Quick Dive Report - Catalina Island

[ednedfred]

I was in Los Angeles last week on business and was able to go over to Catalina for a quick visit. I stayed at the Pavilion Lodge (which was great) the evening of the 6th and planned on diving with Scuba Luv (based on recommendations from this site) in the park on the morning of the 7th. The Lodge is one block from Scuba Luv so the commute was much kinder than that of a typical southern California rush hour.

Arrived at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday and everything went according to plan. Since I had to catch the 11:45 a.m. Catalina Express back over to Long Beach I was only able to do a one tank dive in the park. After signing in at the office, I dove with an Instructor names Simon' (sp?). She was great. Very laid back and fun to talk with. Anyway, we took a golf cart over to the park and after getting our gear together reviewed our dive plan.

The water was very calm and clear. Water temp. was 57 degrees with about 60 feet of visibility. I have never dove in California before so I was looking forward to the dive. The kelp was incredible. I was thinking it was going to be 3 or 4 feet tall but to my suprise it was over 30 feet tall. We were the only two divers in the park on Wednesday so we had the run of the place. I saw a couple of huge lobsters, tons of fish (a bunch of goldfish looking ones) and also my first octopus. An ugly little fellow tucked back in the rock. I wore a 7 mil. wetsuit with hood boots and gloves and was very comfortable in the water. Dove to 59 feet for approximately 48 minutes. This was a great experience and will definately do again.

 

[riguerin]

Glad you had fun. The park is a great dive …. especially midweek when the crowds are thin. FYI, the "bunch of goldfish looking ones" are called Garibaldi (damselfish family). It’s our state fish.

 

[drbill]

Glad you enjoyed your brief visit and dive, and that you want to return for more! The dive instructor is Simin. Macrocystis (giant kelp) can reach total lengths of 200 ft with much of that in the surface canopy.

The garibaldi is California's state SALT water fish (the golden trout being the state's fresh water fish).

 

[wetrat]

Glad you enjoyed Catalina - you know, I am so pleased with the way that park is managed. The fish are friendly, the kelp is healthy and there are a few little wrecks to explore. It's always a fantastic dive. Bill, did the conservancy set up the Avalon Underwater Park? Just wondering.

 

[drbill]

Wetrat- Technically (legally) the Conservancy has no jurisdiction in the marine environment. Fortunately a support organization, the Catalina Conservancy Divers, has done some great work in extending the principles the Conservancy applies on its land to life in the sea.

The park was actually established in the early 60's. I don't have the exact date at my fingers right now but can get it for you. It was done by the City of Avalon at the prompting of pioneer dioners out here like Karl and Maggie Koehler who owned Catalina Divers Supply when I arrived in 1969.

A City does not have much legal jurisdiction over the marine life in "City waters." That is the responsibility of the CDF&G. The park itself really is "just" a dive park and legally not a marine reserve. It was slated to become a CDF&G-recognized reserve under the stalled MLPA process. Currently it is considered by most divers as a defacto reserve... one "defended" by the dive community. We gently try to request that divers not take anything out of the park. If they don't comply with our gentle requests, we whack them with our pony bottles!

Lover's Cove on the other side of Avalon Bay IS a legally-recognized CDF&G reserve. Unfortunately the basis for designating it so was commercial- to preserve the fish population so the glassbottom boats could give a good tour. Not that that is a bad thing... it just isn't based on science.

 

[wetrat]

Interesting! Thanks Bill.

 

[ItsBruce]

The garibaldis at the park know they are protected by law and as such like to play with people.

BTW: Dr. Bill did not mention it, but he is probably the foremost expert on the dive park.

 

[ednedfred]

Garibaldi, thanks. I had no idea what they were but they were fun to play with and really nice to watch. I think I've got the cold water fever (never really caught it having lived twice in Chicago).

Thanks everyone for your feedback.