Palos Verdes Dive Reports

[ifukuda]

Dive Spot: Haggerty's
Date: 06/19/04 (Saturday)
Entry Time: 10:15AM
Surf: Flat
Viz: 20~25ft
Water Temp: 68 degrees
Max Depth: 24ft

No surf...I thought I was diving in a lake. The viz not bad considering how warm water temp was. It's suprising how easy kelp is to navigate when there's no surge. There were lots of tiny kelp bass (4~8 inches) that followed me around during my dive.

Dive Spot: Malaga Cove
Date: 06/19/04 (Saturday)
Entry Time: 1:30PM
Surf: Flat
Viz: 10~15ft
Water Temp: 68 degrees
Max Depth: 15ft

No surf. But, the viz was not as good as Haggerty's only a few hundred yards away. But, there was much more to see at Malaga than Haggerty's ... which is pretty unusual. I spotted a WSB and a Giant Black Sea Bass.

 

[ifukuda]

Dive Spot: Malaga Cove
Date: 06/26/04 (Saturday)
Entry Time: 12:30PM
Surf: 1ft.
Viz: 3 to 9ft.
Water Temp: 70 degrees surface / 68 degrees @ 17ft
Max Depth: 17ft

The viz was terrible, but it's understandable considering how warm the water temperature is. I wouldn't be suprised to see red tide soon.

 

[jlyle]

We had great conditions off-shore PV on Saturday. The red-tide has been in the Bay for some time now, with murky waters down to 50 feet or so. Under the soup, visibility has been good (30+ feet), but the water is very cold (~50 degrees) beneath the thermocline. On Sunday, the West winds returned and today there are whitecaps off of Redondo. We're supposed to have an offshore wind on Friday and warmer temps for the weekend. Here's hoping for improved conditions.

 

[ifukuda]

Dive Spot: Haggerty's
Date: 07/03/04 (Saturday)
Entry Time: 10:20AM
Surf: 1ft
Viz: 10~20ft
Water Temp: 68 @ surface / 64 @ 20ft.
Max Depth: 20ft

Water temp was a degree or two colder than last weekend. I'm not sure if water temp is the only factor, but viz was much better than last weekend.

I stayed close to shore because there was plenty to see without having to go very far out. During my 77 minute dive, I spotted at least 5 guitar sharks (3 were swimming, 2 were hiding in the sand), a school of opaleye, a giant school of small little pink fish, etc.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Pt. Vicente
07/03/04
Vis was around ten feet once we got below thirty feet. Pretty green above that. 59F at depth, with 67F at the surface. I used my digital camera for the first time. I had a humbling dive, as all the pictures sucked. While I was shooting pictures of the many Garibaldi nests my buddy Marc saw a Black Seabass next to the anchor. First time I've dived here in several years without a current.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Newly discovered shipwreck
07/05/04
We found what may have been a 100 foot (approx.) sailboat off Pt. Fermin in 160 feet. No masts, cleats, rigging or identifying marks, which leads me to believe it was scuttled. Lots of large Lingcod and a Wolf eel. 25-30 feet vis, 50 degrees. Can't wait to get my drysuit back!!!

 

[jlyle]

Wreck of the Avalon/Palawan
7/2/04, 7/3/04, 7/4/04
The usual camera dives on the Avalon, looking for nudibranchs. The red tide has subsided a great deal in the South Bay and surface conditions were nice all weekend, with overcast skies in the am burning off to sunny afternoons. On all six dives, we found great vis and very cold (~50 degrees) water. Great weekend.

 

[ifukuda]

Dive Spot: Malaga Cove
Date: 07/17/04 (Saturday)
Entry Time: 10:20PM
Surf: 0~1ft.
Viz: 15ft.
Water Temp: 69 degrees surface / 63 degrees @ 21ft
Max Depth: 21ft

Nice day, no waves (Lake Malaga), great viz, nice easy dive. We bumped into the GAFC divers as they were coming up after completing thier fish counts. There must have been at least 20 of them at Malaga. As much as I respect these volunteer divers for the work they do, it was a little amusing to watch some of the divers make their back up the hill after the dive...some of them looked like they weren't going to make it back to their cars. Thanks guys for all your hard work.