3/5/2006 - Fun Day At Marineland

Date: March 5, 2006
Dive Location: Marineland
Buddy(ies): Solo
Time: 9:11 and 9:54
Bottom Time: :43 and 1:03
Max Depth: 43' and 67'
Vis: 12' and 15'
Wave height: 1-2'
Temp at depth: 53F
Comments: Yesterday was not a great day for diving Marineland. The waves were up and the water was muddy. It was much nicer today. We had a crowd of the usual suspects show up for Sunday Service. It seems that when there's food and beverages involved, the crowds get bigger. The waves at the point were not big, but just enough to make everyone enter at the cove. I walked in and made the long surface swim to the point. I saw the usual assortment of nudibranchs, octopus and lobsters, then decided to head out over the sand in search of Mantis shrimp. I didn't find any, but Claudette and Frank hit the Mantis jackpot. I can't wait to see Frank's pictures.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=1635022#post1635022

I swam along the sandy bottom until I was low on air. Thinking I hadn't reached the cobble beach yet, I expected to look Northeast and see the cove. Instead, I saw Portugese Point. I had another long surface swim back to Marineland.
For my second dive I entered from the point, where the waves had calmed down to less than a foot. I found a MacFarland's chromodorid just after my batteries died, but I did manage to get in a few pictures today.