Myself and another "Wreck Valley" NJ diver had the good fortune to spend two days diving in Catalina last weekend.
Saturday was out on the King Neptune where we were joined by local Dr. Bill, somewhat-less-local IanK, and hardly-local Tiffany from Las Vegas. Boat and crew were great, too! (Though my fellow "zero-viz/40deg NJ diving" buddy and I had a good chuckle as everyone else complained about the 75ft viz and the +65deg water temps!)
Saturday evening was a night dive at Casino Point dive park, which was a lot of fun despite my demonstration of the "Giant Slide" entry on the way in and a ripping current on the way out!
Sunday was great as well. My buddy and I were first in the water - along with Tiffany who joined us for a jaunt to the Valiant. After a brisk surface swim from the dive park to the wreck site, we had a great dive on this wreck. Being "Wreck Valley" snobs we expected to be disappointed in the dive (...truth be told, Dr Bill 'lowered the bar' on our expectations the day before...) but found it to be a lot of fun. Sure it's a bit busted up, and maybe Dr. Bill knows all the nudibranchs on a first-name basis, but there was tons of plant and marine life to see, areas to poke around in.
Perhaps the best part of the whole experience was being buzzed by sea lions on our safety stop, despite how hard it is to to control your bouyancy at 15ft with 300psi left in your tank while laughing the whole time!
Thanks again to Dr. Bill for providing local color on our dives, to IanK for putting up with us on Saturday, and to Tiffany who dived with us BY CHOICE the second day!
Saturday was out on the King Neptune where we were joined by local Dr. Bill, somewhat-less-local IanK, and hardly-local Tiffany from Las Vegas. Boat and crew were great, too! (Though my fellow "zero-viz/40deg NJ diving" buddy and I had a good chuckle as everyone else complained about the 75ft viz and the +65deg water temps!)
Saturday evening was a night dive at Casino Point dive park, which was a lot of fun despite my demonstration of the "Giant Slide" entry on the way in and a ripping current on the way out!
Sunday was great as well. My buddy and I were first in the water - along with Tiffany who joined us for a jaunt to the Valiant. After a brisk surface swim from the dive park to the wreck site, we had a great dive on this wreck. Being "Wreck Valley" snobs we expected to be disappointed in the dive (...truth be told, Dr Bill 'lowered the bar' on our expectations the day before...) but found it to be a lot of fun. Sure it's a bit busted up, and maybe Dr. Bill knows all the nudibranchs on a first-name basis, but there was tons of plant and marine life to see, areas to poke around in.
Perhaps the best part of the whole experience was being buzzed by sea lions on our safety stop, despite how hard it is to to control your bouyancy at 15ft with 300psi left in your tank while laughing the whole time!
Thanks again to Dr. Bill for providing local color on our dives, to IanK for putting up with us on Saturday, and to Tiffany who dived with us BY CHOICE the second day!
