Blog for Nayan

I had booked this trip way in advance and then i tried canceling it late because of dandiya plans on saturday night but then i ended up not going to dandiya and boarded Spectre for a day of diving on Anacapa Islands.

I was planning to drive out early morning so I woke up at like 4.15 am and then got ready for the day of diving ahead. I left the house at about 5.15 and was on the boat at like 6.30. Met up with Amit and then just waited for the dives ahead. 

The conditions were great unlike yesterday when there were 15ft swells and the whole boat was rocking, it is about hr and half to the island. Amit and I buddied up and i was going to lead the dives. 

Dive 1: Gold Fish Bowl, Anacapa

That is the dive site name, don’t ask me why they choose that name. nope there weren’t any gold fishes at this site to see. The site was on the stern side and at a depth of like 40 ft or so. I was really looking forward to playing with my camera. I decided to dive with 6 lbs of weight on me since i wanted to get an accurate estimate of the weight i need. 

We descended along the anchor line on the stern side and then take it from there. The visibility was really good about 25 ft or so and there were so many star fishes to see at the bottom. I have never seen so many different kinds of star fishes, it was nice. I really wanted to find some nudis to take macro shots of and see how it went. I was trying to play with the settings but my glove was preventing me to do so effectively, i tried tightening it around the thumb but it wasn’t that helpful. 

The screen of my camera also was being shut after 30 secs to preserve battery and it was kinda annoying, i decided to switch the power saving feature off for the next dive and my battery ran out at the end of dive two :D. Well to be fair it wasn’t a new battery so i am going to use a freshly charged one the next time. 

We explored a bit and i came across a few spanish shawls as well but nothing too exciting initially but a seal zoomed past by us which was cool. I was more than happy to see all the different varieties of star fish and also the anemones were colorful and plenty. 

We were about 45 mins into our dive and then we decided to surface, making a safety stop at 15 ft was really hard for me because of the less weight, there was hardly any air in my BCD to remove, i tried to stay at 15ft but it was tough and then after a while i decided to surface, since our max depth was only like 37 ft.

Surprisingly even though the water was only 62F i was cold by the end of the dive not that much but still enough cold that it was necessary for me to get rid of wetsuit and warm up on deck.

Dive 1 Details:

Max Depth: 37 ft.

Time: 49 mins

Air Consumption: 1653 psi

Min/Max Temp: 16.8 – 18 Celcius

Dive 2: Canyons, Anacapa

We moved to the south side of the islands, in my past two trips on this boat we always moved to Santa Cruz but not this time. We were going to stay near anacapa all the time. This site had some currents and minor swells as well so it was going to be an interesting dive.

We decided to descend along the anchor line and then swim in opposite direction of the current so that on the way back we would be along with the current. We dropped to about 30 ft and then started swimming against the current, also we were told that there were chances of some rays being there in sand so i was near the sandy area and decided not to get into the thick kelp and explore the reef.

It was really fun with the mild current and the swell pushing us around little and as we were moving along the edges of the reef there were couple of huge lobsters and also a huge dead one, sad. We didn’t catch sight of any rays along the sand, after about 7 mins (yes i was keeping watch on my time since i didn’t want to get lost with currents even though it was mild) into the dive i decided to head out into the reefs and the thick kelp.

 

At about 15ft we could feel the swell moving us around and i really enjoyed that and the kelp was really dense. Passing through it in those conditions was little tough and tiring as well, we explored the reefs for a while but it was getting too much for me so i decided to head out for the sandy bottom and we didn’t go into the thick kelp after that.

As we were heading in the opposite direction, i figured that we were going too far so i decided to head back, we also came across a few lobster pots and stuff and the usual anemones etc. Since i had turned off the power save option in my camera, the battery ran out but i wasn’t complaining since i had taken few good pictures. The sea lions came out to play in the next dive but i wasn’t that bummed about not taking their pictures.

Doing the safety stop was little better for me this time as i was prepared and was swimming hard to keep myself at the right depth, it was nice to be upside down and look at the school of fishes swimming and the sun shining above them. We surfaced not too far from the boat and I was really tired at the end of this dive.

Dive 2 Details:

Max Depth: 37 ft.

Time: 50 mins

Air Consumption: 1775 psi

Min/Max Temp: 16.4 – 17.6 Celcius

Lunch was served as we headed out to the next dive site and when we reached the dive site there were sea lions coming out, so it was certainly going to be a fun dive.

Dive 3: Underwater Arches.

Before the dive Amit told me that he was feeling tired and we might have to end the dive early, i was totally fine with it since i was tired myself and my legs were not happy. I was excited by the sea lions and didn’t want to sit out this dive at all and this site had an underwater arch which is always cool to explore.

The dive plan was same, descend along the anchor line, find the arch and then explore around it. We dropped down and as we were swimming along the arch there were sea lions. Those things are one of the most graceful creatures that you will see underwater, their movement is so smooth. They approached us once in a while and then swam past by, they were in mood of their own.

We came towards the arch and then swam underneath it, I saw quite a few spanish shawls out there. During the entire dive i must have seen at-least 8 of them. We swam along the edge of the reef structure and there were few big schools of fishes on the reef, amit pointed out that to me. I didn’t want to go there since it was probably at 10ft depth and i wasn’t in mood to struggle to stay buoyant at that depth.

