Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
Conditions:
We dropped down at 7:53AM, near the buoy off of Vallecitos St.
Visibility was 10-15 feet on the sand flats, 35-40 feet in the canyon.
Water temperature was 62 degrees in the shallows, 52 in the canyon.
We had overcast skies on arrival, sunny when we surfaced.
Max depth 90 fsw, total bottom time 32 minutes.
Photos:
No photos for this dive.
Report:
It felt warm this morning, as I headed to La Jolla Shores to meet Kevin, Walt and Mazin for an early Sunday Dive. As we stood on the boardwalk, soaking up the ambiance and the relatively diverless environment, we discussed our impending dive and watched the few other divers getting ready. There was a rescue class getting ready on the grass by the lifeguard tower and a couple of small groups were getting ready at the end of Vallecitos St., but the multitude of dive classes which can so overwhelm this area were obvious by their absence. Under warm but overcast skies, we headed to our respective vehicles to get ready to dive.
Once assembled again on the boardwalk, we headed across the sand towards our final destination, the sea and the world below. The tide was a misleading 1 ½ with a 1.6-knot ebb, working its way down to a 0.3 at 10:16AM. It looked lower than it was, as we walked quite a way before dipping our booties in the minimal surf. The buoy was also quite a bit south, obviously taking advantage of the extra slack the low tide allowed the line.
We walked through the surf, with mild 1 high waves and a very short surf zone, before stopping in chest high water to don our fins. I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to float comfortably this close to shore, taking time to put my fins on, adjusting them and waiting for my buddies. This is usually a danger Will Robinson zone, best moved through quickly with minimal wasted motion and all efforts spent towards getting deeper. I think I could get used to this.
We headed out to a point parallel with but north of the buoy, due to its southern migration. We gathered together to drop down in case the visibility was poor, but it was an unnecessary tactic, as we were rewarded with 10-15 of visibility without the green murky color weve been having. Even dropping down in line with the buoy, we were only in 15 fsw, and with the buoy far south of us, we dropped down right next to its anchoring chain. A quick buddy check proved we were all ready, willing and able to start our dive, so we did.
Heading west to the canyon edge, then down to 85 fsw, we struck a southern coarse, exploring the wall as we went. There was a slight but noticeable thermocline at approximately 40fsw, but it was quickly forgotten as we lost ourselves in exploration. We didnt see any big life during this dive, so we set our sights on the little version of the undersea world. Working close, exploring the walls, crevices, holes and debris fields, we were soon rewarded with schools of tiny Rockfish. The Tube Dwelling Anemones were large and sporting a variety of colors. Nestled in a small patch of detritus, we found a Navanax, a couple of California Arminas and an aptly named yellow San Diego Dorid. There were lots of Gobies of all sizes darting in and out of their apartments in the rock walls, all in a tizzy over our presence near their homes. We left them wringing their little fins in frustration and continued south. We saw a couple of California Lizardfish darting around, the usual Sanddabs, Sea Pens and Sea Pansies, and 4-5 more Navanax before our first diver hit turnaround pressure.
We started back up the slopes, still going slow and looking in all the nooks and crannies. We found a couple of Rock Blennies hanging out in a narrow band of rock sticking out of the sand at 40 fsw. We saw a few Spiney Sand Stars, most quite small, but one decent sized one moving at a remarkably fast pace (for a starfish), heading who knows where on some important mission, probably involving food (either not wanting to be it, or trying to find some). We started seeing some of the ever-present Swimming Crabs as we crested the canyon and spotted an Armed Box Crab in the sand flats, looking for all the world like the Popeye of the crab world with his bulging biceps folded in front of him. We saw a couple more California Arminas on the way in.
We didnt make it all the way to the shallows before one of our group hit our predetermined pressure, so we surfaced slowly from 16 fsw. We broke the surface to a beautiful blue sky, the sun bright over the La Jolla hills. There was a mild but steady south running longshore current, so we kicked north as much as we kicked east, in order to end up near our entry point. We werent surprised by the current, in fact had expected it due to the location of the buoy, and it didnt take much to overcome it. We were soon back on the beach and headed towards the showers. It was a beautiful day, started the way I most prefer, with a wonderful dive.
