Roughwaterjohn
Contributor
La Jolla Shores, Wednesday June 30th
Dive info:
We dropped down at 6:52PM.
Water temperature stayed in the mid to high 60s.
Visibility hovered between poor to dismal.
Waves were ankle height and lower, with a slight south running current at depth.
Maximum depth was 95 fsw, with an average depth of 45 fsw.
Total bottom time was 37 minutes.
Photos:
I only took 5-6 photos on the sand flats, so youll just have to wait till I finish the roll this weekend before you see the pictures.
The Report:
Terry and I met up early this evening at La Jolla Shores to enjoy a dusk dive with our friends. We arrived early to find parking, which we did. They arrived late, and didnt, at least not close. It must be true, the early bird not only catches the worm, he can park and wait the sucker out, but such is the life of earth and sea dwellers. By the time Steve, Sean and Roy arrived we were all ready for the dive. We suited up quickly and walked the short distance to the water.
There were no waves to speak of, so we didnt. We made quick work of the ocean between the sand and the buoy, before dropping down through an eerie green murk towards the bottom. The only way we knew we hit bottom was due to our feet stopping, as our bodies continued down, compressing our suits and everything within. Visibility was approximately 5-8 horizontally, with a little more vertically. It was an abrupt 5-8 though, with no margin of error.
We started out by heading west towards the canyon. We stopped for a minute or so, while we checked out a tiny crab on a small bit of kelp, before heading off again. Terry and Steve took off first, but for some reason headed south, along the rim, rather than west into the canyon. I found out later they saw a Purple Jelly and headed off after it. I didnt see them again until after the dive. Sean, Roy and I waited a few minutes, figuring they would notice they were going south, and rejoin us. When that didnt happen, the three of us headed towards the canyon a short distance away. When we encountered the rim, I started down and within a very short distance sailed through a wall of white murk with less than zero visibility. I was less than a foot off the sand as I sailed down the wall, and could not see it or my hand. It ran north and south for quite a bit, but it was only about 10 deep, so I was soon below it.
Not seeing either Sean or Roy come out of the whiteout, I looked around and finally located them at the edge of my vision directly above me. They had gone straight out passed the canyon rim, rather than down. I tried to signal them with my light, but they were out of sight and invisible in the gloom and darkness before it had time to make an impact. Figuring what goes up, must come down, I headed deeper to head them off at the pass. I continued down to 95 fsw, but did not see them again until after the dive. Hmmm I thought. I started with 4 dive buddies, but here I sat, at 95 fsw, in the murk with no one in sight. I lifted my right arm and sniffed, but it smelled fine. I took my regulator out of my mouth and breathed into my hand, bringing my hand to my nose, but I didnt seem to have bad breath either. I sat there for a few minutes pondering this, then shoved the regulator back in my mouth, purged it, and started back upslope.
I went back through the white curtain and leveled off around 55 fsw, directly in line with our descent, but waited to no avail. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good tank of air, simply because it was murky and dark, and my best dive buddies in the whole world had simply abandoned me to the elements and my own devices, I started to explore. The Sand Dollar beds have spread out quite a bit, coming much closer into shore than before. I also noticed a surprising amount of swimming crabs in a variety of sizes were hanging out with them. Most of the crabs had tucked themselves in tight to the dollars, using them to camouflage their shape. I missed several of them before I noticed that they were in fact, crab and dollar, not two dollars snuggled up close and personal.
I took a few pictures of both, but eventually stopped when I feared having a camera full of nothing more than those two. As I worked my way shallower, thankful that Sand Dollars lie perpendicular to shore, pointing the way home, the waning sunlight illuminated the green waters, turning them a luminescent lime green, which is kind of an interesting color to swim through, and eventually made me hungry. I saw little else, until approximately 15 fsw, when I startled two Bat Rays and a small smattering of Stingrays. I eventually left the water, exiting slightly north of where I planned; due Im sure to my not taking into account the short distance I traveled south before heading shoreward. I wasnt out long before Terry and Steve waded in, followed within a few minutes by Sean and Roy.
We yucked it up for a few minutes, before rinsing off and heading back to our vehicles. Afterwards, Steve took off, Sean and Roy took off across the grass to take advantage of free burgers and sodas, while Terry and I climbed into our trucks and headed out for a burrito fix.
