was poking around underneath one when I turned to see an ENORMOUS sea lion swimming around our group- it was gigantic. It was definitely bigger then me, and made a few passes, on one it was making honk-like noises underwater as it belched bubbles. It seriously reminded me of a semi-truck barrelling down the highway, blasting it's horn at some VW Beetles. I initially wondered if it was an elephant seal, because it behaved so differently from the pinnipeds I've seen so far. It didn't do crazy fast acrobatics through the water, it just glided through, never changing depth, just moving effortlessly like an airplane.
We watched it, stunned, and then headed onward, getting shallower and warmer water. It got more surgy, but the viz got better. I found a swell shark egg case and saw a lingcod. We sort of made a big circle, mostly staying quite shallow.
Karen was running low on air so I began trying to navigate us back to where the boat was. But I wasn't quite sure, so we ascended to about 20 feet deep and looked for the anchor line, but it wasn't showing up. Eventually we just ascended anyways, and it turned out, we were right at the boat!
Sweet.
I'll try to post some pictures/videos soon from the dive...
Also, if this post should belong in another thread (like 'Dive Reports), I don't mind if some administrator needs to move it.
