Logged SCUBA Dive #321

Secret Location: 54 68 65 20 6f 6c 64 2c 20 6f 72 69 67 69 6e 61 6c 20 66 61 72 6d 20 74 68 61 74 20 6f 6e 6c 79 20 67 72 6f 77 73 20 70 69 70 65 73 2e, Redondo Beach

Solo Diving/SoCal Buddy Diving

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 400 psi
Max depth: 80 feet
Waves: Mild chop with a steady current going North
Visibility: 15+ feet!
Temperature: 56 degrees at depth
Total Bottom Time: About 22 minutes

Seven divers boarded the Island Diver hoping for the best in this year’s lobster season; the eighth spot was not sold.

The Captain discussed with Bob the crappy lobster locations and the really crappy lobster locations.

It was decided that we should go deep.

After a twenty minute ride from King Harbor, we arrived at our secret spot; I was the first one over and the second to reach the ocean floor at 80 feet.

I went South West and ran across an interesting man-made reef structure, I saw one small lobster hiding in it.

I combed the sand and gravel and caught a few shorts.

I think I might have been a little narced as it was a little hard to navigate; I had “brain farts” whenever I looked at my compass and tried to remember which direction the boat was in.

Heading back, I came across my usual “500 pound bug” – so called because I always see a lobster when I’m low on air.

Get it? 500 psi of air?

I pinned it and headed to the surface slowly.

During my safety stop, I measured it and it was short; I released it unharmed.

After a short swim back to the boat, I awaited the results from the other divers…

Bob brought up a nice sized bug that’s two inches over legal.

Dan was extremely lucky on this dive by catching five.

Mirek caught two, the rest got skunked!

Seven divers caught a total of eight lobsters.

Dan said, “All the lobsters are South of here, let’s move the boat closer.”

Move the boat closer?

That’s a sure sign that the next dive will be even worse!

Logged SCUBA Dive #320

Old Marineland (aka The Terranea Resort or “Long Point”)

Dove with Not So New Chris

In With: 3100 psi
Out With: 700 psi
Max depth: 40 feet
Waves: Pretty flat, but a little surgy in some places
Visibility: 30+ feet!
Temperature: 60 degrees or so
Total Bottom Time: About 55 minutes

After horrible conditions and smoke from the brush fires over the last few weeks, it’s back in the water again at the Old Marineland!

The parking lot was jammed at 8:06 AM, I took the last illegal spot before the divers spilled onto the street.

There were a few diving clubs here, including a group from divebuddy.com; it’s been a long time since I saw this many divers here.

Max Bottomtime reported 6 to 10 feet of vis, but told me, “I never go to 120 reef, that place sucks!”

Chris and I made an easy entry.

Chris takes a picture of me taking a picture of him; Terranea’s Hotel is behind him.

I saw ocean floor from the surface; I thought, “Vis can’t be that bad?”

Vis was great – 30 feet plus!

The thick kelp at 120 reef makes the dive almost as dark as night in some places.

Macro photography was alright with a flash.

Sea life is abundant here!

Not many people know this, but underwater, Chris never takes his camera away from his face.

A fish rests at the ocean floor on his back.

A great tasting scallop!

A star fish hangs on for dear life.

Oooh! Ahh! This dive’s token picture of a Nudibrach!

120 reef has a cool, but small arch.

Chris examines a structure on the reef.

At the edge of the 120 reef, the kelp thinned and the light got better.

Chris chums the water with some sea urchins to attract more fish.

Another view looking up at the kelp roof.

Taking the last picture, I lost Chris; we met at the surface several minutes later.

We passed other divers going out as we were heading in.

Cyber the Attack Dog Dive Mastered our exit.

Cyber is a great DM and only works for beer and hotdogs.

Here I am taking the torturous trail back to the parking lot.

Bratwursts on my outdoor stove while Chris makes chicken on his.

Chris tends the bratwursts and onions that Reverend Al donated, to fill in some empty space on the grill.

Reports from those who dove the Point came back as “spectacular!”

Let the debriefing begin!

The other divers, not used to the debriefing here, were impressed at our setup and even more impressed when we offered them beer and food.

Dive Bum Don gets his outdoor stove lit for some more chicken; debriefing has turned into a cook-off!

Wrinkles finally showed up after a month or so; she didn’t know that the public access had moved to “escorted” trips through the main gate for several weeks.

I left around 1 PM; leaving the remaining die-hards to watch the sun eventually set.