Posted by DougD on December 09, 2001 at 13:14:35:
If you haven’t been diving this past week you’ve been missing out. The seas have been flat and the visibility has been pretty good.
I did a dive on Thursday with several Sandeaters at Leo Carrillo in Malibu. The vis was 20 to 30 feet out past the kelp. I saw my first octopus and a tree fish. Also, more than half a dozen lobsters all legal or close to it. One lucky diver was able to catch one for his wife’s lunch. Lucky lady. I found a huge scallop just sitting on the bottom and handed it over to another diver that was collecting them, but I left several big ones untouched. I’m getting real good at spotting them. This was my 4th dive at Leo in the last two months and I have enjoyed the improved vis and low surf. During the summer you couldn’t even see your fins.
On Saturday I dove with the South Coast Divers again. I dove with them last week and since the weather was so nice I couldn’t resist heading down there one more time. This week Rich Parker took 16 of us to Cress Street. The tide was low and there was no surf to speak of. We did a loonnnggg surface swim to just inside the third reef that sticks up out of the water, and descended near several lobster traps. Once under we headed out on a 270-degree course along some very nice reefs until we came to a small arch we proceeded to swim through. Right after I exited the swim through I spotted a legal sized lobster peering out of his hole. He backed up as I approached and I think I could have grabbed him except there was a scorpion fish of some kind in there with him and I was afraid to stick my hand in there. Anyway, I didn’t have a game bag with me so…
My next find was an octopus hiding in a hole surrounded by empty shells. I saw his eye peering out at me, but when I flashed him with my Light Cannon he closed it. That’s the first octopus I have found on my own. I haven’t mentioned fish but there were a lot of them, and big. Still learning to identify them, but there were some large Sargo and Barred Sandbass around. We were just about to turn the dive back to the beach when another diver discovered a great swim through I follow him and Rich through. It was about three dive lengths long and two divers wide. There were many large deep purple fish I haven’t been able to ID yet, and hundreds of lobsters of all sizes, from baby to grampa sized. They were in there where the hole narrowed and I was thinking this would be a good place for Chris and his 20ft hose. The diver ahead of me did not have lights and said he didn’t even see the lobsters. Others were behind me so I had to swim out before I could go for a grab. This is another dive I’d like to try at night.
Now it was time to head for shore. Due north. I had about 1400 psi when I started swimming that direction and surface with about 600 or 700 psi in 9 feet of water within 20 yards of the beach. The swim in was through eelgrass and over some very cool rock formations. I nine feet of water I still had 10’ to 12’ of vis. What a great dive!
For anyone wanting more experience beach diving I can’t give any higher recommendation than to join the South Coast Divers on a Saturday in Laguna.