Posted by Chris on June 17, 2005 at 11:11:48:
In Reply to: The Matterhorn?! posted by Dave on June 17, 2005 at 10:49:14:
I have done two dives on the Matterhorn, and four at Osbourne Bank.
The Matterhorn has a small area about the size of s small coffee table at 135 feet. From there is a ridge that goes across it at 165 feet. Below that at about 230 ft. is the meadow, a huge area of anemones that looks like a field of flowers. All around the sides it drops off very steeply. I have only been to the ridge since below there is trimix territory.
Osbourne Bank has the biggest purple coral heads I have ever seen. Farnsworth pales be comparison. At Osbourne there are valleys that cut through the bank. The sides of these cuts are where the large purple coral heads are. Most of this area is in the 140 to 170 ft. depth range. There is supposedly a high spot of about 90 feet, but I have never seen it. The shallowest I have seen is 130 ft.
Both of these dives are worth doing, and going back to the Matterhorn might even motivate me to get trimix certified. It was one of the coolest dives in Sothern California I have done.
However Tanner Bank is my favorite spot. Tanner is covered with very large coral heads in variety of colors and is absolutely teaming with life.
One time I did a deco dive there and had to do about a 20 minute hang before surfacing. The visability that day had to be greater than 150 feet. While doing my hang a school of about 30 lb. Yellowtail swam by, then a very large school of skipjack tuna, then a school of very large (~10-12 lb.) bonita. Finnaly as I hung there I was completely enveloped by a school of football size bluefin tuna. This school surrounded me in every direction as far as I could see.
Chris