Dive Report: Montage Resort 'Sea Fan Grotto'

5:01 PM - 9/16/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Sunday, 9/9/07 "Tour Le Moss Point via La Woods Cove"

4:59 PM - 9/9/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Catalina Island, September 8th

4:40 PM - 9/8/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Ohhhhhhhhhh What a Night!!! Dive Report: Shaw's Cove

Venue:  Shaw's Cove

Buddies:  David and Jennifer

Surf:  Minimal with an occassional 2-3' and dropping at exit

Swell:  Minimal to Moderate

Surge:  Flyin' Baby!  Whoooooooo Hoooooooooooo! (in some parts)

Viz:  10' in the shallows over the reef and before the Arch; 10-20+ Outer reef and over the sand

Temp:  70' dropping to 61' at depth

Max Depth:   50'

Bottom Time:  73"

Easy in and out.  Lots to see tonight.  Too many Octopi to count; Morays of all sizes; Sheep Crab attempting to dine on a Sea Hare until I rescued it; Hornsmouth Snails; Chestnust Cowries; Hermit Crabs; Kellets Welk; Spanish Shawls; Cleaner Shrimp; another shrimp that appeared to be Tiger like (to be ID'd); Bugs galore; and a very friendly and hungry Harbor Seal that kept brushing up against us using our lights to catch a late night snack including Blacksmith and a good sized Giribaldi...Vicious!  He stayed with us from the outer reef right to our exit point.  Oddly, he wasn't tagged, meaning that the only human contact he has probably had has been with us (diving community).  I believe this is the same Harbor Seal that has joined me on numerous dives at Shaw's.

What an enjoyable dive this evening.  It was nice too that temps have come back up a bit from over the weekend.

Enjoy and dive safe!

Jan

10:15 PM - 9/6/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Diver's Cove, Laguna Beaach California

10:31 PM - 9/2/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Deadman's Reef, North Laguna Beach

Deadman's Reef, North Cresent Bay, North Laguna

Surf:  Mild...easy in, easy out

Swell:  Minimal

Surge:  Moderate in the shallows 20' and shallower

Viz:  10-15+ at depth

Max Depth:  56'

Bottom Time:  55"

Temp:  55 " Suunto

Dropped down early and took my usual 240' heading that put me right on Deadhenge that led the way to Deadman's Reef.  Nice to see quite a bit of life on Deadhenge including a JV Octopi.

Lots and lots of fish out and about.  I spotted something unusual...a Bright Yellow Black Eyed Goby!  Had never seen a yellow goby before.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me on this dive, so no pics.  Another unusual spotting was a tube anenome that was pale white with a bright orange center; also spotted a JV Moray covered in cleaner shrimp.  Abundance of Spanish Shawl's covered the reef along with a solo T. Fungina.

Spotted lots of divers at depth that I recognised:  Bijan, Alberto, Chris R., Marty, Rich, Erica, and Mark along with a few others that I don't know their names.  I followed for a bit, but then decided to explore the 'inner walls' Deadman's which was a wonderful delight.

Made it back to shore without incident.  Exited to excited swimmers that were brimming with all kinds of questions.  One swimmer was a former diver and stated that he was interested in getting re-certified.  Told him about the local shops in the area, Rich's group, as well as South Coast Divers.  WIth that, Rich exited the water...speak of the devil!

Great dive.  No troubles making my way down Coast Hwy.  My car wanted to turn in at Reef Point, for it was FLAT!!!  Tomorrow, perhaps....

If you want to dive, go and check it out for yourself.

Jan

12:31 PM - 9/1/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Serenity Dive

Wednesday, August 29 2007

Shaw's Cove

Surf:  ankle slappers

Swell:  flat

Surge:  very little

Viz:  10-15'  (Clearer within the Arch)

Temp:  55" Suunto

Max Depth:  36'

Bottom Time:  45"

Picked up my reg from the LDS after being serviced and headed for the beach to do some cooling off for a nice long Serenity Dive.  Got all geared up and ready to go when I noticed my reg was still 'free flowing' quite rapidly.  Made several attempts to stop the free flow, but it just wasn't going to stop.  Since I was already in the water, I decided to make a quick, shallow dive.  My short dive was not disappointing.