We were just swimming along the archway and once in a while a sea lion would swim at us, i tried acting stupid in effort to interest him but he wasn’t amused. They were in their own world and didn’t bother to interact with us. Also tried to get fishes interested in my flashlight but the sun was out and my light wasn’t doing that much. After swimming around the archway and 40 mins into the dive i was getting tired so with about 700 psi left in my tank we decided to surface. Safety stop was relatively easy as compared to other dives and this time we surfaced right near the boat mainly because the structure was easy to navigate.

Dive 3 Details:

Max Depth: 33 ft.

Time: 45 mins

Air Consumption: 1413 psi

Min/Max Temp: 16 – 20 Celcius

I was really tired at the end of this dive, my legs were just killing me so i decided to call it a day and not do the final dive. I got into the hot tub, showered up, packed my stuff, immediately went downstairs and found myself a bunk. I slept the entire way back and woke up when we were near the dock. We reached the dock at about 5 pm which was kinda early, i didn’t expect us to be back so soon.

 

I reached my place at about 6.30pm, on my way picked up food from california vegan and finally after washing my gear etc, hogging all the food i dozed off at 11ish. It was a tiring day of diving and was fun as well.

This is my favorite dive spot and i try not to miss an opportunity to dive the oil rigs. Of the 45 dives that i have done so far 9 of them have been at the rigs. there are usually not too many fishes to see at the rigs but the other marine life is abundant, mainly anemones, brittle stars, hydroids and other invertebrates. I took my camera with me but it stopped working, I have finally discovered the cause behind this behavior and hope to remedy it or just buy a new camera :D. Sorry folks no pictures on this dive.

Woke up at abt 4.45 am and thankfully this time i didn’t wake up to a flat tire :), i reached sea bass at about 6.30 am and the boat was full. There were at least 6 doubles (two tank configuration for diving), three rebreathers and all that technical gear. I thought i was going to be the only one diving in a wetsuit but there were others. It is a short ride to the rigs and we were going to dive the farthest called Eureka.

A couple of guys were going to do a 4 hour long dive, they were going to dive only to 480 ft, stay there for about 12 mins and then spend rest of the time ascending….its going to be few years, maybe decades before i can even think of going that deep. I buddied up with Alberto rather Dr. Alberto a scientist with JPL. We decided on the dive plan and were not planning to go beyond 110 ft, I couldn’t anyway since i was diving on  32% Nitrox (mixture containing 32% O2 instead of Air which has 21%). 

Dive 1:

We got into water and the surge wasn’t that bad at all, Alberto and I dove down to 107 ft and we hung there for couple of mins. I forgot to clean my mask and was barely able to see, it wasn’t clear at all. I tried flooding my mask n then clearing it but it didn’t help grrrrr. I started taking pics but then becoz of lack of ability to see i was getting frustrated, my camera also got stuck. I spotted a nudibranch but wasn’t able to take pics. Add to that i was also consuming air pretty fast and it wasn’t a good sign. We ascended making stops and exploring as much as we could and i surfaced with about 200 psi left or maybe less, at this point i was not happy at all. We had to swim little bit and then few mins before we could get to the boat i was completely out of air before we reached it and in the process i must have swallowed quite a bit of sea water, not fun.

So it wasn’t a great dive but i learnt some valuable lessons, i could have tried to remove my mask and then wipe it clean underwater but at 100+ feet and 53F water didn’t want to take that chance :). On the bright side the new batteries for the dive light worked great and i used it to full advantage, something i haven’t done before.

Dive 1 Details:

Max Depth: 107 ft

Dive Time: 24 mins

Air Consumption: 2200 psi

Max – Min Water Temp: 20.4 – 11.6 C

Dive 2:

After that not so pleasant experience i decided not to carry my camera and also made sure that i cleaned my mask so that things would be more clear this time :D. This time Alberto decided not to continue with the dive and so i had to buddy up with Glenn and other two guys. Four of us decided to jump into the water as a group.  We were not planning to go beyond 85 ft which was fine since i didn’t want to consume air fast and not get a longer bottom time. 

We dropped to about 85 ft and yes i was able to see lot clearer. We explored one side of the rigs and i was using my dive light to find some interesting critters. I also was trying to play with the fishes using my dive light. Saw a lot of big male sheepheads and some of them were about 4-5 ft long.

After a while as i was trying to interact with fishes with my dive light, some of them got really interested in it. They did try to bite my dive light a few times thinking it was food, it was fun. I did that for few mins and was so involved in it that i didn’t check my air or depth, but i was at 40 ft and with more than 800 psi left so I was ok. Slowly ascended but for some reason Glenn he didn’t want to stay with the group. I wasn’t too pleased about that fact but i didn’t bother. Three of us surfaced but he was still in water, he didn’t bother to come up with us and we were picked up by the boat. He came up after a few minutes. It was a good dive and it was really fun playing with the fishes. 

Dive 2 Details:

Max Depth: 80 ft

Dive Time: 37 mins

Air Consumption: 1975 psi

Max – Min Water Temp: 22.8 – 12 C

Dive 3:

For the third dive, I didn’t wanna buddy up with Glenn because not only he was distant but also didn’t seem keen on exploring the rigs. luckily he decided to skip this last dive and i buddied up with Mark and Chad. The plan was to dive to 50 ft and then just circle the rigs. I was happy about that. So as planned we dropped to about 50 ft and headed in a different direction as previous dives. It was really cool, on one section of the rigs the anemones all of sudden seem to change colors and they were brownish instead of the usual pink or white. Also saw couple of big star fishes. We spent more time going around the rigs and such so didn’t really play with the fishes this time, but passing between the rig structures is fun as well. 

