November 04 Dive Reports

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Date: 11/14/04
Dive Location: North Wall-La Jolla Shores
Time: 930
Bottom Time: 48
Max Depth: 87
Water temp was 61 at the surface and 52 at depth
Vis: 15-20
Wave height: Moderate, timing was everything.

Terry and I kicked out on a beautiful day with very minor waves during a higher tide. We lined up with the 5th palm tree and the white boxy house and the middle of the pink mansion and the end of Scripps Pier. We dropped down into 58 feet of water onto the sandy peninsula. We took our bearings and headed southwest. We noticed a gathering of fish above us and some yellowtail kicking around the peninsula. We headed about 50 yard to the edge of the canyon descending right in the middle of the wall. We headed west and looked for critters. We found several octopus, some sculpin, dozens of blacksmith and their young, blue-banded gobies, a zebra goby, a Blenny, some rockfish, some shrimp, and some tech divers as we headed east. At the end of the wall we headed 90 degrees and hit the draw going down to the Secret Gardens. We encountered another octopus and a few Sarcastic Fringeheads and a Goby with his mouth full of a Navanax (I think). After being out of bottom time and running low on air, we split up and did our stops. Terry played around some more in some kelp, and I headed to the showers. Another great day at the La Jolla Shores!

Terry's pics: http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/album04
Sean's pics: http://www.scubapost.net/gallery/shores11142004


Almost forgot, Terry saw a Cormorant at 75 feet which was on his way down into the canyon... Deepest he has seen a Cormorant so far.

 

[scubainspired]

Date: 11/11/04
Dive Location: Corral Beach
Time: 12:00 pm
Bottom Time: 34
Max Depth: 28
Vis: 20’
Wave height:.5’

Comments:

Wow… the visibility was outstanding. Plenty of life around the reefs.





Date: 11/11/04
Dive Location: Big Rock
Time: 3:00 pm
Bottom Time: 34
Max Depth: 29
Vis: 5’ – 10’
Wave height: 1’
Comments:

To be honest with you this dive shows how much of an amateur I am. Having been at the reef before I set my coordinates and dropped down about 15’. Unfortunately, I spent the entire time looking at sand and unable find the reef. Navigation is one of the skills I need to work on. I have not taken advance open water yet … it shows.

 

[pasley]

Date: Nov 14, 2004
Dive Location: Reef Point Crystal Cove State Park Newport Beach
Time: 2:22 PM
Bottom Time: 57:30
Max Depth: 41 FSW
Vis: 10 feet or so
Wave height: 1 – 2 ft.
Temp at depth: 63 Suunto Degrees
Surface Temp: 63 Suunto Degrees
Tide information: High 20 AM 6.8 Ft, Low 4:48 PM -1.1 Ft
Comments:
Swam out straight from the beach to about half the length of the reef. Dropped down and headed straight out to sea about 210 degrees. Found lots of reef structure and walls. Never did get over to the main reef as there was so much to see where we were. Spotted a small octopus about -18 inches long sitting outside his den. He quickly slid into his den to hide. We waited and watched for a few minutes and pretty soon he popped his head out, then his whole body and went hunting over the sand. He would slide up to a hole in the sand and insert a tentacle. He kept flashing his blue spots at us so we left to avoid stressing him. But he was beautiful to watch. Saw a whole slew of baby fish including baby senoritas, Garibaldi’s and others. Spotted a large rock fish sitting on a ledge. We were also engulfed in a sea of herring. What a great dive site. Several stairs down from the top to the bottom but worth the walk.

 

[scottfiji]

Date: Nov 14, 2004
Dive Location: 24000 Malibu Road
Time: 2:33 PM
Bottom Time: 76:30
Max Depth: 37 feet
Vis: 10 feet
Wave height: 1 – 2 ft.
Temp at depth: 60 Degrees
Tide information: low tide was approaching
Comments:

After viewing countless great pictures from Terry and Sean, I decided that LA county needed a little representation... so I brought my camera and went to work...to view the pics, click on the following or paste it into your browser..I got some nice navanax and pipefish pics...

http://momentoffame.com/photopost/s...-14-2004&what=allfields&name=&when=&whenterm=

I have some cool video, but I need somewhere to post it. Vis dropped a little from yesterday, but all the usual flora and fauna were out waiting for me, posing for pictures. It was a great diving day!

