Dive 63 - Eagle Reef - Catalina Island, CA

This was maybe the best dive site we've seen in California.  The crew seemed to be very excited for us, about 5 minutes into the dive we realized why.

There were several options for this dive, we could follow Eagle Reef and stay with the East/West reef structure.  Head towards a red buoy that actually was shallow enough to stand up in, but between the boat and the buoy there were a series of pinnacles.  The last option was to head towards the front of the boat and go down deep.

We opted to look for pinnacles.

The dive was a decent way off shore, which I think gives it some protection from humans allowing this marine habitat to flourish.  This also gave the site some exclusivity, as conditions need to be very calm to dive here.  Luckily for us conditions were as calm as they get.

We found pinnacle after pinnacle.  Enjoying, 2 Octopi, curious and bold fish, tons of lobsters, anemones, urchin and some of the most amazing rock/reef structures.  The highlight of the dive was finding a vivid bright pink coral.  It looked like a tree and was about 2 feet in every direction.  When you shined your light on it, the color was truly a shade of pink we cannot reproduce.  Simply amazing.

I can't wait to go back to Eagle Reef.  It's just a reminder of how little we have dove California and how much more there is to explore.  Those divers that live out here but stick to the Caribbean are really missing out on something special.

·      Time In:                                   02:55

·      Bottom Time:                           00:35

·      Depth:                                     45ft

·      Buddy:                                    Jenni Wilson-Cooper

·      Visibility:                                 10-15 ft

·      Temperature:                           59º

Dive 62 - Indian Rock - Catalina Island, CA

We were a little sad when we heard they were staying at Indian Rock for dive 2, but hey, it happens.  Oh wow, we were so glad they stayed.  With our first dive experience we approached this dive totally different.  I left my camcorder on the boat, and we embraced the kelp.  We clawed our way through the thick kelp until we got to the rock and began exploring every tiny pocket we could find.

There were times we had to approach from over head because of the kelp but we found some great little creatures.

To add to the madness, as we got to the rock the surge kicked up.  At one point when looking at some shrimp, the surge pushed me into a crevice where I disturbed a Moray Eel.   I started to check him out and quickly realized he was ready to attack me, as he thought I was a threat.  I felt like explaining to him that I was a vegetarian, but I'm not sure if that would have helped.  I've heard enough stories of fingers lost to those strong jawed creatures.

LEARN: did you know that Eels have 2 sets of jaws.  When they bite down, basically another set of jaws comes out of their throat and bites down again.  CRAZY!

Shortly after that, we came to the highlight of the day.  2 Octopi hanging out together.  They were shy, but not totally reclusive.  One of them even sucked on Jenni's bare hand!

LEARN: When you're diving with an Octopus, if you want to touch it you must take off your gloves.  The texture of gloves can rub off some of their natural coating leaving the Octopi more prone to infection.

This was a magical dive!

·      Time In:                                   12:58

·      Bottom Time:                            00:35

·      Depth:                                      33ft

·      Buddy:                                     Jenni Wilson-Cooper

·      Visibility:                                  10-15 ft

·      Temperature:                            59º

Dive 61 - Indian Rock - Catalina Island, CA

After going diving the day before and seeing great conditions in Laguna Beach, we had to find a boat to Catalina.  We would have loved to go over on the Catalina Flyer, but it's still out of commission until March.

This was our first dive with Eco Dive Center and the Sand Dollar boat.  Very good experience.  $125 per person for 3 dives at Catalina with a TON of food.

This was also our first dive at Indian Rock.  We were really excited and quickly got in the water to what looked amazing Kelp forests and 2 great Rocks to dive around.  Well... both were true.  However, we did not realize just how thick the kelp forests were.

I've just never been in kelp that thick.  It was continually grabbing our gear and wrapping around our limbs.  Amazing to swim through, but not recommended for beginners or the faint of heart.  We almost could not get to Indian Rock because the kelp was so thick.  We wound up not seeing much and it was a somewhat frustrating dive, because it was such good conditions and not an equally good dive.

There was one highlight in this dive.  Jenni spotted a small Horn Shark sleeping in some rocks.   Very cool.

Here's a little video I shot on the dive.

·      Time In:                                   10:58

·      Bottom Time:                            00:48

·      Depth:                                      27ft

·      Buddy:                                     Jenni Wilson-Cooper

·      Visibility:                                  10-15 ft

·      Temperature:                            59º

Dive 60 - The Montage - Laguna Beach, CA

This was our 2nd and last dive of the day on the boat.  It had high expectations from the quality of the last dive and unfortunately was no where near as good.

Slightly less visiblity, slightly colder, more surge and less to see.  I can't even really remember anything note worth about this dive.  

·      Time In:                                   01:55

·      Bottom Time:                           00:35

·      Depth:                                      45ft

·      Buddy:                                     Mike Kelly

·      Visibility:                                  5-10 ft

·      Temperature:                            57º

Dive 59 - Dead Mans Cove - Laguna Beach, CA

This was my first dive without Jenni.  It was weird.  It was still fun, but not quite the same without her.  It's kind of like playing with a friends dog, it's still fun, you're still playing with a dog; but it's not as great as playing with your own dog.  Not that Jenni is a dog... she's more of an octopus...

Anyhow.

Fun dive.  Mike invited me out on the Riviera he showed up hung over, possibly still drunk; not sure.  But it's always fun to dive with Mike.  I felt a little bad, because in talking to other people on the boat I realized everyone else was pretty lacking in experience.  It's not a good sign when I'm the 'experienced' diver in a group.  So Mike wound up leading the dive, I buddied up with a guy named Adam and we also had a couple and a pair of lesbians from a clown school join us (yep, that's the truth).

All in all it was the best conditions I've seen to date in Laguna Beach.  We dove dead mans reef.  Good vis and we got to see 2 awesome things.  We saw a mother Octopus protecting her babies, so she wouldn't come out and play.  I did learn that mother octopi will actually eat there own arms before they leave their crevice when they are protecting their young.  That was great.  But my favorite part of the dive was seeing a Sea Hare that was probably 18 inches long and 12 inches tall/wide.  To give you an idea, most Sea Hares are about the size of your hand, this one was the size of a 20lb dog.  It basically looked like a GIANT slug.  So cool.

This was easly the best dive I've ever had off the Riviera.

·      Time In:                                   11:58

·      Bottom Time:                           00:35

·      Depth:                                      35ft

·      Buddy:                                     Mike Kelly

·      Visibility:                                  10-15 ft

·      Temperature:                            59º