I was the one who was consuming air more rapidly than others and when i was at 500 psi we decided to head up, Mark wasn’t too pleased about it. I could have consumed another 100 before deciding to surface but i wanted to save some air to get to the boat. As soon as i got on the boat after removing my mask i had a bloody discharge from my nose which got me scared but people said it wasn’t anything bad so that got me little settled down.

Dive 3 Details:

Max Depth: 56 ft

Dive Time: 35 mins

Air Consumption: 1755 psi

Max – Min Water Temp: 24.8 – 12.8 C

One of my favorite things to do while diving the rigs is to stay in water at about 10-15 ft and then just ride the surge. Its fun when you keep on moving up and down along with every new surge of water, i experienced some of it during the first dive thats it. On the surface you have to be really careful to make sure that you don’t hit a steel column above as you rise along with the wave. I am bad with the exact terminology surf, wave or wake not sure what exactly it would be called.

We got 3 dives in by 2 pm and we reached the dock by 3 pm, it was cool. Had to attend a house party at Pankaj Uncle’s place in the evening so I was in two minds whether to go home or just change at Romil’s place at USC. I decided the latter, I showered up at Romil’s place to get ready for the party.

We stayed at Pankaj Uncle’s place till 4.30 am chit chatting about stuff and then finally after dropping everyone at USC and by the time i got all of my diving gear in tub it was already 5.30, i finally went to bed at about 5.45 am, only 24 something hours after i left for diving

Since i won’t be able to dive the next two weekends i decided to take advantage of the excellent conditions and dive this sunday. I decided to go on Great Escape Charters and i loved what the boat had to offer.

I reached the pier at about 6.30 am and was pleasantly surprised to see Andrew on board, Ferris was going to be there too so i didn’t have to bother about dive buddies. I love the facilities on the boat, it has nice seating arrangement on the stern and the galley is spacious too. They have an amazing DVD collection, I won’t hesitate to spend a weekend on this boat, too bad i can’t make it for the labor day weekend trip they have. The boat wasn’t only half full so there was plenty on room to spread out the gear and take things easy. My only complain would be having those mugs for water, for some reason i tend to drink less water if there aren’t any water bottles.

I found myself a bunk and tried to take a nap since i was really exhausted from all the laser tag games from the previous night and I also felt not adequately hydrated. Didn’t get too much of sleep so i went on the deck and we saw a huge pod of young dolphins. There must be atleast 50 of them, I tried taking pics, will have to see if got them. 

We got out pre-dive briefings as we approached the site and there was this old guy who was without a buddy, i wasn’t too keen on buddying up with him but i did nevertheless. He told me that he was an instructor and it was his first time diving in Calif. I felt little more comfortable diving with this guy but at the end of the dive i was pissed.

So since he was the instructor out of respect and he being more experienced i asked him to lead the dive, a big mistake. He got into the water ahead of me and went in an opposite direction of the dive site, i didn’t think too much about it then. We dropped to about 70 ft and kept going deeper, I wasn’t sure why was he going deep since the dive site was in about 30 ft of water and on the opposite side as well. I followed him, didn’t have a choice and we soon reached 110 ft. 

After 5 mins into the dive i saw his SPG was leaking air so i swam upto him and pointed it out. He said it was fine and we continued the dive, he briefly headed out in the correct direction and we came across a small reef in about 40 ft of water but then suddenly not sure what struck him he headed of in the wrong direction again. After a while all of sudden he signaled out of air and indicated that he was going to ascend. I expected him to take a safety stop at 15 ft and then after a while hit the surface but as soon as i came to 15ft for my safety stop he was at the surface. 

Wow, what reckless diving from an instructor, skipping a safety stop after hitting 110 ft and we were at 100+ feet for a few good minutes as well. I completed my safety stop and then met him at the surface, he said he was fine and he just ran out of air. duh!!!! i pointed out that your spg was leaking so you should have monitored your air and immediately moved to a lower depth instead of loitering more at 100+. We could have also shared air and completed safety stop together but he didn’t bother. 

I was super pissed at the end of the dive not only did we missed the dive site but also for some reason my camera won’t work in its case. Also I was completely surprised how that instructor acted, it was completely irresponsible on his part. He didn’t bother to ask about my dive experience or my certification level and went to a depth of 100+ without actually bothering to see how i was doing etc. He acted as if he was on his own during the entire dive, why did he want a buddy in that case?

Dive 1 Details: 

Max Depth: 112 ft.

Dive Time: 20 mins.

I was glad that he decided not to dive again and his SPG was still broken. I was going to buddy up with Andrew and Ferris for the next two dives, boy i was glad or what. I tried opening my camera up and it just wouldn’t budge, for some reason it didn’t want to take pictures when i put it inside the case. So i gave up on the camera and decided to dive without it, wish i had it one me though.

For the second dive we moved to a different spot and I got into the water first, Ferris had some problem with the tank so i had wait almost 15 mins but it was no biggie since i was very comfortable in water and i preferred that instead of getting heated up on the deck. 

We dove right next to the reef and were exploring it, the usual critters were there nothing too exciting till i found an eel, It was a big moray and as soon as i come little closer it opened its jaw as if trying to intimidate me. It was more like a yawn to me and it seems that they breathe that way too. That was the highlight of the dive and we just explored kelp a lot more. Ferris was having a good time clicking pictures with her brand new camera. I also found another eel, it was hiding in the rocks. There was also a gang of Garibaldis who were going crazy, they were really fighting it out over something and each of them was big. It was fun watching them slog it out so to say. 

Andrew found a lobster and was shining his bright light on that guy, it was interesting to watch the lobster react to it, the lobster was kinda curious and also appeared to be confused at the same time, what is this bright thing. It was cool. We finished the dive soon and it was time for lunch. Had veggie burger which was good and we were going to stay at the same spot for the final dive.

Dive 2 Details:

Max Depth: 76 Ft

Dive Time: 43 mins

Steve, the divemaster was also diving by himself and when he came aboard he mentioned that there were few Giant Sea Bass  (GSB), I was super excited always have wanted to see these huge monsters and today could be my lucky day. Indeed it was. I told Andrew that we need to find these guy and so we decided to stay at about 50 ft and just outside the kelp. It would be little cold but would be worth it. 

We got into the water and hit the bottom where i saw a flounder sitting there, i pointed it out to Ferris since she was the one with camera. After that picture Ferris mistook some other divers for us and we lost her. We looked for her for sometime but couldn’t find her. Me and Andrew continued the dive and as we were hanging by the kelp I saw a couple of GSB, i just caught a brief glimpse, the vis wasn’t that great as well. I wanted to follow them but they were headed in the direction of ocean so i decided against it. We explored the kelp more and I was losing sight of andrew a lot in the kelp, it was like a little game of hide and seek. 

After a while as i was hanging near the kelp, I saw another GSB this was going into the kelp so i decided to approach it, It was an awesome experience that thing was huge atleast 4 – 5 feet and seemed like 250 lbs easy. After that experience I also saw a kelp bass which was about 2.5 – 3 feet, never seen those guys get so big as well. Found an eel hiding in the rocks as well after a while and it didn’t seemed to be bothered by our presence. I was at 550 psi and so it was time to end the dive soon.

Dive 3 Details:

Max Depth: 71 ft

Dive Time: 47 mins.

I packed up my stuff, took a shower and it was time for fudge and ice cream, that thing was good. Also earlier in the day there was some sort of sweet bread called as Monkey bread, it seemed as if it was dipped in honey. I totally digged that stuff, couldn’t stop eating it. As usual I went to the bunk and dozed off on the way back home. 

We reached early and i was at home by 6.30 pm. Cleaned my stuff and went to ralphs to get water, soon i passed out after having dinner at Taco Bell. A mixed day of diving but nevertheless was good.

Finally after today’s experience and in general the more i dive, more i appreciate how well you have taught me Jeanne, thank you hollywooddivers. Now only if you could improve your website 😉

That is one mean Eel Eyeballing.

State Fish of California, Garibaldi

Pictures Courtesy of Ferris.

I decided to head out this sunday on Sundiver diving Catalina. It was supposed to be a clear sunny day and it definitely turned out to be one. The previous night i had met up with paras, miril and diti for dinner and then had ice cream at Mashti Malone. I was really stuffed that night and it was a good thing.

Woke up at 4.30 am and because of previous night heavy dinner i didn’t feel like having anything for breakfast. I left at about 5.45 am and the usual ramp on sunset for 101 was closed so had to take a detour but managed to reach the boat at about 6.40 am. The boat was going to be full.

After completing the usual paperwork etc, i found myself a bunk and tried to take a nap since i had like 3-4 hours of sleep the previous night, but i wasn’t able to sleep. Got up, had something to eat and drink and then it was almost time to get ready. I saw that we were getting closer to island and going in direction of two harbors. At first, we were planning to dive a place where the bat rays were supposed to be in plenty but then we moved to a different spot for some unknown reason. The water was crystal clear with vis upto 70 ft.

Dive teams were being created so to say since there were some who were diving for the first time in cold calif water and i was supposed to tag along with Andrew and a group of 5 more people. The heat was intense and i was starting to sweat in my wetsuit so i decided to get into water as soon as possible. Some people decided to take off their hoods since the water was 70F on the surface which was surprising. I got into the water and it surely felt good, i wasn’t hot anymore but wasn’t cold at all, just comfortable. It took a long 10-15 mins to get the entire group together and for some reason i thought my dive light fell off. Andrew asked to me dive down and look for it so i went in by myself while keeping an eye on the gang.

I started looking for my light but after a while i realized that it was attached to my BC, bummer and i also lost Andrew and rest of the gang. i decided to go Solo and explore the reefs by myself. The kelp was thick and there was no way that i would have found those guys but back in my head i was thinking what if they are looking for me or something but i was wrong about that. Andrew figured i would be fine on my own so he didn’t bother to look. I found lots of bugs and the usual critters and while i was looking for something i came across a Scorpion fish by chance. I always wanted to find those things since they are really well camouflaged and today was my lucky day, i found couple of them on this dive and all of them by accident.

yes that is a fish.

revealing its true colors

It blends really well.

