Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
Marine Room reefs, April 22, 2006
Info:
Dive buddies; Roy and Lisa
Cloudy and overcast morning
3.5 high tide on a 1.8 knot ebb
Waves 2 or less
Steady but minor surge
Visibility 10-12 on the reef
Water temperature 60 degrees.
Maximum depth 15
Total bottom time 1 hour 4 minutes.
The Report:
We had originally planned on diving the Cove this morning, but changed our minds due to conditions. I arrived early to check conditions and make a game plan for entry and exit. An initial large set lasting for 3 minutes, with 1 minute of calm, followed by a 5 minute set repeated itself while I watched. Due to the steep slope of the beach, incoming waves were building on the power of the outbound ones, making for large waves from mid-set on. One minute of calm gave us a workable entry window, but with a freshly minted diver in our midst, time constraints didnt seem like the best idea. We headed to the Marine Room, planning to dive the reefs if visibility allowed, or heading into the canyon if not.
Waves in front of the Marine Room were 1-2, and we were past the surf zone by the time we were waist deep. We kicked out a little further to see if the Marine Room reef dive passed my two requirements, which it did. There were no waves breaking over the reef and in 15 of water, I could see the bottom. Thats pretty much all thats required to dive the reefs, so off we went, kicking over on our backs on a heading of 240. When we reached the start of the reefs, we dropped down into 8 of water and continued S/W.
The reefs get larger and the water deeper (marginally so) as you continue on a 240 heading, so we explored and took our time. I brought my camera, but with a new diver present, I decided to forgo photography in lieu of playing tour guide. As expected, life was abundant and curious. Kelp Bass were probably the most abundant, growing steadily larger and more abundant the farther we went. We saw a Giant Kelpfish swimming between the reefs and a couple of small Island Kelpfish tucked down in the grass. Garibaldi, Sargo, Senoritas, Opaleye and Perch were everywhere, hiding in the grass and kelp, hovering above us, or darting in front to see what we were looking at.
There were quite a few Lobster out today, including one giant backed into the reef with its massive head and legs hanging out, daring us to tangle with him. The head on this behemoth had to be 9-10 across. As we were coming out of the kelp and grass, I turned around a rock outcropping, intending to head down a sand channel when I stopped. Off to my left, I saw a big head sticking out passed the rocks. I didnt immediately recognize what type of fish this was, so I mentally went through a checklist in my head. Lets see, what type of fish has a turtle like head? Nothing came to mind so I kept looking. OK, which fish has a large turtle-like shell hey, wait a minute, thats no fish, thats a Sea Turtle!!!!!
My camera was turned off and slung under my arm, so by the time I pulled it up, turned it on and started pointing it, the turtle was already sailing off into the sunset. I was able to snap two poor quality, slightly greenish and blurry photos before it disappeared, but at least you can tell its a turtle. I have never seen one in So-Cal before, so this was quite a treat for me. It looked to be about 3 overall, with a good sized head on it and a very large shell. If we werent already having a wonderful dive, that would have put the icing on the cake!
Well, after that high point, we kept exploring, seeing plenty more of the same fish, plus a couple of medium sized Halibut, a Sheep Crab and a very fast Banded Guitarfish. I turned us back early to give us plenty of time to explore the sand flats, but there wasnt much out to see there this morning. A couple of swimming crabs and a nicely disguised Pipefish were all that caught our attention. It was an easy swim in, staying north until we got in front of the Marine Room due to how shallow it was, then turning east and heading in. An easy swim under the waves brought us up in the shallows followed by an easy exit. Even without the Turtle, this would have been a great dive. Good vis, lots of life and it wasnt cold. Everyone came back with lots of air left, big grins and happy memories.
John A.
Info:
Dive buddies; Roy and Lisa
Cloudy and overcast morning
3.5 high tide on a 1.8 knot ebb
Waves 2 or less
Steady but minor surge
Visibility 10-12 on the reef
Water temperature 60 degrees.
Maximum depth 15
Total bottom time 1 hour 4 minutes.
The Report:
We had originally planned on diving the Cove this morning, but changed our minds due to conditions. I arrived early to check conditions and make a game plan for entry and exit. An initial large set lasting for 3 minutes, with 1 minute of calm, followed by a 5 minute set repeated itself while I watched. Due to the steep slope of the beach, incoming waves were building on the power of the outbound ones, making for large waves from mid-set on. One minute of calm gave us a workable entry window, but with a freshly minted diver in our midst, time constraints didnt seem like the best idea. We headed to the Marine Room, planning to dive the reefs if visibility allowed, or heading into the canyon if not.
Waves in front of the Marine Room were 1-2, and we were past the surf zone by the time we were waist deep. We kicked out a little further to see if the Marine Room reef dive passed my two requirements, which it did. There were no waves breaking over the reef and in 15 of water, I could see the bottom. Thats pretty much all thats required to dive the reefs, so off we went, kicking over on our backs on a heading of 240. When we reached the start of the reefs, we dropped down into 8 of water and continued S/W.
The reefs get larger and the water deeper (marginally so) as you continue on a 240 heading, so we explored and took our time. I brought my camera, but with a new diver present, I decided to forgo photography in lieu of playing tour guide. As expected, life was abundant and curious. Kelp Bass were probably the most abundant, growing steadily larger and more abundant the farther we went. We saw a Giant Kelpfish swimming between the reefs and a couple of small Island Kelpfish tucked down in the grass. Garibaldi, Sargo, Senoritas, Opaleye and Perch were everywhere, hiding in the grass and kelp, hovering above us, or darting in front to see what we were looking at.
There were quite a few Lobster out today, including one giant backed into the reef with its massive head and legs hanging out, daring us to tangle with him. The head on this behemoth had to be 9-10 across. As we were coming out of the kelp and grass, I turned around a rock outcropping, intending to head down a sand channel when I stopped. Off to my left, I saw a big head sticking out passed the rocks. I didnt immediately recognize what type of fish this was, so I mentally went through a checklist in my head. Lets see, what type of fish has a turtle like head? Nothing came to mind so I kept looking. OK, which fish has a large turtle-like shell hey, wait a minute, thats no fish, thats a Sea Turtle!!!!!
My camera was turned off and slung under my arm, so by the time I pulled it up, turned it on and started pointing it, the turtle was already sailing off into the sunset. I was able to snap two poor quality, slightly greenish and blurry photos before it disappeared, but at least you can tell its a turtle. I have never seen one in So-Cal before, so this was quite a treat for me. It looked to be about 3 overall, with a good sized head on it and a very large shell. If we werent already having a wonderful dive, that would have put the icing on the cake!
Well, after that high point, we kept exploring, seeing plenty more of the same fish, plus a couple of medium sized Halibut, a Sheep Crab and a very fast Banded Guitarfish. I turned us back early to give us plenty of time to explore the sand flats, but there wasnt much out to see there this morning. A couple of swimming crabs and a nicely disguised Pipefish were all that caught our attention. It was an easy swim in, staying north until we got in front of the Marine Room due to how shallow it was, then turning east and heading in. An easy swim under the waves brought us up in the shallows followed by an easy exit. Even without the Turtle, this would have been a great dive. Good vis, lots of life and it wasnt cold. Everyone came back with lots of air left, big grins and happy memories.
John A.
