JAN 04 Dive Reports

[Robert Phillips]

Had a good dive this morning at the Montage in Laguna beach.
Vis=20+ on the inside of the far reef but it was 5-10 on the outside with a moderate surge.
Water temp was 56 at 36'
It looks like another swell is rolling in too.

Dive safe!
Robert

 

[alaity47]

Dove three sites: Knott's Pier, Gold Bluff, Hole in the Rock. Knott's Pier had seriously ripping current at all depths; most of us wound up coming up early just from being worn out! The other two were totally calm, though.

Vis was about 35-50 feet at all three sites, water temp around 56 degrees down to 40 feet or so. Nice to see relatively clear water again; it's been a while!

 

[saf_25]

Dove three sites: Knott's Pier, Gold Bluff, Hole in the Rock.

Hey Alaity47 - you were on the Encore, weren't you? I was too! Small world....

I completely agree with your descriptions of the dive sites - if I hadn't been disappointed about ending up at San Clemente when we were aiming for Santa Barabara island, it would have been a great day. I still saw a lot of neat stuff - and really enjoyed the boat ride home. A pod of dolphins (maybe porpoises - I can't tell the diference) played at the bow of the boat for a good portion of the ride home, plus as I was watching them, I saw some mola-molas "sunbathing" at the surface. All-in-all it was a nice trip.

 

[scuba_star]

Did 2 dives at Casino Point on Catalina Vis was 35+ With the water being aroun 58.

There was a bit of a current on Saturday

 

[pasley]

Date: 24 Jan 04 11:00 a.m.
Location: Casino Point, Catalina
Dive time 35:40
VIS: 30+ feet Visibility was not an issue.
Water Temp: 75 Suunto degrees Surface Temp: 59 degrees.
Max depth: 56 ft.
Surge: None
Tides: 10:27 PST 5.83 feet High Tide
Surface conditions: Relatively flat with just a hint of wave action in the 2-4 inch range.
Weather: Rain at 1:48 p.m. Stopped after about 30 minutes
Air at start of Dive: 2960 PSI in AL 80
Air at end of Dive: 1570 PSI

Dropped anchor just north east of the dive park and took the dingy over to the north side. Dropped in and swam to the red buoy and then over to the south side of the park and back to the stairs. Great dive with lots of the usual fish.

 

[scubaxris]

Location: Casino Point, Catalina
Date: 1.24.04
Vis: 30 ft
Water Temp: 57 Suunto deg @73 ft
Max depth: 73 ft
Surge: None
Team mate: Kelpgurl

Pasley-When I saw your post I had to go back and and check my 'puter to see what time we went in. We must have been just behind you-11:01 our start time!! There were not too many people over there on Sat-what kind of gear were you diving in? My Kelpgurl and I were the ones in Halcyon bp/wings.
Christopher

 

[pasley]

Location: Casino Point, Catalina
...There were not too many people over there on Sat-what kind of gear were you diving in? My Kelpgurl and I were the ones in Halcyon bp/wings.
Christopher

No there wasn't a lot of people there. We were on a sail boat anchored off the north east corner of the park. We then took the rubber dingy and got dropped off just outside the park on the north side and only came ashore to rednesvou with our pick up boat and then back for lunch. It was my 99th dive. I was hopping for 100 but with the cold and the rain, and the 4 hour sail home, we just called it a day.

I was in the normal black wetsuit, Polished AL80 tank and Dacor Talon BC. See profile for mug shot.

 

[saintsfan]

I dove solo so i stayed relatively shallow,did 2 dives one at the reef at the east end and then cruised the sand,nice leisurly dive.this is the second time i dove there and the vis the 1st time was 0- 2' on a night dive so today was a totally different story.anyone ever dove little corona

 

[OCdiving Deb]

The conditions could not have been better for an early Sunday morning dive to the rigs. The sun was shining and the waters were fairly calm. This was my first oil rig dive, and I was curious about the currents I have heard can be so challenging on the rigs.

Our first dive was to 110 feet and I was testing my new camera housing. The most remarkable aspect of the first dive was the viz... easily 100 feet! Really! There was no current inside the rig, with the exception of a tiny bit toward the end. I would have been disappointed if there hadn't been any current, but was satisfied with the minimal horizontal/vertical pull that we experienced.

There were loads of female sheephead. With the noticeable absence of any males, I suspect a couple of those big girls will be big boys soon. Nature is amazing!

Second dive: Viz had deteriorated to 60 feet or so. How disappointing. ;-) This was the initiation dive for my new Olympus 5050z. I took lots of pix, but I have not invested in a strobe yet, so the results were a little overexposed on the macros, and for some reason the flash did not work on any of the latter pix. I have A LOT to learn!

Dive #1- 110 feet for 52 minutes. Viz was an incredible 100 feet! Temp 57 degrees.

Dive #2- 87 feet for 47 minutes. Viz was still great at 60 feet. Ditto on the temp.

Only 2 other divers on the boat! They were tek divers going to deeper depths to see metridium. I could see some scattered metridium from the shallow depth of 110'. Not exciting enough for me to dive deco!

Thank you, ScubaLaurel, for a great day of diving and gal pal time!

P.S. I should mention this dive was a raffle prize she won at the 2003 Scuba Show's Casino Night benefiting the non-profit Catalina Conservancy Divers-volunteer divers working to protect and restore Catalina Island's marine ecosystem. Many thanks to Capt'n Gary of the Psalty V!

 

[LowTide]

Location: Woods Cove, Laguna Beach
Date: 1/28/04
Vis: 10-15 ft
Water Temp: 57 deg
Max depth: 32 ft
Dive Time: 58 min
Surf: 1-2ft
Surge: 2-5ft
Dive Buddy: Frank

Looking at the conditions all day at Shaws Cove it looked like a no brainer for a lobster night at Woods Cove - were we in for a shock. After parking nice and close we suited up and headed down to the beach. As we were just about to get in the water, my buddy says "Oh crap, blown dive. I just broke my mask" He took it off and after turning on a light we found out it was fixable. After a quick repair we headed out through the surf. Our plan was in order and we decided to drop down and swim over to some rocks. Well I guess I need to go over the navigation section again After cruising over the sand for a good 100 yards I hand signaled to surface so we could see how of course we were, to my surprise I think I had us swimming out to San Clemente Island.

After a surface swim back in we decided to drop down and head towards the shallow reefs. It started out with about a 1-2ft surge, but by the time we were at our destination it was an easy 4-5ft and the water was looking a little thick with all the sand in it. Trying to navigate in the kelp and eel grass while trying to keep your face of the rocks proved to be a little too much work. Every time I saw a lobster, I went for a grab and by the time my hand got down to the rock I missed by a couple feet.

After about 5 minutes of being in the washing machine, we decided to surface again. We headed out a little deeper and went back and forth parallel with the shore. This proved to be the best for the conditions. After missing a few shorties, I snagged a keeper (barely legal). Frank grabbed a few shorties, and missed the big one.

All in all, it wasn't a bad dive for the conditions.