January '05 Dive Reports

[scubadobadoo]

My wife and I did 4 dives on Catalina (Casino Park) on 1/28 and 1/29. Friday was very slow but Saturday was packed with divers. My guess would be no less than 100-150 people with about a one hour wait for a tank fill. VERY breezy (glad I was diving dry) and a slightly rough entrance and exit at the bottom of the steps lead us to surprisingly outstanding conditions below. Water was a balmy 62 degrees both days at depths reaching 70 feet at the edge of the park. Visibility was about 20-40 feet both days, depending on how many classes were in the water and our location in the park. Despite the crowds we always had plenty of room and life was abundant. Very little current and almost no surge below 20 feet. On Friday we saw a huge bat ray very close to the stairs. All the dives produced friendly garibaldi, bass, and more kelp than the eye could see. This was our first SoCal dive experience and it was wonderful!

 

[Roughwaterjohn]

Here are my pictures from the Wrinkles Dive and our Los Coronados dives from today.

Wrinkles Dives

Los Coronados, Lobster Shack with Gottadive.com

We had a great time. The Sun was out, the vis was high, and the lemonade was sweet!

Hey Sean,

Great shots!!! One of the things I like most about your photos is your mood shots. I really enjoy the pictures of the dive sites as you approach and the photos of the surrounding area, like the islands in the distance. Great!

On the Wrinkles photos, I fell for the ocean shots. The pictures with the dark sky above and the sea rising around you... it still sends chills down my spine! :11: There were too many great shots on the Coronados trip, like the Gobies as mentioned before, but damn boy, you got some 'amazing' shots of the seals. Ya did a great job, I'm proud of ya!!! (goooooood-boooooooy!!!!!!!!!)

John

 

[headhunter]

See you all soon - Mccabejc, Head Hunter, SnakeDr., DoctorJet, and Jetfixer.

It was a great dive after watching the La Jolla Tsunami Divers Open Invitational (which I also DID NOT dive). I knew that I had made the right decision in La Jolla when Roy came out from his second dive with BOTH fins missing! :11:

According to the Depth Finder our vis in Shaw's Cove was 10 feet, but as we rounded the corner into Crescent Bay it quickly dropped to where I could barely see the fingers of my outstretched arm. So, we turned around and things got good again!

Christian

 

[Robert Phillips]

My wife and I did 4 dives on Catalina (Casino Park) on 1/28 and 1/29. Friday was very slow but Saturday was packed with divers. My guess would be no less than 100-150 people with about a one hour wait for a tank fill. VERY breezy (glad I was diving dry) and a slightly rough entrance and exit at the bottom of the steps lead us to surprisingly outstanding conditions below. Water was a balmy 62 degrees both days at depths reaching 70 feet at the edge of the park. Visibility was about 20-40 feet both days, depending on how many classes were in the water and our location in the park. Despite the crowds we always had plenty of room and life was abundant. Very little current and almost no surge below 20 feet. On Friday we saw a huge bat ray very close to the stairs. All the dives produced friendly garibaldi, bass, and more kelp than the eye could see. This was our first SoCal dive experience and it was wonderful!

Well, I am glad you finally got a chance to do some decent dives out here. It's great that conditions were good for you in at least one spot for your trip.
Let us know when you are moving out here!
Robb

 

[headhunter]

Sounds like you got the best diving in SoCal that day!

I'm sure things will be better "all over" when you move out here. I look forward to meeting you when you do.

Christian

 

[sapphire]

Here are my pictures from the Wrinkles Dive and our Los Coronados dives from today.

Wrinkles Dives

Los Coronados, Lobster Shack with Gottadive.com

We had a great time. The Sun was out, the vis was high, and the lemonade was sweet!

You got some wonderful sea lion images, Sean! Thanks for sharing them! I hope to eventually make it to the Coronados with you guys someday!!

Jennifer

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Thanks for all the nice comments! I'm really happy you enjoyed the pictures! Paul's videos definitely took the cake !! We will be going back to Los Coronados, so I hope you come along!. I saw this beautiful, radiant, flower-like plant on the dive that looked similiar to your avatar(how appropriate), Sapphire! Anyway I was thinking of you at that moment!

Thank you all!