| Limey Diver |
160 Caissons June 23, 2007Had the pleasure of diving the 160 foot Caissons.We had dived these once before (just over a year ago) as our experience dives for tech1. Sadly on those dives we somewhat "wasted" the stellar vis with our nervousness about diving so deep. For this time, surface conditions were pretty rough, but the water looked blue and the dive seemed doable. There are conflicting histories about what the Caissons were and how they got where they are: California Wreck divers has a page about them: http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/Caissons.htm And there is some more information here: http://www.ub88.org/thecaissons.html Regardless, the Caissons are three concrete tubes about 40 feet tall, and 35 feet in diameter. They are upright, and standing next to each other. The third Caisson is quite badly damaged. They are a quick boat ride from shore, and so far I am two for two on awesome bottom conditions. There was quite a surface current running, but by the time we hit 160, it had disappeared (around 30 feet and around 60 feet were noticeable dropoffs in the current). On the bottom, there was basically zero current and 40+ feet of visibility. The drop line was not on the caissons, so we had to tie off and run a line. Caissons 1 and two  We swam down the side of the three caissons, accompanied by plenty of schools of fish  And some larger ones lurking around. I guess these fish dont see too many divers as they are quite happy to pose for some pics!  This one is a Ling Cod ? Or maybe a wrasse of some kind.  Schools of fish in the background   A vermillion fish ?  Finally, we reached the 3rd "broken" Caisson. This one was teeming with fish.    These vermillion fish just like to hang out for photos! I love their vibrant colors.  Toward the end of the dive, we discovered that our old friend the wolf eel was still hanging around! We had seen this eel on our previous dives a year ago.   A view "Up" the Caisson    Finally, right at the end of our bottom time, I added one of my "most want to see" creatures to my list! I looked up and over the Caisson and there right behind us was a huge Mola Mola! What an awesome fish. Just swimming around at 130 feet or so (it followed us up to 60 feet) Unfortunately I didn't really get any video of it (was "busy" with other things) but I do have some blurry stills from when it happened to wander into frame!    
11:41 AM - 6/27/2007 - post comment
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