School of Fish

Since i wasn’t sure whether or not those guys were looking for me, I decided to end my dive early though i had like more than 900 psi left in my tank and could have gone for another 10 mins. I saw a group of 6 and thought it must be andrew n gang but it was others. I finally found andrew and ferris during their safety stop and i also stopped along with them.

Dive 1 Details:

Total time: 44 mins 

Max Depth: 44 ft

Buddies: None

People were getting warm with their hoods and 7 mm suits so some of them were diving without wetsuits. I contemplated taking off my hood but decided against it. We were going to be anchored at the same point since the conditions were so great and this time for the dive it was just me, andrew and ferris. The rest of the gang were comfortable and diving on their own. Jumped into the water and we decided to head in a different direction this time, with Andrew leading and me being the last person. I was going to be slow since i would get caught up taking pictures. Few mins into the dive as we were exploring the reefs, Ferris had stopped and was pointing me to something. It was a horn shark resting and it was quite big as well about 3-4 feet i suppose. Took a few pictures and then continued on, saw lots of lobsters again, quite a few rock fish and a big cod resting. The algae forest closer to the shore at about 12-15 feet was very colorful with some lavender growth. It was really pretty. We did little more exploring and i was trying hard to find some nudibranches but they weren’t to be seen anywhere. It was a good dive nonetheless. For some weird reason my mask was really bothering my during this entire dive, i had to clear it every couple of mins.

The plant life

The underwater forest

The Horn Shark

This it the lavender plant.

Dive 2 Details:

Total Time: 44 mins

Max Depth: 36 ft

Buddies: Andrew and Ferris

It was time for lunch and there were no veggie sandwiches for me but there were some spinach pizzas which were good enough for me. For the last dive we moved across two harbors and came to place called Africa rock or something like that. This was the place where the boat captain Kyaa had her students see some crazy Bat ray behavior so i was hopeful of seeing them this time. Hilary needed a buddy so i decided to go along with her, I was going to lead and she wanted me to go really slow so that she could explore things and have more time to look around. I was fine with it since i wanted to find some nudibranches myself and take few cool pics. Also she wasn’t sure about her navigation and I am not that bad myself so that was another reason for me to lead the way. The vis out here wasn’t as great as the earlier spot but it wasn’t too bad either. It was in 25 – 30 ft range.

We decided on a general direction and then dropped down, Hilary had some problems clearing her ears initially but managed to clear them and so we continued our dive. I was looking out for anything colorful and bright but couldn’t find anything at all. No nudis during the entire dive. The reefs were abundant in life with the usual critters, lots of bugs aka lobsters. Also managed to find a scorpion fish on this dive, at 40 feet I was getting bit chilly and 20-25 mins into the dive Hilary told me that she was also feeling cold. On the way back i wanted to go along the edge of the reef since that was the place where the rays would hang out but since both of us were little cold i decided to go to a shallow depth and explore the reefs again. No luck with the rays or the nudis. Hilary had about 990 psi left and myself about 800 so i decided to continue a bit longer with the dive but after a while hilary signaled that she was down to 800 and wanted to end the dive. We took our safety stop and then swam back to the boat, we didn’t wander that far and it was a short surface swim to the boat.

Love this picture, was from the previous dive.

Sea Fan, Juvenile Garibaldi and Star Fish

Dive 3 Details:

Total Time: 48 mins

Max Depth: 43 ft

Buddies: Hilary

I packed up my things, took a shower and was ready to crash as soon as possible but not before i had that awesome yummy chocolate cake. I slept the entire way back, it was almost 7 pm by the time we docked. Almost forgot to take the camera out of the camera bucket, if it wasn’t for Ferris reminding me about it. She gave me her email address so that i could send her the pics. Reached home at about 8ish and then the usual cleaning up of my gear etc.

It was a satisfying day of diving even though i didn’t see bat ray or nudibranches but there were plenty of lobsters and saw a few scorpion fish.

After a long hiatus in my diving, I finally decided to dive on Sunday 27th July. Sundiver was headed off to San Clemente (SC henceforth) and Kim from ValleyScuba was going to get her AOW (Advanced Open Water), so i decided to join that boat.

SC is a 5-6 hour boat ride on Sundiver so we were supposed to get on the boat saturday night. Packed my stuff and got ready to leave my place at about 8.30ish pm and finally after one u-turn i reached Alamitos Bay landing where the Sundiver is located. Completed the paperwork, met Kim and checked out the bunk assignments, we were supposed to share bunks and i was assigned the lower one which was closest to the bow. I checked out the bunk and it was pretty comfortable, more than what i expected. I managed to sleep well and didn’t have any problems as such.

Woke up early at about 6.30 am and we were already there, for me the breakfast was a bagel and banana. The first dive was going to be a deep dive and i was looking forward to hitting 100ft and beyond but alas that wasn’t the case to be. We all got geared up and since i didn’t have any buddies i wasn’t sure with whom i was going to dive. I assumed that i will dive with the folks taking advanced class so it will be easier for me, but i decided to be the nice guy and buddied up with Derrek who was from Missouri.

