Northern Channel Islands - Temps & Viz?

[merxlin]

I haven't seen any trip reports from the northern islands in a while. Anyone been to Miguel, Santa Cruz or Santa Rosa recently? How was the viz and what was the water temp like? I'm going next week and wondering if it is still drysuit temp up there.

 

[FrankPro1]

I was at Scorpion Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island last month. Vis changed from day to day, hour to hour, but over the 4 day period it averaged 15-25ft. Temps were 64 at surface, 61 at depth. Other more current prone / exposed sites would have lower temps though.

Trip Report: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/391696-changing-guard-scorpion-anchorage-santa-cruz-island-jull-2011-a.html

 

[merxlin]

Thanks. I know the viz question is just for my own curiosity as the local viz has been pretty good of late. I just was wondering if it was carrying up the coast.

 

[lcollar]

We did a series of 3 dives around Santa Rosa Island August 3rd and the vis was less than 10' on all 3. The water temps were 61 at safety stop depth and 57 at around 90'. For our last dive we anchored off Santa Cruz and the vis was down to 7' or less with plenty of blowing sand but the water was warmer at 64 degrees top to bottom.

Dry suit temps for me anyway...

 

[drbill]

Read a report from San Miguel yesterday... cold and none. Vis was largely obscured by large schools of krill, but that is what brings the blue whales in to our region in summer. VERY cool. One of our local divers hit a big blue off Catalina two days ago... it surfaced in front of them and they couldn't swerve in time.

 

[merxlin]

Thanks Bill.

 

[merxlin]

So did anyone dive up north this past weekend?

 

[lcollar]

We went out on the Peace from Ventura on Sunday. Originally scheduled for 4 dives at Anacapa Island but wind came up early and forced us to do the last 3 on the backside of Santa Cruz.

Current from the west held down the kelp to about a 40 degree angle. Water temps were uniformly 64 degrees from top to bottom. On four dives we never exceeded 55 feet depth. Vis was about 30' at Gold Fish Bowl for our first dive at Anacapa. The following 3 at Santa Cruz was 20' or less.

Lots of talk in the galley between dives about how much better vis is in the fall. When does fall start exactly?

Food was good (Thanks Joe), deck crew was stellar at keeping our tanks full (capacity load) and helping people in and out of the water 4 times under less than ideal conditions and of course thanks to captain Kevin for getting us to some decent sites (all things considered) and getting us all home safe again.

 

[Rainer]

That's funny because we were out at SCI on Saturday off the Spectre and had 60+' vis at two sites (and 5' at another...). Was actually the best conditions I've ever seen there and water was WARM (66F) even at depth. I can't wait to go back next month!

 

[geoff w]

We went out on the Peace from Ventura on Sunday. Originally scheduled for 4 dives at Anacapa Island but wind came up early and forced us to do the last 3 on the backside of Santa Cruz.

Current from the west held down the kelp to about a 40 degree angle. Water temps were uniformly 64 degrees from top to bottom. On four dives we never exceeded 55 feet depth. Vis was about 30' at Gold Fish Bowl for our first dive at Anacapa. The following 3 at Santa Cruz was 20' or less...

We were on the Peace on Sunday as well. I thought the viz at Gold Fish Bowl was better than that much of the time. The big harbor seal who came down to play with us right before we turned around to head back was probably 40+ feet away from us, and we could see him clearly until he took off. Depending on depth, all the salps in the water really killed the viz. The Santa Cruz Island dives didn't have as much viz, but the surface conditions were a lot calmer. Current on the second dive was definitely inconsistent - I was just hovering while my wife a few feet away was swimming to stay in one place. It was a one day trip on a summer weekend, so there were a lot of less experienced divers on the boat, but overall the crew did a great job picking spots that would be fun for everyone and we enjoyed all the dives

That's funny because we were out at SCI on Saturday off the Spectre and had 60+' vis at two sites (and 5' at another...). Was actually the best conditions I've ever seen there and water was WARM (66F) even at depth. I can't wait to go back next month!

The crew was disappointed the conditions weren't as good on Sunday as they were on Saturday. We still had a great time diving. It sounds like Saturday was by far the better day to be out there diving