The Arch appeared doable, even though it was low tide.  I entered into a Serenity Garden of schooling fish and calm waters.  It was so surreal.  I headed west through the Arch, exploring the walls which continue to be covered with Hopkins Rose as well as  T. Fungina's that were in abundance...one measuring at least 3" in length!  Had an enjoyable time exploring the swim through just past the Arch with noticeably large bugs, Black Croakers, and Blacksmith inhabiting the area.  I exited this area and continued towards South Cresent exploring parts of Shaw's that I normally don't see.  I came across a Moon Sponge that was enormous in size, it's length equaled my height!  I definitely need to explore this area more often.

Heading back through the Arch and heading south, I came across the crevice where two known eels are known to live.  However, I only spotted one eel today.  Being near Turn Around Rock, decided to check out the spot where Shelly of Shaw's once stood.  Ironically, all pieces of her are gone, as well as one piece of the platform in which she stood.  If whoever put her there in the first place, I wonder why they haven't removed the remaining three pieces of concrete???  Even the placque was gone.

On my way back in, I explored more of the inner walls of Shaw's, again, having Serenity.  Some day, I would justl ike to hang on a rock for a period of time and just watch the marine life around me and see how they interact.  As I was exploring the walls, I came across an octopus that appeared to be sleeping, for he didn't even flinch or acknowledge that I was even present.  Ahhh...as much as I wanted to stay in this surreal environment, it was time for me to head for shore, for my air was quickly depleting.  Ugh...  I was still able to manage a 45" dive.  Need I say that my Reg will be going back to the shop tomorrow.

Jan

8:59 PM - 8/29/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Thunder Dive...but not Thunder Struck Dive Report

Sunday, August 26th 2007

Diver's Cove, Laguna Beach

Buddies:  Kathi and Steve S.

Surf:  Ankle slappers

Swell:  Glassy with an occassional lull

Surge:  None that I can recall

Viz:  10-15' on outer reef

Temp:  68" declining rapidly at depth to a CHILLY 55" Suunto 

(what happened to our tropical temps from the other day?)

Max Depth:  44'

Bottom Time:  64'

Pulled myself out of bed in the wee hours to make it down to Laguna by 7am to meet up with Kathi and Steve.  Since we have been having Tropiocal Like conditions, decided not to wear my hooded vest and opted for 2mm gloves.  Got geared up and made our way down to the water.  On entering, Oooooooooh...the water seemed a tad colder than Thursday night.  We dropped down in the shallows to a whopping 68 degrees and declining as we took our 240' heading.  At depth, we hit a bone chilling 55 degrees!

Steve took Kathi and I for a nice stroll past the main reef in search of a possible outer reef in which we never did find.  I got us back to the main reef in which we had some fun exploring all of the fissures.  Mild to moderate surge kicked up in the shallower parts of the fissures, but for the most part, they were doable.  Steve spotted a couple of sheep crab doing the 'Tango' where I spotted another with turquoise markings; numerous Giant Bat Rays were out and about hidden in the sand and gliding freely as we crossed paths; also spotted a school of Sargo up above the reef, my first in seeing these fish schooling together.

Due to chilling temps, we headed back at 60' popping up in 4' of water...giving the lifeguard on duty the 'OK' sign.  Exited to the sound of rolling Thunder.  Looking back out to sea, we could see that a storm was brewing with electrifying bolts of lightning and louds claps of thunder overhead.  The clouds looked as if they were forming a 'reverse' funnel up to the heavens above.  Very odd indeed!  Lots of spectators watching, in addition to a multitude of 'student' divers that encompassed Diver's Cove this morning.