Derrek had an interesting experience when he came aboard Sundiver, he was expecting to rent all his gear on the boat and then dive. He didn’t realize that he had to go to the shop i.e Ocean Adventures and get his gear. I guess the folks on the boat managed to find him spare gear to dive in but he was wearing a 3mm wetsuit. He would normally freeze in Cold Calif water but today it was 67 F on the surface so he supposed he could handle the cold. Also he wasn’t AOW but he told me that he had been in 100 ft of water, i decided to stick a depth of 60 or less even though ended up going to 68. Before getting into water, this another girl comes up to me and asks if it would be cool for her and her buddy to follow us since it was their first time diving in Calif and she was afraid of getting lost in the Kelp. It was fine with me and told her that i might get lost too :D.

So after doing the routine checks, I got into water first and then the rest of gang followed me. We decided to just explore the reefs which were in about 30-40 ft of water, I descended, Derrek followed immediately but out of the two girls only one of them descended the other was nowhere to be seen. After spending couple of minutes in about 20 ft of water, we decided to surface to find the remaining of our party, this girl had some problems since it was her first dive in cold calif waters. She was mainly scared and not confident enough to dive, so we took our time at the surface and with about 2000 psi remaining (in my tank) we decided to give it another try. This time the only people at 25 ft was me and Derrek, I decided not to surface again and we continued our dive.

For a change my dive light was functioning properly and I was able to use it, found quite a few lobsters lurking in the cracks. A group of fishes feasting on a dead sea urchin didn’t mind us. Nothing too exciting just saw the usual california marine life, i need to refresh my Fish ID knowledge to put in a few more names out here :). About 25 minutes into the dive Derrek was feeling cold so we decided to end the dive and after the safety stop we were out of the water.

Family of Lobsters, chilling in the crevices.

Sea Fan????????

Urchin feast, seemed yummy for them.

Dive 1: (this is all i get from my computer without downloading dive log)

Max Depth: 65 feet

Total Time: 30 mins.

After the first dive, I hydrated myself ate some just the usual. It seemed that the class doing advanced dove to about 81 ft only because that was the deepest they could go, so even if i hadn’t buddied up with Derrek i wouldn’t have gone beyond 81 ft. We moved to a different spot which had underwater caves and i was excited by it. Derrek spotted a sea lion and told me that he wanted to go after it, his whole intention of diving in Calif was to swim with Sea lions, bad choice buddy SC is not famous for Sea Lions, SB or Anacapa is. This time around the two ladies were going to dive on their own and not going to follow us or something. 

We decided to head in the direction of the caves and they were amazing. We were able to go underneath them and take a closer view and stuff like that. The structures wouldn’t be even classified as caverns in terms of diving, just some overhead reefs and passages through which we could swim. It was really cool. The marine life was usual and i think Derrek wanted to find that sea lion so he headed off towards the sands. He saw a ray pass by and i just caught a brief glimpse of it. We then explored the reefs little bit more and saw the usual critters. We ended the dive soon. I had some problems with my ear during this dive and i wasn’t sure if i could make it the next dive. My main concern was equalizing my ears.

Unknown Entity

Dive 2:

Max Depth: 68 Feet

Dive Time: 25 mins

We now moved to a different side of the island and as we were moving i could see the water changing colors, it was getting more blue and clear as well. When we reached the calm waters near the Fish eye rock, the conditions were simply amazing. We were able to see the bottom from the boat i.e the visibility was 60 feet easily and the sun also had come out, it was simply amazing. I really hoped i would be able to equlize my ears during this dive, i just didn’t want to miss it. Derrek spotted a couple of sea lions chilling on the rock and he wanted to swim out there, I wasn’t too excited about the idea. I would explore the kelp rather than chasing sea lions. 

I reluctantly agreed to his idea of going after the lions on the rock, he got into water and i soon followed. Instead of swimming over the kelp i decided to head for the rock from underneath so i dove to about 20 ft, Derrek was on surface and i followed him. It was a totally different growth closer to the rocks, no kelp but lots of grass and stuff which was really cool. When we got to the rock, i surfaced and we saw that the lions had vanished and they went over to the other side. There was no way that i was going to follow them out there, so i convinced Derrek to continue the dive and explore the kelp rather than to chase the sea lions. So we headed back and were exploring the kelp all the time. Came across a couple of lobsters, there was so much junk at this location. Various steel boxes, exhaust pipes etc were littered on the ocean floor. We came across a tiny little nudibranch which was cool, i tried photographing those juvenile Garibaldis but they would run away from me the moment i got closer. We were 43 minutes into the dive and i still had about 800 psi left in my tank, at this moment Derrek signalled he was at 500 psi so we decided to end the dive.

It was so amazing out there that i decided to snorkel, it was relaxing just to lay out there and watch the ocean floor from the top. I must have snorkeled for about 10 – 15 mins and then called it a day with one of the best dives i have done. The last dive made the whole trip totally worth it.

The Greens, you can see sun rays.

The Kelp Forest.

Nudibranch

Dive 3:

Max Depth: 53 Feet

Dive Time: 44 mins

There wasn’t anything special as such for me to have for lunch but i managed to survive on mashed potatoes, salad and the chocolate cake which was awesome. Had a brief nap on the way back and when i woke up we had reached Catalina and there were another 2-3 hours left before we reached land. Just did timepass on the boat in general and when i turned on the cell phone there was a message from Cory (my supervisor at work). 

I had to get in the office and figure out an issue we were having. We took sometime to dock because there was another small boat docked in our place, the harbor patrol came and towed the boat away. So finally at about 8.15 pm we docked and i reached my place at about 9pm. Dumped everything in the tub and then headed off to work to fix that small problem. It wasn’t big of deal to get it fixed and then after having pizza for dinner , I finally dozed off at about 12. It was end to a very long and satisfying day of diving.

