giles45shop
Contributor
I just wanted to thank everyone for the GREAT time during my trip to SoCal. The hospitality, friendship and training that you showed me was abbsolutely incredible! You all were nice enough to take a very new diver under your collective wings and arrange dive trips, buddies, and tank usage, as well as the proper training on dealing with the surf entries and night diving.
I did five dives all over the area during my week-long stay:
#1: 1/17/07 Vets Park Twilight Dive: I meet Claudette for the first time in person. Wow! She's so postive and full of energy, and makes me feel very welcome. At Vet's it seems like she knows everyone. I meet LAJim and he dives w/ Claudette, Ken and myself. This is only my 24th dive, 3rd salt water dive, 1st surf entry and first night dive. Even with all that, these guys are so well prepared and confident it rubs off on me. Man, this wetsuit is thick (I feel like the Michelin Man) and it seems like a long walk down the stairs and across the beach. The surf entry wasn't too bad, and the 54 degree water didn't feel cold. Dive was 55' max for 52 minutes, chaulk this one up as my deepest dive to date! Saw all kinds of crabs, nudibranches,a baby octopus, squid eggs and flounder, as well as a bunch of other stuff which I don't know the names for. When you dive in lakes and springs, bass, gar, catfish, bream and turtles make for a pretty short list of names to remember. On the way out, I almost make it to shore before a wave gets me in about 2 ft of water and I have to crawl out rather than try and stand up on my tired legs. Probably an appropriate end to my first surf dive.
#2: 1/20/07 Point Dume: Claudette's off on a boat dive, so Kalani graciously offered to take me diving. We talk the night before and he gives me the directions and indicates that the surf report looks favorable. I drive up to Malibu and meet him at the park. He's another great SoCal person! I'm really lucky to meet all these great folks! The surf is larger than Vets, and then he tells me we have to swim around the giant cliff to the dive site
When Scott and Penny get there, I've now met a couple more great people, we get geared up and head out. The surf entry was okay, but the waves are HUGE for this FL boy! After swimming for about 15-20 minutes, we drop down. Scott and Penny disappear, but I stay right next to Kalani. There's ton's of stuff to see, including a friendly harbor seal and a Moray eel. I try not to upstage Kalani's high $ photo equipment w/ my $19.99 point and shoot camera. I take plenty of pictures until I notice drops of water inside the camera. I guess you get what you pay for
When I start to get low on air, we start heading back and surface about the point of the cliff. There's two Life Guards on a Jet Ski looking for us, because we had been gone over an hour. We assure them we are okay and the other two divers have larger tanks and know the area. After we've been ashore for about 15 minutes, Scott and Penny surface just off the beach. As we pack gear, Scott informs me that this is the most treacharous beach dive in SoCal
Glad he didn't tell me before the dive!
Dive #3: 1/20/07 Malibu Road. Scott takes us to one of his many Malibu spots. It's a much easier entry and we only have to swim about 50 yards. As before, Scott and Penny disappear, and I stick close to Kalani. I get to see some really cool kelp, lots of rock and fish. By now, I'm getting used to the entries and exits and don't fall down, but I'm still out of breath.
Dive #4: 1/21/07 Gorgonian City. Claudette picks me up in the early AM and we head out to Malibu. The first sight looks a little windy so we head to Gorgonian City. We get geared up and do a long walk down the beach in full gear. By the time we get to the entry, I'm huffing and puffing like a steam engine. Guess some aerobic excercise would be in order
I'm practically an expert on the entries in the big 2' surf, so no issues there. We drop down and start heading to where the rocks are supposed to be, but looks like someone moved them out deeper than what was anticipated. After a short search, we find it. Wow! Lot's and lot's of fish, soft corral, some lobsters and some really cool canyons and swim throughs. Claudette spots a baby giant black sea bass about an inch long. After lunch, we head up to Marineland, for a quick look around and nice drive along the coast. I can see why we don't dive there.
Dive #5: 1/22/07 Vets Park. Claudette picks me up for the last dive of my visit. We hit the water a little after 8PM, so it's a full on night dive. I'm using my super high-powered SL-4 light that makes Claudette's HID look like a candle . We gear up and drop, and Claudette's computer isn't working. We decide to go on my watch and depth gauge. My mask isn't sealing well and it seems like I have to clear it every few minutes. We go along the canyon and get to 70' for about 15 minutes, before getting back up to the 40' range. I finally start to feel a little bit like the popsicle diver that Claudette had kidded me about. A big sea lion buzzes past us 4 or 5 times. We see tons of squid, squid eggs, a big moon snail, bunches of crabs of different varieties, a lionfish, a small horn shark and a baby octo that changes colors and patterns about 6 times in the space of a few minutes before he gets mad a leaves. When we surface, the surf has picked up a little, but I make it out standing up! The moon is spectacular, laying sideways with a cheshire cat-like grin that disappears as we head to the car.
You SoCal divers are so lucky to have this great shore diving and all the neat locations! Back home on the Gulf Coast of FL, all of our salt water dives are boat dives, as you have to get miles offshore to get in 40' of water. That's why most of my diving has been in springs and lakes.
Thanks again to Kalani, Scott, Penny, Ken and Jim for such great hospitality. I owe a very special thanks to my new friend Claudette for diving with me, lending me tanks, driving me to dive sites and teaching me so much about SoCal diving. It's an experience I'll never forget and if any of you ever get to the Tampa area, please look me up. I don't know if I could live up to the hospitality shown to me, but I'll give it a try!