Even though it was bone chilling, we had a great dive once again!  Thanks Kathi and Steve!  Followed up my dive with a quick stop at the local Starbucks.

Jan

1:27 PM - 8/26/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Diver's Cove x2, North Laguna Beach

Thursday, August 23rd 2007

Took advantage of having the evening free so headed to Laguna for two dives at Diver's Cove.

Dive #1 ~Solo/ Dive #2  Buddies:  Jennifer, David, and Chris R.

Surf:  Ankle Slappers

Swell:  Flat

Surge:  Minimal to moderate at depth; less in the shallows

Viz:  10-15' in shallows; murky 5-10 at depth with lots of particulate in the water

Temp:  Toasty tropical 72 degrees  throughout both dives

Max Depths:  26'/ 23'

BT:  40"/ 75"

Great to be in the water.  First dive, I opted to dive without hood and gloves.  Oh what a feeling!  Since I was meeting up with buddies for a later dive, I decided to keep this one short.  In the 40" that I was down under, I had the most remarkable dive!  Giant Bat Rays, Horn Sharks, Morays, BIG bugs, and a Leopard Shark swimming freely as I was heading back to shore.  Viz was really nice in the shallows, so had a great time exploring reefs I hadn't seen  before.  Viz decreased as I headed for deeper waters due to moderate surge and particulate being stirred up.

Dive #2  Met up with buddies and explored more of the shallows.  Thinking we were headed for Fisherman's, we realized we were back where we started and noticed that there was a mild to moderate current running.  With that, we decided to head south.  I was hoping to hit at least 30-40' of water, but it seemed like it took us FOREVER to get some depth.  The night dive was pretty uneventful with the exception of spotting TWO GIant Black Sea Hares!!!  Mind you, these guys were bigger than footballs!!!  Oh...another giant...a bug that had to have been 15 pounds was out and about in the eel grass.  He was so big, my little hands couldn't even get around him.  We headed in early from our dive due to my primary light went out and my secondary was on it's way.  To bad too, for my buddy and I had well over 1000psi left in our tanks.  Ugh!

Thanks to Dave, Jennifer, and Chris for diving! 

Jan

7:56 PM - 8/24/2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Cress/ Mountain Street Sunday 8/18/07

Cress Street/ Mountain Ave, South Laguna Beach

***This is one of my favorite dive sites

Sunday, 7:00am

Surf:  1-2' and increasing

Swell:  min/ mod

Surge:  Heavy over the top and backside of second Reef System

Viz:  10-15' with lots of particulate in the water

Temp:  Tropical 72 Degrees

Max Depth:  29'

BT:  75 minutes

This site is usually known to most divers as 'Cress' but because of recent topagraphy changes and what nots, most divers enter off the stairs on Mountain Ave, rather than Cress Street itself.

My friends and I entered the water in front of the lifegaurd station and kicked out to the second reef system in which you can noramlly see the water peaking over the top.  Our mission:  Morays.  Dropped down on the reef and made our way to the side of one of the reef pinnacles.  Kathi and Steve immediately found a couple of large sized Morays, where John found a baby Moray not to far away, then another, and another.  As we moved on, I circled back around for I noticed something swimming freely.  To my suprise, it was a HUGE Moray that was out of his hole, exploring the rocks, then noticing me.  All I could think of was 'please don't bite me!' as he lunged for me.  I reamined calm as the eel felt non threatened, so for a minute or two, we were swimming side by side with each other.  I was then able to get Kathi, Steve, and John's attention, so that they could he him as well.

After our encounter with the Moray's, our buddy teams split up.  John and I went on in search of the 'cave.'  I felt to some degree that we were off the mark, so we circuled back around to the opposite side of where we saw the Morays.  On the way, John spotted a couple of Two Spot Octopi that were quite entertaining in that they kept changing colors in front of us as they were crawling over the reef.  I spotted a couple of Spanish Shawls in addition to all  the usual suspects.  Finally, we stumbled upon the cave.  It was quite surgey, but we still went in.  Bugs everywhere!  Small and large, including a grand-daddy!!!  The surge got the best of us, for all of a sudden Swoosh!  John got flused out.  He held on at the exit to wait for me.  I was determined to explore all the nooks and crannies.  I was able to exit the cave on the backside without incident.