I was kinda desperate to get out of the city for 4th of july long weekend and was trying different options but nothing worked. Finally due to last minute cancellations a campground at Catalina was available so i booked it. Bhanik, Amrish and Rajesh (henceforth referred to as BAR ) decided to join me on this trip. They were made aware that there was a hike of 12 miles involved on the final day. Here is how the trip went by. 

Pre-Trip Preparations. 

I went to REI to pick up some cookware since i didn’t have any for backpacking. I found something useful Kitchen Cupboard (which i didn’t take completely) and Cooking system (which was very useful). I also picked up some food items and desert for our dinner. 

Headed off to USC to Amrish’s place to pick everyone and after making sure they packed properly we went to Paru’s for dinner. Dinner at Paru’s was awesome as usual and then came back to my place after stopping at Ralphs and finally after packing my stuff i dozed off at about 12.30.

4th July

We had to take 7 am Catalina Express from San Pedro so had to wake up at 4.30 am to get everyone ready and then drive to the terminal. We made it to the terminal at about 6.45, just in time, we reached Avalon at about 8.15 and immediately stored most of the stuff in locker just outside the dock. We decided to take the shuttle bus to BlackJack campground since BAR wanted to take Introduction to Scuba and i was planning to dive along with them. So we got our campsite details, booked the 4 pm bus to Blackjack junction and since the Scuba was going to be at noon we had some time to kill before that. 

Golf Cart to the rescue, We rented a golf cart to go around Avalon and since i was the only person above 25 i was the lone driver. Amrish and Rajesh wanted to drive it but it was supposed to be $850 ticket and I didn’t want to take that chance. We took the scenic route on the island and stopped for sometime in between to take pictures and stuff, an hour well spent. Since it was almost time for BAR scuba lessons we headed off there and I also decided to rent BCD, Regulator etc so that i could also dive. Yes, I would be diving Solo. I have got my certification at Casino point and also have dove there before so I was completely comfortable diving on my own.

View of Avalon from top.

Since i wasn’t sure if i could equalize my Ears, I decided to head out and see what happens. The water wasn’t as cold as i am used to, it was about 64F on the surface. I descended down the buoy and wasn’t sure in what direction i was gonna go but i found myself at the Plague. I was surprised at the marine life, It was different than i have seen here before. Plenty of different fishes and I also saw a Bat Ray zoom by. The Kelp Bass were huge, they seemed to have grown in few months. I ended the dive after consuming 1000 psi of air and didn’t go more then 40 feet deep.

Once comfortable with the fact that i could equalize my ears, I got more confident. This time Bhanik and Amrish got ready to go in the water and I followed them 10 mins after they got in. Bhanik had a leak in his tank and Amrish without the hood was having hard time getting comfortable in water. The instructor had to get him out since he wasn’t completely comfortable. Bhanik did a dive to about 12 ft, I followed him for a while and then decided to head off on my own. My camera stopped working too and that was sad since i saw a lot of critters. I didn’t wander too far from the buoy and just decided to explore the reefs and the kelp. As mentioned earlier the Kelp bass were huge and there was a big lobster hiding in the reef. I was down to 600 psi and i decided to end my dive. Amrish, this time with a hood and Rajesh were getting ready to dive, I thought with little air left i could take a look at them but I had too much water in my BCD and hence i decided to call it a day. Amrish and Rajesh stayed in for a long time and i was getting little worried but it seems they dove to about 30 ft. It was already 2.45 pm by the time the dives ended and we had to take the 4 pm bus so we had to hurry up.

Amrish and Myself decided to go and pick up the stuff from the lockers while Bhanik and Rajesh went to get firewood etc. Initially we planned to have dinner directly but then after the dive everyone was hungry so we decided to get something on the go. I finished my burger in less than 2 mins, was i hungry or what. We had two firewood bundles and it was a 1.5 mile hike from the junction to the campground, it would be suicide carrying them so we decided to return one of them. So at Blackjack junction, I decided to carry that firewood bundle and the 1.5 mile hike to campground was gentle uphill climb. It was a killer, specially after all the diving we did. Bhanik decided to carry the firewood after a while and finally we made it to the campground at about 6pm. The sun was brutal all along the way and i got some burns on my hands. Returning that one bundle of firewood and that burger were the smartest decisions of the day.

View from Blackjack Campground Junction

We found out site fairly easily and there was already a tent erect out there, I thought it was the one we had rented. I immediately crashed and took a brief nap for more than an hour and was woken by the chatter of ranger. 

Campsite

Gilligan, the ranger. He was cool and very helpful. He gave us the tent and also propane since we had rented a stove but he didn’t have it on him. He left and we started pitching the tent only to discover that it had one of the poles missing and hence we called the ranger. He was back very soon and handed us another tent, apologizing and stuff. The other tent he gave us, its poles were also messed up but then we managed to combine poles from two tents and have a tent pitched up. The ranger was about to leave and while backing up he slammed into the trash can and made a mess of it. He seemed to be amused by it and he had an extra trash can which he kept there.

It was about time to make dinner and get a fire going. We had chana masala for dinner and cheesecake for dessert. It was good even though i messed up making of the cake. It was a long day with two more long ones ahead and we all slept well.

