Date: 10/23/09
Dive Location: Vets (Daytime)
Buddy(ies): Angelique
Time: 9:38 am.
Bottom Time: 54 min
Max Depth: 97 fsw
Vis: 30+
Wave height: 2- 3 feet
Temp at depth: 54F
Surface Temp: 60F

With the current swell conditions, we were forced to do a Vets Daytime dive. The cove at OML was iffy at best and the waves crashing off the point at Cardiac were the biggest I have ever seen. So, we worked our way back down to Vets to find medium to small rollers with glassy surface conditions. Basically, it was very doable.

We quickly suited up and made our way through the small swell. As I was kicking out I looked down and saw the bottom at 15, 20 and 30 feet. This was crazy! I have not seen this before. I thought the vis would be spotty at best but what we experienced was nothing I could have imagined. Once we dropped, we were surrounded by a school of fish swirling around us and above us. I think that they were Topsmelt but I could be wrong. Just being able to see the contour of the slope and the surface at the same time was pretty cool.

As we worked our way out to mid 90 or so, there was not much action for critter hunting so we decided to work our way back up to the salad bowl to see what we could find. Once again, it is so cool to see the slope in such clear water that I felt like I could stay there forever. We did run across a few large sized Yellow Crabs and a few Sheephead Crabs. The highlight of the dive was coming across two baby Hoen Sharks.

The surge in the shallows was not bad at all and exiting was a bit of a challenge based on the soft sand, decent sized waves and contour of the break zone. Overall, we had a great dive!

Below are some highlights from the dive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWHf9TiAi3U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzE18gCnYBY