How is it diving at Casino Point right now?

[Mystaadam]

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, REPORT - LOGISTICS AND SUCH
Overall, successful. Bear in mind this is mid-week, not weekend. By the same token, it's August, so people are still "staycationing."

CATALINA EXPRESS - Boat runs at around 60% capacity as full which means everyone's got a place to sit. On the specific one we were one, lots of tables of 4 with only 1 or 2 people. Everyone wearing masks and Express folks very good about explaining that you need to keep them on except while in the actual act of eating or drinking. In the waiting area (we left out of San Pedro) people were certainly not all 6 feet apart but were mindful of creating some social distancing space. However, when exiting the boat in both Avalon and San Pedro, they packed in a bit tighter, although we just waited and were among the last ones off. However, if you feel the need to always maintain a 6-foot distance, it's not going to happen. If you're comfortable with everyone being masked and doing their best to create some distance and mindful of not invading personal space, then you'll be OK.

TAXI TO THE PARK - We always take taxis to and from the park. They'll take up to 6 people but i chose to limit us to no more than 3 to a cab. Drivers are wearing masks, cabs have the front passenger seat blocked off, so it's two in the second row and one in the third row (gear all the way in the back). No issues.

AT THE UNDERWATER PARK - Again, bear in mind this is weekday, not weekend. Set up in my usual/traditional spot on the ocean side of the seawall near the stairs. (And nice to see Dr. Bill there as well.) This allowed us to spread out a bit and one of my divers went on the other side of the stairs. Easy for us to avoid other divers and groups. I had set up a tab the day before with Catalina Divers Supply and when I walked to the truck, everything was ready and waiting. They're created an area around the truck so they've got space to work. There's an 8-foot table turned sideways that serves as check-in area and then they'll place the tanks and stuff you need at the edge of their work area. When it's time for airfills (I cover everything for my group on a single tab), your people take their tanks over and CDS staff will direct them what to do. We all kept face-coverings on between dives. The Park was not very crowded - our group was 7, and there were maybe 30 other divers - and most people, but not all, wore face-coverings of some sort. We kept ours on until it was time to gear up, timed our entries so we were moving when there was no one using the stairs, and when we came out, put face-coverings back on once we had dumped all of our gear and wiped our faces dry.

So overall, sometime we'd feel comfortable doing again. Since our boats were full, I'd say our boat experience mid-week was pretty much the same as it would be weekend. same with the taxi. However, the Park will likely be more crowded on weekends than it is weekdays so that may alter the weekend experience somewhat from what we had mid-week.

Hope this all helps.

How were the conditions under the water?

 

[drbill]

Glad you and your group had a nice time, Ken. Always good to see you.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

How were the conditions under the water?

Decent but varied dive to dive. I don't know that my gauge read water temp correctly but iwas mid-to-high 60s with a thermocline around 50 that dropped it a few degrees. I wore my 5mm suit with a 1mm hood and was fine. Roughly 35-minute dives. Vis ranged from 20-40 feet. Big L-R current on the second dive. Surgy around the steps in and out. HUGE jack Mackerel school in the Pinnacles on our first dive and two inquisitive GSBs on the third. I'm working on the videos right now and will post here as well as on my Reef Seekers site (www.reefseekers.com).

 

[scubadada]

Decent but varied dive to dive. I don't know that my gauge read water temp correctly but iwas mid-to-high 60s with a thermocline around 50 that dropped it a few degrees. I wore my 5mm suit with a 1mm hood and was fine. Roughly 35-minute divers. Vis ranged from 20-40 feet. Big L-R current on the second dive. Surgy around the steps in and out. HUGE jack Mackerel school in the Pinnacles on our first dive and two inquisitive GSBs on the third. I'm working on the videos right now and will post here as well as on my Reef Seekers site (www.reefseekers.com).

Why such short dives?

 

[Ken Kurtis]

The Jacks of Avalon from this past Tuesday. Enjoy!!!

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Why such short dives?

One of the guys in the group was running low on air at that point in each dive so we all went back together.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

And of course, you need some Giant Sea Bass to brighten your day: