Wreckreational Diving

7/29/2006 - It Was The Best Of Dives. It Was The Worst Of Dives

Date: July 29, 2006
Dive Location: Marineland
Buddy(ies): Jeff Shaw
Time: 7:20 and 10:33
Bottom Time: 1:05 and :47
Max Depth: 57' and 38'
Vis: 30' at the Point, 0-3' elsewhere
Wave height: 0-3'
Temp at depth: 61F and 63F
Surface Temp: 69F
Comments: I arrived at 5:45 am in time to empty the trash cans just as Jeff drove up. We walked around the lot for awhile, then suited up so we could be the first ones in the pool today. We entered at the Point where we found fairly flat surf and blue water!!! Vis at the Point was at least thirty feet. We played with a few octopus, snapped pictures of fish and nudibranchs before making our way toward the cove. Along the way I finally got to show Jeff the ladder. It isn't much to see, but it was the first time he'd seen it. The surge began picking up and the vis dropped quickly. We decided to make a surface swim. After a two hour+ surface interval we headed back in to dive the next cove. We found heavy surge, low vis and a two foot Horn shark. We fought the surge for a few minutes, then headed out to the end of the 120 Reef before heading back in. With the great vis on the first dive still in our minds we filled our tanks so we can try it again in the morning, this time with Mrs. Shaw in tow.

Island Kelpfish