John and I continued our dive, crossing paths with Kathi and Steve.  Lots of fish out over the reef including schools of Senorita Fish; Opal Eye; Blacksmith; Kelp Fish; Calico Bass; and Rock Fish.

Exited in 5' of water without incident with noticeable swell and surf picking up.

Jan

6:40 PM - 8/19/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

My adventures on the Oil Rigs, Southern California

Sunday, August 12 2007

Eureka/ Elle

Surf:  0'

Swell:  moderate

Surge:  moderate

Current:  Minimal to moderate @ 40-50'

Viz:  80+ at depth; 40+ in shallower depths/  40-50' at depth, a tad murkier

Max Depth:  103'/  100'

Temp:  Toasty 63 Degrees Suunto

Gadzooks!!!  THOUSANDS....I mean THOUSANDS of bait fish under the rigs.  Zipping and zooming; up and down; all around.  What a sureal feeling!  Totally AWESOME man!  You had to be there.  Viz opened up nicely at 103' where you could see all of the structure of the rig on the Eureka, a tad less on the Elle.

Beautiful sea anemone's; GIANT Sheephead; rockfish; Painted Greenlings; one lonely Sarcastic Fringehead; Cleaner Shrimp; Yummy Scallops, muscles, gooseneck barnacles; Metridiums (sadly, not plentiful as in the past); and some new that I haven't seen before...a bushy looking critter that has long little stems or stalks that look as if they have a little anemone flower at the end.  I spotted white as well as a pale purple variety of these.  Anyone know the name???  Very pretty and delicate.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of my two dives, for I put my camera together at 5am.  Still be somewhat asleep, I put my batteries in backwards!!!  Doh!  Slapping myself silly!

Jan

7:58 PM - 8/12/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Point Lobos, Montery/ Carmel California

Saturday, August 4th

Point Lobos, Monterey/ Carmel California

Dive #1  Granite Wall/ Pinnacles

  62' 44"  54 Degrees Suunto ~Viz 30-40' at depth

Dive #2  Whaler's Cove

  15' 13"  54 Suunto  ~Viz 10' to 0'

Dive #3  Middle Reef

  72' 51"  50 Degrees Suunto

Buddies:  John and my son, Nathaniel

Made the long drive up to Monterey for the weekend to dive Point Lobos.  Dives #1 and #3 were spectacular with lots of life along the jetting walls and pinnacles including Anemones and Rockfish on steroids!    Several species of Nudi's were evidient, also on steroids.  Did I mention that they were HUGE?  One egg ring was bigger than my hand, I have never seen such a sight!  Several large Lingcod's, decorator crabs, bugs, and the usual sealife was spotted.  I also saw something I had never seen before, it looked like some type of sea cucumber, but will have to post a pic for proper ID.

On return of our first dive, a few divers told me of a Monkey Face Eel at the end of the boat ramp.  So with alot of enthusiasm, I decided to use up the remaining air that I had to take photos, since I had never heard of, nor seen a Monkey Face Eel before.  I found him right away, in which I snapped several photos.  I made attempts to get him to come out of his hole, but he only came out briefly, then backed back in to his comfort zone.

Temperatures at Point Lobos were mainly in the 50-52 degree zone.  I was fine the first and second dive, but after the third dive, my toes were numb!  I might add that I was wearing new booties too!  Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........

Sunday, August 5th

North Monestary Beach, Monterey/ Carmel

This beach faces an old Monestary up on the hill.  How this beach got it's name, according to local dive shops and divers, is that you litterally have to crawl on your hands and knees in from of the Monestary to get out of the surf.  The name holds true...read on.

