Posted by Chris on June 19, 2000 at 11:15:38:
BBS editor Curt and I went diving yesterday (Sun, Jun 18, 2000) off his zodiac. It was an incredibly nice day. I had perhaps the most pleasant day of diving from a small boat I have ever had.
We launched at the King Harbor lifts about 11AM and headed for PV. Conditions were calm with about a one to knot wind from the Southwest. There was no perceptible swell, only some very small wind waves.
Our first dive was at flat rock. http://www.mapquest.com/cgi-bin/ia_find?uid=uoka0cm6ve34rahe%3Ab0lf8w902&link=btwn%2Ftwn-map_results&SNVData=3mad3-h.fy%2528abahy7_%2529u2gq6yl%252495-g67%253bvj%257c0u6%2Cbb6%257c_%253dHvcx5%252bBjn5me%252bSf77mme%253aX%2513%253d%253a%2510F%253dabgu68_%2529u2glr1l%253d0%2Chtb5m%2528kqitol%253bx2%257cekts%252beomm%252b%25232%253bkj%257cv4gs%253bwh%257c2%2524jdvnd%257cQ22qf%252bTs8idg&mouse_mode=move_icon&map.x=294&map.y=306
It was calm with the sun breaking through the clouds. It was warm, bot not hot. We could not ask for better conditions.
In the water, depth about 30 feet was a lush kelp bed, with rock ridges, rock piles, and some sand. At 30-ft., there was about 40-ft. visibility, with water temperature of 61 °F. This was a beautiful dive, in a lush reef. I saw many different nudibranchs, octopus, lobster, scallops, lush kelp, halibut (under size), and many small fish. This reef is far more lush than any shallow reef I have dove at Catalina.
Our second dive was in 50-ft. of water off of Rocky Point. Again still dead calm.
The kelp here is very thick this year. It forms a thick mat that makes it quite dark below.
The visibility here was much less than at flat rock, about 20-ft. The temperature at depth was warmer 63 °F. I saw hundreds of kelp and sand bass, with many in the 2 to 4 lb. range. Less invertebrate life here than in flat rock, but many large fish! There were schools of jack smelt near the surface, at the edge of the kelp mat.