John A.
We dropped down at 7:53AM, near the buoy off of Vallecitos St.
Visibility was 10-15 feet on the sand flats, 35-40 feet in the canyon.
Water temperature was 62 degrees in the shallows, 52 in the canyon.
We had overcast skies on arrival, sunny when we surfaced.
Max depth 90 fsw, total bottom time 32 minutes.
Photos:
No photos for this dive.
Report:
It felt warm this morning, as I headed to La Jolla Shores to meet Kevin, Walt and Mazin for an early Sunday Dive. As we stood on the boardwalk, soaking up the ambiance and the relatively diverless environment, we discussed our impending dive and watched the few other divers getting ready. There was a rescue class getting ready on the grass by the lifeguard tower and a couple of small groups were getting ready at the end of Vallecitos St., but the multitude of dive classes which can so overwhelm this area were obvious by their absence. Under warm but overcast skies, we headed to our respective vehicles to get ready to dive.
Once assembled again on the boardwalk, we headed across the sand towards our final destination, the sea and the world below. The tide was a misleading 1 ½ with a 1.6-knot ebb, working its way down to a 0.3 at 10:16AM. It looked lower than it was, as we walked quite a way before dipping our booties in the minimal surf. The buoy was also quite a bit south, obviously taking advantage of the extra slack the low tide allowed the line.
We walked through the surf, with mild 1 high waves and a very short surf zone, before stopping in chest high water to don our fins. I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to float comfortably this close to shore, taking time to put my fins on, adjusting them and waiting for my buddies. This is usually a danger Will Robinson zone, best moved through quickly with minimal wasted motion and all efforts spent towards getting deeper. I think I could get used to this.
We headed out to a point parallel with but north of the buoy, due to its southern migration. We gathered together to drop down in case the visibility was poor, but it was an unnecessary tactic, as we were rewarded with 10-15 of visibility without the green murky color weve been having. Even dropping down in line with the buoy, we were only in 15 fsw, and with the buoy far south of us, we dropped down right next to its anchoring chain. A quick buddy check proved we were all ready, willing and able to start our dive, so we did.
Heading west to the canyon edge, then down to 85 fsw, we struck a southern coarse, exploring the wall as we went. There was a slight but noticeable thermocline at approximately 40fsw, but it was quickly forgotten as we lost ourselves in exploration. We didnt see any big life during this dive, so we set our sights on the little version of the undersea world. Working close, exploring the walls, crevices, holes and debris fields, we were soon rewarded with schools of tiny Rockfish. The Tube Dwelling Anemones were large and sporting a variety of colors. Nestled in a small patch of detritus, we found a Navanax, a couple of California Arminas and an aptly named yellow San Diego Dorid. There were lots of Gobies of all sizes darting in and out of their apartments in the rock walls, all in a tizzy over our presence near their homes. We left them wringing their little fins in frustration and continued south. We saw a couple of California Lizardfish darting around, the usual Sanddabs, Sea Pens and Sea Pansies, and 4-5 more Navanax before our first diver hit turnaround pressure.
We started back up the slopes, still going slow and looking in all the nooks and crannies. We found a couple of Rock Blennies hanging out in a narrow band of rock sticking out of the sand at 40 fsw. We saw a few Spiney Sand Stars, most quite small, but one decent sized one moving at a remarkably fast pace (for a starfish), heading who knows where on some important mission, probably involving food (either not wanting to be it, or trying to find some). We started seeing some of the ever-present Swimming Crabs as we crested the canyon and spotted an Armed Box Crab in the sand flats, looking for all the world like the Popeye of the crab world with his bulging biceps folded in front of him. We saw a couple more California Arminas on the way in.
We didnt make it all the way to the shallows before one of our group hit our predetermined pressure, so we surfaced slowly from 16 fsw. We broke the surface to a beautiful blue sky, the sun bright over the La Jolla hills. There was a mild but steady south running longshore current, so we kicked north as much as we kicked east, in order to end up near our entry point. We werent surprised by the current, in fact had expected it due to the location of the buoy, and it didnt take much to overcome it. We were soon back on the beach and headed towards the showers. It was a beautiful day, started the way I most prefer, with a wonderful dive.
John A.