Conditions looked pretty good, so John and I got geared up.  The shore has a short shore break, and gets pretty tricky with low tide in that the beach sits almost at a 45' angle to the water.  One minute you're in two feet of water, next you're in 10' +.  John decided to enter with his fins on, whereas I decided to wade out to get past the surf zone before doning my fins.  John got immediately swept away, but was able to get past the surf zone without much of an incident.  I patiently waited for a lull then went in.  I was able to get past the surf zone, but the swells somehow seemed to be growing as we were kicking out.  They kept coming and coming.  We were discussing whether to call the dive or not.  Rather than going to the canyon, we decided to drop down and explore under the kelp canopy.  Viz over the sand was an easy 30-40', but once near the kelp canopy, viz deteriated immensely with massive surge...to the point I felt nausiated.  We decided to surface, and called the dive and more and more swells were coming in.  As were were making our way back to shore, other divers were on the beach, watching.  I calmly watched the swells with reg in hand, and watched the bottom to see how close I was in touching.  Once I was able to touch, I put my reg in, and dropped down low to....crawl out due the shore break.  John crawled out as well with out incident.  I on the otherhand, had some difficulty, for the sand was so loose, that my hands got burried as I was supporting myself on my hands and knees.  John and the other divers assisted me to stand up.  Whew!  What an ordeal!  But all in all, good practice.

Needless to say, the other divers decided to call the dive as well after seeing our exit and the mounting swells.

I hope to have photos posted soon.

Jan

10:01 PM - 8/5/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Dive Report: Shark Reef aka Heisler Park

7:47 AM - 7/31/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

7/28 Dive Report: Heisler Park, Laguna Beach, California

Introduced my friend, a new diver, to South Coast Divers
(http://www.southcoastdivers.com)  After introductions were made, and
the shifting of gear, it was decided to dive Heisler Park this morning. 
  
  Conditions were calm, perfect for a new diver.  As Rich and the gang
got geared up and made their way to the beach, my friend and I took our
time getting ready.  My friend had a new wetsuit which was a struggle
to get on, due to it already being warm.  I told her to take her time,
drink water, and spritz herself with baby shampoo to make her suit go
on a little easier.  Once we were geared up, we were ready to go!
  Ironically, my friend stated that probably the other divers (Rich and the
gang) would be coming out as we were going in.  We actually bumped into
them at the surface as we were making our way out!
  
  My friend was worried that she wasn't going to be weighted enough to
drop down, so we decided to drop down eary.  I assured her, that I
thought that she would be fine.  Bam!  She dropped without any trouble.
  Once down and bouyancy established, we made our way to the middle reef at
Heisler.  Viz was not that good, but good enough!  We felt like we
were in the main aquarium.  HUGE fish everywhere:  Kelp Bass, Calico Bass,
White Sea Bass, Topsmelt, Senorita's, Jack Mackeral, and GIANT Bat
Rays!!!.....Then, diving over the reef, something drew me into a crevice
that caused me to jump back.....the BIGGEST Horn Shark that I have seen
to date!!!  His head had to have been about 18" in width.  We saw the
usual critters, but everything was pretty *new* to my friend, so it was
fun showing her such things as Sea Cucumbers, Kellet's Welk, Kelp
Snails, Girabaldi nests, and Scallops...scallops were everywhere, I was
salivating!
  
  After 45 minutes, we returned to shore, popped up in the wrong cove
(Diver's), gave the *OK* sign to the Lifegaurd and did our surface swim
back over to Heisler.  Exited without incident.  Praised my friend for
a job well done.  I also told her that I thought she could easily drop
about 4 pounds of weight which she was glad to hear.
  
  Topped the day off by spending the rest of the day and night at the
OC Fair.  Spent quite a bit of time chatting with a gentleman from DFG.
  
  I'll be repeating the same schedule tomorrow and attending the fair
again, for I won concert tickets from KLOS!!!
  
