cyberfed
06-15-2009, 05:04 PM
Man oh man, what a BEAUTIFUL country!! I am still trying to figure out why I came back to Florida :102:
Catalina Islands:
Gaby and I signed up the for the dive trip the day before with Deep-Blue Diving in Playa Del Coco. After we paid a ridiculous amount of money for a 3 tank dive I asked how many other divers were going with us on the boat. The dive master smiled and looked at us and said, 'You guys are it!'. Gaby and I ended up going out basically on a private boat with one divemaster and a deckhand/boat operator. :icon_super:
The boat ride was about 45 minutes in flat calm seas. We reached the Catalina Islands around 9:00 a.m. Our first dive was at a site called "Catalina Point"
Depths were max at around 90 feet with most of the dive being spent around 40-70feet. Viz was fair considering the strong surge underwater. I would say at least 60 feet viz. Water temps were a Fed-friendly 86 degrees!! Man it was like getting to a hot tub!!!
The bottom was mostly rocky with some coral life. We saw tons of very large schooling eagle rays. We also saw a huge school of thousands of Jacks.
Once we got deeper we saw at least 7 or 8 white tip reef sharks just relaxing on the bottom. They saw us and got a little spooked, but quickly returned to see what all the fuss was about. They were very pretty!
We also saw an octopus hiding in one of the rocky ledges.
2nd dive:
Catalina - The Wall
Similar in the first dive, however slightly less deep, around 70 feet with most of the dive spent around 40-50 feet. The coolest thing I have encountered in the ocean took place on this dive.
We ran into a huge school (I mean absolutely HUGE) of yellow tail snapper, they were all moving in a circle creating a bait bowl. I swam towards it and saw them all instantly move in unison away from me. Next thing I know they decide circle me. Before I knew it was in the center of the bait bowl!! Every direction I looked in (absolutely everywhere) were thousands of fish surrounding me! It was an experience like none other I have had. It was like a shot straight out of the Discovery Channel. I kept waiting to see a giant predator strike the bait bowl but it never happened. After a few minutes of being engulfed I swam my way out.
3rd dive:
Tiberon Island - a short distance from the Catalina's we did our third and final dive. It was a very rocky dive, with lots of surge. I had never dove in surge before it was a new feeling. One second you are being pulled back so hard by the surge you have hold on to the bottom (think blue springs current times 10), the next minute the current is whisking you forward at a very very fast speed! It was quite fun once you got the hang of it, trick was to avoid collision with rocks and/or sea urchins :eusa_naughty:
Viz was poor on this dive, I would say around 20 feet maybe 30 at times. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary on that dive but it was still fun.
It was nice to not have to clean gear afterward too :) all though they must soak the regs in soap because every time I took a breath I could taste soap. gross. I tried rinsing it but it was like deep down in the reg. That would be my only gripe about the dive. But hey its rental gear right?
All in all a very awesome set of dives!!
Catalina Islands:
Gaby and I signed up the for the dive trip the day before with Deep-Blue Diving in Playa Del Coco. After we paid a ridiculous amount of money for a 3 tank dive I asked how many other divers were going with us on the boat. The dive master smiled and looked at us and said, 'You guys are it!'. Gaby and I ended up going out basically on a private boat with one divemaster and a deckhand/boat operator. :icon_super:
The boat ride was about 45 minutes in flat calm seas. We reached the Catalina Islands around 9:00 a.m. Our first dive was at a site called "Catalina Point"
Depths were max at around 90 feet with most of the dive being spent around 40-70feet. Viz was fair considering the strong surge underwater. I would say at least 60 feet viz. Water temps were a Fed-friendly 86 degrees!! Man it was like getting to a hot tub!!!
The bottom was mostly rocky with some coral life. We saw tons of very large schooling eagle rays. We also saw a huge school of thousands of Jacks.
Once we got deeper we saw at least 7 or 8 white tip reef sharks just relaxing on the bottom. They saw us and got a little spooked, but quickly returned to see what all the fuss was about. They were very pretty!
We also saw an octopus hiding in one of the rocky ledges.
2nd dive:
Catalina - The Wall
Similar in the first dive, however slightly less deep, around 70 feet with most of the dive spent around 40-50 feet. The coolest thing I have encountered in the ocean took place on this dive.
We ran into a huge school (I mean absolutely HUGE) of yellow tail snapper, they were all moving in a circle creating a bait bowl. I swam towards it and saw them all instantly move in unison away from me. Next thing I know they decide circle me. Before I knew it was in the center of the bait bowl!! Every direction I looked in (absolutely everywhere) were thousands of fish surrounding me! It was an experience like none other I have had. It was like a shot straight out of the Discovery Channel. I kept waiting to see a giant predator strike the bait bowl but it never happened. After a few minutes of being engulfed I swam my way out.
3rd dive:
Tiberon Island - a short distance from the Catalina's we did our third and final dive. It was a very rocky dive, with lots of surge. I had never dove in surge before it was a new feeling. One second you are being pulled back so hard by the surge you have hold on to the bottom (think blue springs current times 10), the next minute the current is whisking you forward at a very very fast speed! It was quite fun once you got the hang of it, trick was to avoid collision with rocks and/or sea urchins :eusa_naughty:
Viz was poor on this dive, I would say around 20 feet maybe 30 at times. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary on that dive but it was still fun.
It was nice to not have to clean gear afterward too :) all though they must soak the regs in soap because every time I took a breath I could taste soap. gross. I tried rinsing it but it was like deep down in the reg. That would be my only gripe about the dive. But hey its rental gear right?
All in all a very awesome set of dives!!