SoCalScubaInfo

Aug 23 – Old Marine Land

antuser — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:30:56 +0000

The surf was down, making for an uneventful entry and exit. Visibility was poor, but there was still a lot of activity on the reef; lots of fish and nudibranchs, a few sun stars and several sea hares. After the sun burned through the marine layer, the colors came to life despite the poor vis.

Aug 20 – Crescent

antuser — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:14:31 +0000

Evening dive. Surge and 1 – 3 ft surf. Good visibility but the temperature dropped to 64 degrees at the end of the reef. Close to shore temperature was 67 degrees.

Aug 15 – Catalina

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:01:37 +0000

Boat dives at Lulu reef and Little Geiger. The visibility at Lulu reef in the morning was a bit better and there was no current. Once we moved to Little Geiger the current picked up and the dive boat had only the bow anchor making it sway all over the place. Visibility dropped dramatically for this last dive. Overall the boat experience was bad and unfortunately this was my last time on that particular boat. I just wish there were more boats out there like the Magician or the Spectre.

Aug 14 – Crescent night dive

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:53:23 +0000

40 minute dive with the max depth of 35ft. The sky was covered in thick clouds thus no moon light was shining. We dropped in about 10ft of water and we encountered a 3ft horn shark and a few feet deeper another smaller one. Lobsters were crawling all over the reef, we probably saw 15-20 of them. A small bat ray was feeding on the bottom and it allowed us to come within couple feet of it to observe it. We encountered a small sheep crab covered on green algae and an octopus out in the open.

Aug 13 Wood’s twilight dive

antuser — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:07:03 +0000

20ft viz at dusk and 10ft+ after dark. Went out to about 40ft but didn’t get out far enough to Miller’s reef. Tide was low but surf was calm as lake. Saw a big morey eel, octopus, and lots of sheephead. Fun to dive in and around the reef in calm water.

H20 Photo Pros Expands to Larger Facility

ant — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:28:33 +0000

From Diverwire.com, written by Scott Jones, August 11, 2009

H2O Photo Pros Underwater Photo & Video, who of the most well-known underwater imaging companies in the country, has just announced it has relocated to a new, larger facility. The new underwater imaging superstore is located in Irvine, California.

The new location is at 17985 Sky Park Circle, Suite B, Irvine, CA 92614 on the corner of Main & Red Hill just a half mile off of the 405 Freeway and across the street from John Wayne International Airport (SNA). The new H2O Photo Pros showroom has products on display from more than 100 manufacturers, Apple Editing systems to demo the latest in computers, software and hardware. Coming soon is a full printing station complete with a calibrated iMac and Epson Professional printer.

Aug 8 Deadman’s

antuser — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:31:01 +0000

1-2ft entry and 2-4ft on exit. Great viz at the thermocline around 35fsw and lots of life. saw a large moray eel hiding and one smaller one actively hunting and moving around the reef. A bit of surge on top of the reef but feel almost 0 surge below 50fsw.

Aug 6 Deadman’s twilight dive

antuser — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:20:38 +0000

Dropped to around 45fsw, viz was good 13ft+. Got to the front side of the reef and experienced very little surge (0-1ft) and still seeing good viz. Moved eastward a little bit and crossed over toward the backside. Viz and temp started to drop and got murkier. Reef was full of life. Saw a school of 15+ calico bass hovered over one side of the ledge, lots of spanish shawls. Not sure what they were doing but they weren’t moving. Got to the other side but temp dropped to 56F @ 62fsw and viz wasn’t any better. So, I decided not to go any lower and further out. After I moved back to the beach side of the reef, I got a left-leg cramp. After a minute or two of stretching, I decided to head back. Overall, the dive was fantastic because I don’t usually do twilight dive and lack of surge made cruising a lot of fun in and around the reef. I sucked a lot of air while stretching my leg and I had to surface at 17ft. We entered with 1-2ft surf and exited with 2-4ft very slow moving surf just strong enough to carry me back to the beach and that’s exactly what I needed after a long dive back.

Divers Alert Network Releases 2008 SCUBA Diving Accident and Fatality Report

ant — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:36:34 +0000

From Examiner.com, written by Scott Jones, August 4, 2009

DURHAM, NC – The Divers Alert Network Annual SCUBA Diving Report is one of the most anticipated and trusted publications in the dive industry. Each year, divers count on it as a resource to educate themselves; the knowledge they gain, hopefully, makes them safer divers.

Once again, the DAN Research team has compiled its findings from data gathered from incident reports and information shared through the Project Dive Exploration (PDE) initiative. The DAN Annual Diving Report – 2008 Edition examines contributing factors in SCUBA dive accident and fatality cases in an effort to understand those factors and improve dive safety.

Aug 5 Treasure Island night dive

antuser — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:27:37 +0000

Surf at the main beach was calm with slow moving 1-3ft waves. Surf inside the little protective cove was dead calm with 0-1ft surf. Temp inside the underground parking was hot but very breezy once we got to the beach. We dropped around 7:50pm and viz was a solid 15ft. But, as soon as it got dark, viz dropped to less than 10ft and murky. I lost sight of Kyle 2 to 3 times but I was able to track him with his flash-blinker. At 15ft apart, I couldn’t spot his dive light. Mike stayed behind us because he dove with a high power heads-up LED. Unlike last night at Wood’s, we only experienced mild surge. Once we got passed 30ft, the ocean calmed down but cold. Our max depth was 48fsw and coldest temp was 57F. Due to low viz, it was hard to enjoy the reef and not very safe to get too close to any of the over hangs and crevices.

List of things we saw: octopus, calico bass, plainfin midshipman and Spanish shawls.