Thanks again and safe diving!
John
I did five dives all over the area during my week-long stay:
#1: 1/17/07 Vets Park Twilight Dive: I meet Claudette for the first time in person. Wow! She's so postive and full of energy, and makes me feel very welcome. At Vet's it seems like she knows everyone. I meet LAJim and he dives w/ Claudette, Ken and myself. This is only my 24th dive, 3rd salt water dive, 1st surf entry and first night dive. Even with all that, these guys are so well prepared and confident it rubs off on me. Man, this wetsuit is thick (I feel like the Michelin Man) and it seems like a long walk down the stairs and across the beach. The surf entry wasn't too bad, and the 54 degree water didn't feel cold. Dive was 55' max for 52 minutes, chaulk this one up as my deepest dive to date! Saw all kinds of crabs, nudibranches,a baby octopus, squid eggs and flounder, as well as a bunch of other stuff which I don't know the names for. When you dive in lakes and springs, bass, gar, catfish, bream and turtles make for a pretty short list of names to remember. On the way out, I almost make it to shore before a wave gets me in about 2 ft of water and I have to crawl out rather than try and stand up on my tired legs. Probably an appropriate end to my first surf dive.
#2: 1/20/07 Point Dume: Claudette's off on a boat dive, so Kalani graciously offered to take me diving. We talk the night before and he gives me the directions and indicates that the surf report looks favorable. I drive up to Malibu and meet him at the park. He's another great SoCal person! I'm really lucky to meet all these great folks! The surf is larger than Vets, and then he tells me we have to swim around the giant cliff to the dive site
When Scott and Penny get there, I've now met a couple more great people, we get geared up and head out. The surf entry was okay, but the waves are HUGE for this FL boy! After swimming for about 15-20 minutes, we drop down. Scott and Penny disappear, but I stay right next to Kalani. There's ton's of stuff to see, including a friendly harbor seal and a Moray eel. I try not to upstage Kalani's high $ photo equipment w/ my $19.99 point and shoot camera. I take plenty of pictures until I notice drops of water inside the camera. I guess you get what you pay for
When I start to get low on air, we start heading back and surface about the point of the cliff. There's two Life Guards on a Jet Ski looking for us, because we had been gone over an hour. We assure them we are okay and the other two divers have larger tanks and know the area. After we've been ashore for about 15 minutes, Scott and Penny surface just off the beach. As we pack gear, Scott informs me that this is the most treacharous beach dive in SoCal
Glad he didn't tell me before the dive!Dive #3: 1/20/07 Malibu Road. Scott takes us to one of his many Malibu spots. It's a much easier entry and we only have to swim about 50 yards. As before, Scott and Penny disappear, and I stick close to Kalani. I get to see some really cool kelp, lots of rock and fish. By now, I'm getting used to the entries and exits and don't fall down, but I'm still out of breath.
Dive #4: 1/21/07 Gorgonian City. Claudette picks me up in the early AM and we head out to Malibu. The first sight looks a little windy so we head to Gorgonian City. We get geared up and do a long walk down the beach in full gear. By the time we get to the entry, I'm huffing and puffing like a steam engine. Guess some aerobic excercise would be in order
I'm practically an expert on the entries in the big 2' surf
, so no issues there. We drop down and start heading to where the rocks are supposed to be, but looks like someone moved them out deeper than what was anticipated. After a short search, we find it. Wow! Lot's and lot's of fish, soft corral, some lobsters and some really cool canyons and swim throughs. Claudette spots a baby giant black sea bass about an inch long. After lunch, we head up to Marineland, for a quick look around and nice drive along the coast. I can see why we don't dive there.Dive #5: 1/22/07 Vets Park. Claudette picks me up for the last dive of my visit. We hit the water a little after 8PM, so it's a full on night dive. I'm using my super high-powered SL-4 light that makes Claudette's HID look like a candle
. We gear up and drop, and Claudette's computer isn't working. We decide to go on my watch and depth gauge. My mask isn't sealing well and it seems like I have to clear it every few minutes. We go along the canyon and get to 70' for about 15 minutes, before getting back up to the 40' range. I finally start to feel a little bit like the popsicle diver that Claudette had kidded me about. A big sea lion buzzes past us 4 or 5 times. We see tons of squid, squid eggs, a big moon snail, bunches of crabs of different varieties, a lionfish, a small horn shark and a baby octo that changes colors and patterns about 6 times in the space of a few minutes before he gets mad a leaves. When we surface, the surf has picked up a little, but I make it out standing up! The moon is spectacular, laying sideways with a cheshire cat-like grin that disappears as we head to the car.You SoCal divers are so lucky to have this great shore diving and all the neat locations! Back home on the Gulf Coast of FL, all of our salt water dives are boat dives, as you have to get miles offshore to get in 40' of water. That's why most of my diving has been in springs and lakes.
Thanks again to Kalani, Scott, Penny, Ken and Jim for such great hospitality. I owe a very special thanks to my new friend Claudette for diving with me, lending me tanks, driving me to dive sites and teaching me so much about SoCal diving. It's an experience I'll never forget and if any of you ever get to the Tampa area, please look me up. I don't know if I could live up to the hospitality shown to me, but I'll give it a try!
Thanks again and safe diving!
John