  I plan on taking my camera tomorrow, so hopefully that Horn Shark
will be in the same place so that I can get some good pics of him.
  
  Jan

9:27 PM - 7/28/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

DIve Report: Shaw's Cove...is it my Imagination?

Or is the bottom of the 'Arch' getting deeper?  Being scooped out by ever changing currents, tides, and other forces of naturre???

Sunday Afternoon:  Shaw's Cove

Surf:  2-4' with occassional lulls

Swell:  mild to moderate

surge:  Initially heavy in the arch; mild at end of dive (high tide)

Viz:  10-15' on west side of reef

Temp:  70 degrees Suunto  Yep, you're reading correctly

Max Depth:  42'

Purpose:  Search and Recover

After being called in to work today, decided to head for the beach for a 'search and recover' dive in hopes to reclaim my mask I lost on the 4th; and a friend's equipment which was lost on Friday evening (mask and fins).  Today's dive was one of my BEST dives ever at Shaws!  FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

News was good that beaches were 're-opened' to divers!  Got geared up, made my way to the sand, discussed my dive plan and experience level with local lifeguard, after giving me the thumbs up, I made my way to the water's edge.  Surf was still an occassional 2-4' with some lulls in between.  Made it out without incident.  At first, I snorkeled around on the surface to survey the conditions.  CLEAR!  However, a bit choppy at the surface.  I dropped down over sand and headed east in hopes of exploring the east side of Shaw's (known area for lost gear to end up).  However, as I got further east, viz deteriated immensely almost to a white out condition.  I changed my pattern and headed back west across the sand.  On my way i noticed a large smooth surface emitting from the sand.  At first I thought it was a rock, as I got closer, it scooted off.  It was a VERY LARGE Thornback Ray!!!  I came across other sand dwellers as well that included Halibut, C-O Soles, and a GIGANTIC Bat Ray!!!  His wing span had to be 4-5' across.  Very, very, COOL!

Finally made it to the west side reef.  Entered the Arch way where I noticed it to be alot deeper than normal.  Surge was kicking up quite a bit but I wasn't disappointed by my visit.  Too bad it wasn't Lobster season, for I could have easily have nabbed 3 five pounders!  In addition to all the bugs, there were plenty of Black Croakers, Blacksmith, Giribaldi's, and an everlasting prescense of Hopin's Rose, big ones too!  The surge was too strong for me to go all the way through the arch to the other side or through the passage way under the rock, so I turned around.  No effort was needed, for the surge Flushed me out like a man in a cannon!  What a wild ride!!!  TOO FUN!!!  As I turned to head south on the reef, a cuuuuuuuute baby Harbor Seal joined me for the rest of my dive!!!  OMG, I LOVE Harbor Seals!  They are my favorite.  Just gotta love those cute little faces!  Bug moltings were everywhere, as were fish of all breeds.  A very large school of Jack Mackerals schooled about me for a bit.  That has to be one of the most surreal feelings.  The two Moray's were back in their usual spot.  I noticed too, that perhaps 'they' cleaned ou the crevice that they live in, for last time I dove here, their crevice was filled with muscle shells and derbis from the relatively high surf we had a few weeks ago.

 At Turn-Around rock, I remember someone saying that the 'Shelly of Shaw's' statue was near by (Peter, I think).  So I went just a tad east and found her.  Very cool!!!  Having just visited the Getty Museum for the first time yesterday and seeing all the statues, I was in awe of her to say the least.  Viz on the outer reef was declining a bit, plus I told the Lifeguard that I would only be down for an hour or so, I decided to head back.

On my way back, tide was coming in making the Arch very calm and relaxed.  Decided to explore somemore.  More Hopkin's Rose and T. Fungina on the North wall, along with many white sea anenomes.  That is when I noticed how deep the area just under the arch appeared.  I was able to go up the other side and explore in which more bug moltings were seen and another 5 pounder within reach.  Darn it!  They just love to Tease!!!

