Nor Cal to Avalon

[Drewpy]

Headed down to OC on Tues afternoon to visit realtives and family in Irvine and Headed over to Avalon on the 10:00 o'clock ferry out of LB-nice boat..very fast,beautiful day..seas were very glassy which got me excited to dive as I knew conditions would be good!
Arrived about 11:00 atthe mole and humped my gear..whew! (Good thing it has wheels..think Ill rent weights next time!) over to the green pier. Picked up a wagon and a few tanks and off I went in search of the park.
After a few close calls with a few old ladys..I arrived at the park...empty, not a single diver..Am I in the right place? After a minute or two of unpacking a few divers showed up and I realized this was the place.
Geared up and down the steps...low tide so the rocks at the bottom of the stairs were exosed, making the entrance over them a bit tricky,but no problems! Out to the bouyys for the decent and lo and behold,great vis!!! A welcome site after a few dismal vis dives in NCal recently! Man,fish everywhere!! Tons of schooling fish as well as large kelp bass,garibaldis even saw a large seabass? Vis was probably 50-60ft! A great dive and great fun! Had a short SI at the nearby snackbar and then switched tanks for more fun-Went right at the stairs this time and spent some time along the rocky reef before venturing out deeper.What a great dive site!!Tons of life!
Went in to town for a bite to eat, and a margarita along the main drag before it was time to head back on the 5:15 ferry! Awsome dives and a beautiful day!!

Thanks to all (Mo2vation,Kelphelper,Socal Diver) and all the others who helped make this trip a success with the great info you provided-much appreciated!
My dive gear will be coming on all my family jaunts now! Maybe I can hook up with some of you guys next time!

P.S. Did some snorkeling at Poppy Beach in Corona the next day-vis was great there too!
Thanks again
Drew

 

[Mo2vation]

Headed down to OC on Tues afternoon to visit realtives and family in Irvine and Headed over to Avalon on the 10:00 o'clock ferry out of LB-nice boat..very fast,beautiful day..seas were very glassy which got me excited to dive as I knew conditions would be good!
Arrived about 11:00 atthe mole and humped my gear..whew! (Good thing it has wheels..think Ill rent weights next time!) over to the green pier. Picked up a wagon and a few tanks and off I went in search of the park.
After a few close calls with a few old ladys..I arrived at the park...empty, not a single diver..Am I in the right place? After a minute or two of unpacking a few divers showed up and I realized this was the place.
Geared up and down the steps...low tide so the rocks at the bottom of the stairs were exosed, making the entrance over them a bit tricky,but no problems! Out to the bouyys for the decent and lo and behold,great vis!!! A welcome site after a few dismal vis dives in NCal recently! Man,fish everywhere!! Tons of schooling fish as well as large kelp bass,garibaldis even saw a large seabass? Vis was probably 50-60ft! A great dive and great fun! Had a short SI at the nearby snackbar and then switched tanks for more fun-Went right at the stairs this time and spent some time along the rocky reef before venturing out deeper.What a great dive site!!Tons of life!
Went in to town for a bite to eat, and a margarita along the main drag before it was time to head back on the 5:15 ferry! Awsome dives and a beautiful day!!

Thanks to all (Mo2vation,Kelphelper,Socal Diver) and all the others who helped make this trip a success with the great info you provided-much appreciated!
My dive gear will be coming on all my family jaunts now! Maybe I can hook up with some of you guys next time!

P.S. Did some snorkeling at Poppy Beach in Corona the next day-vis was great there too!
Thanks again
Drew

You saw a Giant Black Seabass? Way cool. People have dived there for years and not seen them. Excellent. Glad you had a great time.

Ken

 

[Frank O]

P.S. Did some snorkeling at Poppy Beach in Corona the next day-vis was great there too!

Is Poppy Beach the same place known as Little Corona (i.e. cove just to the south of the Corona del Mar main beach)? Never heard it called that before, but since it's at the end of Poppy Avenue, I guess that would make sense. Fun place to snorkel.

 

[saf_25]

You saw a Giant Black Seabass? Way cool. People have dived there for years and not seen them. Excellent. Glad you had a great time.

Ken

Grr...That would be me. 2 years diving in So Cal - close to 50 dives in the dive park alone, and still no Sea Bass. Then, some out-of-towner comes for an afternoon and sees one. How unfair! <<I can't find an appropriately grumpy smilie right now, but consider it inserted here>>

Seriously, glad you had a good time - hopefully next time you're in town, we can make a SO Cal trip around your visit.

P.S. Did some snorkeling at Poppy Beach in Corona the next day-vis was great there too!

Oh, and a funny aside - I read and re-read this sentence from your post, couldn't figure out which beach was bad enough to be described as "poopy", even though you said conditions were good. It took me far to wrong to see that word was "poppy", not "poopy" . :11:

 

[Drewpy]

My brother has always called it Poppy - I guess hes wrong... but yes the small beach just south of the main beach(have to walk down a paved path about 1/4mile or so)

Sorry about the Bass guys-beginners luck I suppose? It scared the crap out of me if that makes you feel any better-we came face to face after rounding a rocky outcrop!!!

:11:

 

[scubasean]

You saw a Giant Black Seabass? Way cool. People have dived there for years and not seen them. Excellent. Glad you had a great time.

Ken

I've been quite lucky...Dived twice each of two days weeks apart at Catalina and saw Black Sea Bass both sets of dives...

The first time I saw one, it scared the daylights out of me...and I had no clue what it was...I just knew it was BIG....

 

[Frank O]

My brother has always called it Poppy - I guess hes wrong... but yes the small beach just south of the main beach(have to walk down a paved path about 1/4mile or so)

That would be Little Corona. However, I don't think there is any "right" or "wrong" in naming dive spots. One of the things that I find really funny about going on different charter boats is that they all have their own names for the same places. Last summer I said to one boat captain "Hey aren't we near XYZ Cove" (a place I'd been taken frequently by the captain of the boat in the slip next to his), and he'd never heard of it ...

 

[drbill]

Unlikely it was a black sea bass. They've been down in deeper water for quite some time now. However, there are some very big and very dark calicos in the park.

Dr. Bill

 

[fishnchips]

May I know how big is that black sea bass?

 

[drbill]

Here's one of my newspaper columns about the black sea bass to give you more info:

http://www.starthrower.org/products/DDDB/DDDB_000-049/DDDB_004 black sea bass.htm

Dr. Bill