Early morning “night” dive
Veteran’s Park
Redondo Beach, CA

Dove with Instructor John and another student Ron T. as part of an Advanced diving class.

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 100 psi
Max depth: 70 feet
Waves: 1-3 feet
Visibility: 15 feet plus
Water Temperature: Cold at 70 feet
Total Bottom Time: 35 minutes

We met at 5 AM to do a night dive.

We entered about 6 AM off of a spot closer to the pier than I normally go; about 100 yards closer to the pier.

We found a glow stick floating around; luckily there was no diver attached to it.

We descended to 50 feet (it was suppose to be only 30!) and went South along the trench.

We accidentally hit 70 feet at least once.

I saw the usual assortment of trash and an octopus in a bottle.

We traveled well past the stairs, so when Ron hit 1500 psi we turned back.

They followed me since I “know every piece of trash down there.”

We went back up to 30 feet, but I couldn’t find the bucket of cement – the marker for the stairs; had I gone a little further we would have hit it.

By the time we got out it was sunrise.

We ran into a large school of mackerel on exit.

Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes Estates, CA

Early morning dive with Nick looking for lobsters

In With: 2900 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 20 feet
Waves: 1-2 feet but pretty calm
Visibility: 10 feet
Water Temperature: Warm
Total Bottom Time: 70 minutes

We met at Malaga Cove at 4:50 AM.

Other divers were already there, parked on the street as there is no parking between 9 PM and 5 AM.

We suited up and entered the water just under the pool.

It was very shallow and silty towards shore, but the visibility got to 10 feet further out.

It was dark; we obviously had flashlights.

We spent the better part of an hour chasing lobsters.

At night they literally walk around trying to find food.

We swam up on many and caught several – all too short.

Nick at one point said, “If I run out of air, I’m going to start free diving for lobsters.”

We came across several lobster holes, but it was getting light and they were literally wedged in there.

Nick caught a few and even put one in his bag, until we brought it to the surface and figured that it was short.

It was getting pretty light when exited; easy exit.

Apparently, real lobster hunters consider Malaga Cove the “lobster nursery.”