 Headed back to shore, popped up in 4' of water and walked out without incident.  Sad to say, I did not find my mask, nor my friends.  Just a reminder,  my mask is black with split frame with RED broken snorkel.  My friend lost her black Oceanic Black mask, full frame, and Oceanic M_L Black fins, scruffed up. 

Jan

7:37 PM - 7/8/2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Dive Report: Leo Carillo State Beach, Southern California

7:46 PM - 7/1/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Seal Rock, North Cresent Bay, Laguna Beach

John buzzed over last night after DMing the Great Escape to Santa Barbara Island to meet up with Steve and Jennifer this morning to dive North Cresent.  After gearing up, we headed out and it was decided to dive 'Seal Rock' since conditions were so calm.

Surf:  0

Swell:  0

Surge:  none to minimal at 'The Rock'

Viz:  10-15+

Temp:  BALMY!!!   66-68 degrees AT DEPTH

Max Depth 40'

Bottom Time:  82"

This site always amazes me when the conditions are just right.  Lots of overhangs, swim throughs, mini caves, and crevices to be explored.  Marine life spotted:  two morays sharing a hole inside a small cave; a large single Horn Shark; dozens of sheep crabs scampering about the reef, one with big BLUE claws! More Morays, one Moray sharing a hole face to face with a Horn Shark (missed photo op again!); Giribaldi's guarding their nests; some JV Giribaldi's; tons and tons of fish; schools of Blacksmith, Opal Eye, Surf Perch, and Calico Sea Bass.  I headed towards a rock, then the rock moved seeing it was a GIANT Bull Sea Lion, I quickly dropped down to avoid a confrontation.  He was one of the largest Sea Lions that I have seen out at Seal Rock.

John and I turned around together, due to that he was low on air.  As we turned around, we were surrounded by a giant school of Topsmelt.  Very cool, almost surreal feeling.  Found a couple more Moray's on our way in, a large Halibut scuttled out from underneath us, and we spotted a small sea mount covered in Spanish Shawl's and some that were laying eggs!

82 minutes later, we walked out of the water, sweating...ripping our gloves and hood off in attempts to cool off.  Sure beats the 48-52 degree water we had last weekend in La Bufadora!

Jan

2:44 PM - 6/24/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Night Dive 'Woods Cove' 6-21-07 South Laguna Beach

Buddies:  Jennifer and David

Surf:  0-1'

Swell: Zero to minimal

Surge:  mild to moderate over the reef

Viz:  10-15'

Temp:  Tropical 58'

Bottom Time:  60"

Max Depth:  Around 30' or so

Entered Wood's Cove in South Laguna without incident.  Kicked out a short distance before dropping down.  We decided to do a 180` out to the large reef and overhang.  Upon dropping down, I immediately spotted a 'Baby' Moray!  Soooooooooooo cute!!!  Then on the backside of the same rock, I spotted another JV Moray a tad bigger.  Continuing on the reef, a fairly large Horn Shark was spotted along with numerous bugs, two abalone side by side munching on kelp, purple globe crabs, elbow crabls, sea pansy's, Treefish, Scorpion Fish, Kelp Fish, Black Smith, Senioritas, Black Eyed Gobys, Musclues, Kellets Welk, and Scallops in which I devoured one for an appetizer as I was diving!  Yummy!!!  If only I had soy sauce and wasabe, I would be all set.

Exited without incident to a beautiful starlit sky.  Perfect conditions.  Can't wait to go back!

Jan

10:57 PM - 6/21/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

La Bufadora Pics

If anyone is interested in viewing my La Bufadora Pics in which I have photographed over 10 species of Nudibranchs, please visit http://www.webshots.com/user/Artitstic_Treasures  Click on La Bufadora Album

Free free to post comments.

Thanks!

Jan

10:56 PM - 6/21/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

***LA BUFADORA, BAJA, MEXICO*** June 2007

8:25 PM - 6/19/2007 - comments {1} - post comment