Posted by RogerC on March 04, 2003 at 23:01:58:
In Reply to: Barge off Redondo posted by Tyler on March 04, 2003 at 18:24:48:
the barge is worth doing, but not my favorite spot off of king harbor. When I last did it, about a year ago, it was still very intact. It's upside-down. The sloping bow and stern, and bottom (which is facing up) are covered in gorgonia. Not many fish there typically, some sandbass, maybe some small calico. I think the redondo fishing boats hit it pretty hard, and it isn't really great structure for fish. There are a few holes in the sides, you can pretty easily swim in. The barge has floatation compartments, so when you go in, you're in a very clean, empty room, 20x20x10. You can easily look in the 1 or 2 chambers you can get into, and see that it's not worth bothering going in. I haven't done it in a year or so (no boat anymore) so it may have opened up more.
It's near the canyon. It's cold, often clear, and often has pretty good surge. From the surge, there is a huge hollow underneath the barge. You'll often find bugs under there, but they can retreat deeply. If you dive it, you have one chance at each bug. One swim around the barge, and you're done, any bugs you missed aren't coming back out. You're lucky to get 1 or 2. That's my experience, anyway.
below is a link to the dfg's old maps. They are off on the location, but the map is pretty accurate on the layout of the barge and surrounding rockpiles. Some of those are easy to find and worth a stop if you're on the barge anyway.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/artificialreefs/
Like I said, it's worth doing, it's in my rotation, especially considering how close to the harbor it is, but PV is better for bugs and fish, and the avalon or palawan are more interesting wrecks.