Scott

 

[scottfiji]

To be honest with you this dive shows how much of an amateur I am. Having been at the reef before I set my coordinates and dropped down about 15’. Unfortunately, I spent the entire time looking at sand and unable find the reef. Navigation is one of the skills I need to work on. I have not taken advance open water yet … it shows.

Hey ScubaInspired,
sorry to hear you missed the big rock reef.. that's one of my favorite dives...

IMHO, you don't need AOW to navigate LA county beach dives. You just need to know at what depth the reef is at, and whether it is right in front of the shore, to the left, or to the right. AOW isn't going to teach you where the big rock reef is. Sounds like you just forgot. It's at 22 feet, to the left. Which means you swim out (south) until you reach 22 feet of depth, and swim east until you hit the reef. It's easy.

If you need to know where any of the reefs are in Malibu, I'd be more than happy to tell you or show you, just let me know.

Scott

 

[divinman]

Nice representing!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Terry

 

[scubainspired]

Thanks Scott, that’s exactly the type of techniques that I need to develop. The way you have described beach navigation sounds so easy. Next chance I get I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.

Thomas

 

[scubacalifornia]

Date: Sunday, 11/14/04
Dive Location: Heisler Park, Laguna Beach
Dive Buddy: Ron Hawkins
Time: 8:03am
Bottom Time: 76 minutes (with 1300psi still to go!)
Max Depth: 41'
Vis: 10-25'
Surge: 2-3'
Wave height: 1-2'
Temp at depth: 59-degrees
Surface Temp: 63-degrees

Comments:

Easy entry, swam a little ways out and dropped down at about 15' and headed 130-degrees. I've never navigated here before, but that seemed like a logical heading and worked out perfectly. Viz varied quite a bit, as low as about 8' but very good in some spots around the reef. Lots of very big sheephead and kelp bass, school of senioritas, blacksmith, gobys, and many other typical species you would expect. Found juvenile garibaldi in a couple of different spots, very cool little purple stripes on top. Also found two morays. Dive buddy Ron found a really big rockfish, though I didn't get a look at it. Lots of bottom time and we might have stayed longer, but getting a bit chilly. No other divers in site at Heisler this morning and the viz was great.
Kevin Glenn

 

[scubainspired]

Date:11/12/04
Dive Location: Abalone Cove, Anacapa
Time: 11:30am
Bottom Time: 39
Max Depth: 36’
Vis: 8’ – 12’
Wave height: N/A
Temp at depth: 59 deg
Surface Temp: 60 deg

Comments: Divingflyer and I took a trip on Spectre. Once again we were very satisfied with the boats operation. Unfortunately, the strong currents sent us to the back side of the Island which would be great if we were there to hunt. However, you can really tell the difference in life from the front side of the island where hunting is forbidden.
Abalone Cove, is really nice for Kelp forest photography. California Kelp mixed with sunlight creates an almost cathedral like experience. The first dive was disappointing only in that there very few types of fish. Saw three really big Lobsters in a trap.

Date:11/12/04
Dive Location: Underwater Island, Anacapa
Time: 2:00 pm
Bottom Time: 26
Max Depth: 53’
Vis: 15’ – 20’
Wave height: N/A
Temp at depth: 59 deg
Surface Temp: 60 deg

Wow, this is a huge rock that you could spend all day exploring. There was a lot of life, unfortunately, due to my experience I don’t know the names to share with everyone. However, I can honestly say the if you like to dive you’ll love this spot.


Date: 11/12/04
Dive Location: Pedro Cove, Santa Cruz
Time: 3:30 pm
Bottom Time: 37
Max Depth: 31’
Vis: 30’
Wave height: N/A
Temp at depth: 60 deg

Again If you like to dive you will LOVE this spot. Saw three 1.5’ - 2.5’ Horn Sharks!!!


Great Dives, Great Buddy had a blast.

 

[DivingFlyer]

Yea man, I had a blast.

You forgot to mention us "practicing" buddy breathing.....LMAO!

Ill get some pics posted tomarrow night.....