John A.
Dive info:
We dropped down at 6:52PM.
Water temperature stayed in the mid to high 60s.
Visibility hovered between poor to dismal.
Waves were ankle height and lower, with a slight south running current at depth.
Maximum depth was 95 fsw, with an average depth of 45 fsw.
Total bottom time was 37 minutes.
Photos:
I only took 5-6 photos on the sand flats, so youll just have to wait till I finish the roll this weekend before you see the pictures.
The Report:
Terry and I met up early this evening at La Jolla Shores to enjoy a dusk dive with our friends. We arrived early to find parking, which we did. They arrived late, and didnt, at least not close. It must be true, the early bird not only catches the worm, he can park and wait the sucker out, but such is the life of earth and sea dwellers. By the time Steve, Sean and Roy arrived we were all ready for the dive. We suited up quickly and walked the short distance to the water.
There were no waves to speak of, so we didnt. We made quick work of the ocean between the sand and the buoy, before dropping down through an eerie green murk towards the bottom. The only way we knew we hit bottom was due to our feet stopping, as our bodies continued down, compressing our suits and everything within. Visibility was approximately 5-8 horizontally, with a little more vertically. It was an abrupt 5-8 though, with no margin of error.
We started out by heading west towards the canyon. We stopped for a minute or so, while we checked out a tiny crab on a small bit of kelp, before heading off again. Terry and Steve took off first, but for some reason headed south, along the rim, rather than west into the canyon. I found out later they saw a Purple Jelly and headed off after it. I didnt see them again until after the dive. Sean, Roy and I waited a few minutes, figuring they would notice they were going south, and rejoin us. When that didnt happen, the three of us headed towards the canyon a short distance away. When we encountered the rim, I started down and within a very short distance sailed through a wall of white murk with less than zero visibility. I was less than a foot off the sand as I sailed down the wall, and could not see it or my hand. It ran north and south for quite a bit, but it was only about 10 deep, so I was soon below it.
Not seeing either Sean or Roy come out of the whiteout, I looked around and finally located them at the edge of my vision directly above me. They had gone straight out passed the canyon rim, rather than down. I tried to signal them with my light, but they were out of sight and invisible in the gloom and darkness before it had time to make an impact. Figuring what goes up, must come down, I headed deeper to head them off at the pass. I continued down to 95 fsw, but did not see them again until after the dive. Hmmm I thought. I started with 4 dive buddies, but here I sat, at 95 fsw, in the murk with no one in sight. I lifted my right arm and sniffed, but it smelled fine. I took my regulator out of my mouth and breathed into my hand, bringing my hand to my nose, but I didnt seem to have bad breath either. I sat there for a few minutes pondering this, then shoved the regulator back in my mouth, purged it, and started back upslope.
I went back through the white curtain and leveled off around 55 fsw, directly in line with our descent, but waited to no avail. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good tank of air, simply because it was murky and dark, and my best dive buddies in the whole world had simply abandoned me to the elements and my own devices, I started to explore. The Sand Dollar beds have spread out quite a bit, coming much closer into shore than before. I also noticed a surprising amount of swimming crabs in a variety of sizes were hanging out with them. Most of the crabs had tucked themselves in tight to the dollars, using them to camouflage their shape. I missed several of them before I noticed that they were in fact, crab and dollar, not two dollars snuggled up close and personal.
I took a few pictures of both, but eventually stopped when I feared having a camera full of nothing more than those two. As I worked my way shallower, thankful that Sand Dollars lie perpendicular to shore, pointing the way home, the waning sunlight illuminated the green waters, turning them a luminescent lime green, which is kind of an interesting color to swim through, and eventually made me hungry. I saw little else, until approximately 15 fsw, when I startled two Bat Rays and a small smattering of Stingrays. I eventually left the water, exiting slightly north of where I planned; due Im sure to my not taking into account the short distance I traveled south before heading shoreward. I wasnt out long before Terry and Steve waded in, followed within a few minutes by Sean and Roy.
We yucked it up for a few minutes, before rinsing off and heading back to our vehicles. Afterwards, Steve took off, Sean and Roy took off across the grass to take advantage of free burgers and sodas, while Terry and I climbed into our trucks and headed out for a burrito fix.
John A.
