Rocky Entries

Dive Log

I just returned from a week in southern California that included 5 days on Catalina Island and (surprise, surprise) 4 days of diving :^) I'd only dove (dived, diven) off Catalina once before (1 dive at Casino Point's Underwater Park) so I was really looking forward to this. I even got quite a few recommendations from on-line sources.

Three of the dive days were out of Two Harbors. For those unfamiliar with Catalina, there are two inhabited areas: Avalon, a town of a few thousand people (and three to ten times that number of tourists), located on the leeward side of the island toward the East End of Catalina and Two Harbors, a very small community toward the West End. Two Harbors is generally the place you want to go diving based on the on-line recommendations for the best dive sites.

Two Harbors is a company town where all the residences and businesses are owned by the Catalina Island Company. Accommodations are limited to the Banning Lodge (booked on weekends through October) and camping. There's one restaurant and one cafe (both are reasonably priced), a general store, and dive operation. The general atmosphere is very much like a commune that welcomes visitors. It's a very friendly place I can recommend highly.

Unfortunately, I cannot so highly recommend the dive operation. Though the guides and boat operators are quite friendly, are clearly convinced of the superior diving they provide access to, and have grand plans for future improvements, they seem to be a bit short on some basics.

Specifically, it's BYOB: if you want something to drink between dives other than coffee and hot chocolate, bring your own. The same is true for between dive snacks: if you want it, bring it. I wondered initially if this was simply a difference between southern California and Monterey area boat operations only to learn in Avalon that the dive operations there offer continental breakfast and lunch on their morning charters. Other shortcomings on the boats of the West End Dive Center is they offer no shower facilities (fresh or salt water) on board, they have no dive equipment storage for their multi-day customers (other than coin operated lockers on the beach), and they seem rather timid in their dive site selections. While the Bottom Scratcher and Sand Dollar boats were putting divers on Eagle Reef, Ship Rock, and Indian Head Rock, we were mostly diving too near shore at places like Parsons, The Quarry, and Bath Tub Cove. I can say that the one dive we did at Eagle Reef was definitely the highlight of my West End diving (though, if you read on, didn't come close to my single Avalon dive).

Which leads me to the area of Catalina's dive offerings in general: bluntly put, it's pretty boring right now. That El Nino fellow has torn out all the kelp which is only just now beginning to grow back. This means that the bottom is thick with 1' to 2' high kelp growth; if you want to checkout the bottom life, you'll need a weed whacker. At the same time, the kelp isn't high enough to provide the 3D diving conditions that would make Catalina diving much the more interesting. Combined with the fact that there's little color nearshore, the main and only draw that I found at Catalina was the visibility. For this northern California diver, anything over 10' of vis is great and, at Catalina, the vis ranged from 20' to 45'.

I did hear that the Yellowtail run is red hot but, not having a freediving buddy nor having an openwater gun, I didn't get a chance to check out those rumors. Clearly, that could have made all the difference in my impressions of the diving in general.

Following three days of diving at Two Harbors, we moved to Avalon and began a gentle reentry into "civilization." I tried hooking up with Jon Hardy's dive operation but prior commitments on his part meant that wasn't to be. I also stopped by Catalina Scuba Luv but "no spearfishing" decals plastered all over their windows put me off their operation. I also checked with Catalina Divers Supply but had just missed the boat. Literally. As it turned out, all this worked to my benefit.

The only option remaining was a quick and easy shore dive in the Underwater Park at Casino Point. It lasted about 20 minutes and ended up with a 5 star rating in my dive log. Not bad considering that the first 2 or 3 minutes "promised" a rather uninspiring dive. Mostly, I found a sandy bottom with occasional stands of kelp once I got below 25'. I decided to go looking for the "wreck" of the Sujac. On the way, I found some evidence of recent Bat Ray activity (which excites me greatly because they're rarer than hen's teeth in northern California) and, being easily distracted, went off looking to find them. Ten or twenty seconds later, I looked up to scan the area and spotted a pair of giant sea bass less than 20' away hanging out under some kelp growth. Geez they guys get big. I was able to settle down on the bottom and check these guys out at eye level from 8' to 10' away. For about 10 minutes, I lay there watching them watch me. The little guy was over 4' in length and probably weighed 125 to 150#. The bigger one was easily over 5' in length and, based on photographs seen an hour later in an Avalon bookshop, would weigh in at upwards of 225#. When I tried to inch a bit closer, the big guy slowly moved away. Afraid I might be disturbing regular park residents, I moved off... feeling a bit dazed over the encounter.

Following the dive, I checked to find out how long those big boys had been in residence only to learn this was the first report of black sea bass inside the Underwater Park.

I suspect it'll be awhile before that dive will be topped.

My final diving of this trip was some snorkeling and freediving at the Lover's Cove preserve. Though not quite up to Casino Point experience, it was a lot of fun being able to share a glimpse of California's underwater world with my non-diving wife. Also, I was able to find (and freedive on) those Bat Rays I'd been looking for an hour or so earlier out at the point.

Last Modified: November 23, 2005

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