cushner@ttidcb.UUCP (Jeffrey Cushner) (04/30/85)
After not diving for ~9 mos. or so, my buddy and I, along with wives and kids took a long weekend at Catalina Island. This is a popular vacation spot in Southern California, located approx. 21 miles from the coast. (dispite what the song says). As it was a tuneup series of dives, we dove off Casino Point, which is a protected marine reserve and dive park. The great thing about diving here is that you don't have to do a beach entry, you select your depth (the dropoff is *very* quick), and very little surge. The entry is from rocks and not hazardous if you think about what you're doing. We took 2 dives during the day and 1 night dive. We had originally intended to do 2 night dives, but my buddy lost a glove and I had a 1/8" wetsuit and it was *cold*! The day dives produced nothing new to those accustomed to diving in So. Calif. (ya know, kelp, Garibaldie(sp.),kelp perch & bass, a few lobster hiding in rocks. We did dive a wreck on the first dive. Nothing much, just a rotting hull (bow 60' stern 90' of water). But the night dive! We were tripping over lobster! The bugs were *everywhere*. Since we were in a marine preserve there was good news and bad. The lobsters were *big*, but we couldn't take any (even if we could, it wasn't season). The day dives were made considerably easier since a van that supplies air and refreshments was there most of the day. Diving from Catalina was a nice change of pace from boat and beach dives. Instead of waking up at 3:00am and taking a boat 2 hours to a dive site, (a group dive boat) or battling heavy surf entering and exiting, all you do is take a taxi to the dive site and jump off some rocks, easy. All in all a nice mini-vacation. But next dive, I want to *catch* something! -- ============================================================================== Jeff Cushner @ Citicorp-TTI Santa Monica CA 90405 (213) 450-9111 x2273 {vortex,philabs}!ttidca!ttidcb!cushner