5th July: Hike to Little Harbor

We had already planned to do 7 mile hike to Little Harbor. I decided to take it easy and not wake up early for the hike. So we all got up at like 9.30, had our breakfast which was coffee and bagel. We started the hike at about 10.30 and it was downhill for the first 3.2 miles till we reached the ranch. The cotton wood trail we took was going to take us all the way to the wrong beach but fortunately for us we met couple of people on the way who told us that we missed the diversion to the ranch. So after correcting ourselves and getting on the right path again we reached beautiful little harbor campground at about 2 pm. Since we didn’t book snorkel rentals in advance, there was nothing to do. No one was interested in Kayaking out there. 

First View of Little Harbor

Since the hike on the way back was going to be continuos uphill, we decided to take the bus back to Blackjack junction and do the 1.5 mile hike to campground. It was 4 pm bus so we just relaxed at the beach, played some cards and just walked around. We took the 4 pm bus and the hike to Blackjack was lot easier than the previous evening. All of us took showers that evening and it was indeed refreshing. 

Dinner was beans and rice though the pack had some fancy name for it and the dessert was strawberry crumble. I preferred the previous night’s dinner and dessert as well. Since we were planning to get up at 4 am  and leave as early as we could, everyone went to bed early.

6th July: The long hike to Two Harbors

It is 11.8 miles hike from Blackjack campground to Two harbors and we woke up early at 4.30 am to pack everything and leave as early as we could. Breakfast was again coffee along with Bagels and by the time we left the campsite it was 6 am. We had to pack up the tents and clean up everything so it took us a lot of time. The climate was amazing by the time we got at the Blackjack junction it was foggy and the visibility on the road was about 30 feet. It was really a pleasant walk despite the fact that i had about 25-30 pounds on my back, its not that much but still. As we got closer to the airport, yes there is airport on top of catalina island, we saw a heard of wild buffalos which seemed ready to attack us if we got any closer to their young. 

Herd of Wild Buffalo

Advantage of Hiking Early.

We took the airport trail loop, there is a sign which says private road no admittance but the trail goes on that road itself. On this trail there was a split which i was tempted to take but we were supposed be on this trail for 1.6 miles and it didn’t seem that we walked for that long. So we continued on this airport loop trail and met someone on the way who confirmed that we were on the right path. We hit another junction, where one of the signs said cross catalina trail and other was small one with EL 1.5 miles. Emerald Landing (EL) trail was the correct one to take and it would be another 1.5 miles before we hit next junction but how wrong we were….

After walking for about half hour we hit another junction and it was very tempting to take that supposedly short cut trail to the left, we met one more person who told us we would be fine on the left but he didn’t seem that sure. The right path would slowly but surely take us on the right path, how ironic but we decided to continue on the left steep trail. We continued on it for another half hour or so and hit a dead end. I could see a trail continuing in my head and went on, others weren’t so sure and they were correct, something which i realized after another half hour. Traversing this sloped hill, we hit a ridge line, i kept on going along that ridge with others complaining to me behind and being afraid that we won’t be able to turn back etc.

My sense of adventure/willingness to experiment/over confidence whatever you want to call it got better of me at that time and i kept on going until we saw ocean and guess what it wasn’t two harbors but it was little harbor. how fascinating, jaana tha japan pahuch gaye chin (wanted to go to japan but reached china), its an old hindi song. 

It all went wrong at this point. Yes I had carried my Fins and Snorkel gear

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all and with almost an hour lost turning back didn’t seem an option. We contemplated going to little harbor and then taking shuttle to two harbors but we couldn’t speak to a representative and get confirmed tickets on the bus. Also it seemed that we were about 4-5 miles away from two harbors anyway, our boat left at 2.45 pm and it was about 9 – 9.30 so we had plenty of time as well. We decided to get off this hill and on the road which was visible to us at the bottom and take it from there. With no visible trail to get off this mountain i just took the route which was less steep and seemed easier until we reached a small trail. Even though this wasn’t going to take us exactly where we planned on going it would still lead us to the dirt road connecting little harbor and two harbor. 

Once at the bottom of this hill, we had to cross a muddy marshland where we had to trample some of the plants to avoid getting into the mud. Bhanik managed to get one of his feet into the mud and it was messy. He decided to ditch his socks (no we didn’t throw them there, they were dumped in LA) and wear a plastic bag instead of the sock. Once on the dirt road, I wanted to maintain my rhythm and didn’t take a break along with BAR. I told them to hitch a ride in the first vehicle they could find and make it to two harbors, it was going to be a 4 mile hike in the sun on this dirt road. I kept on going at my pace which wasn’t that much at all, about half an hour into this walk i saw Bhanik get a ride and he stopped to get my backpack. I decided not to hand my pack since i would need water etc on the way but got rid of my tent, event though it didn’t seem that much of difference to me i am sure it helped a lot. Rajesh and Amrish also caught up with me by that time but they again decided to take a break after sometime and i kept on going. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant walk in the park but the ocean views all along the final few miles made it worthwhile. I met up with Bhanik at Two harbors at about 12.15 pm, the ranger had refused to give ride to Amrish or Rajesh but they got ride from USC Wrigley dudes and we all were in Two Harbors by 12.30 pm.

Bhanik wanted to snorkel from the start itself and after the hike, Amrish and Rajesh didn’t want to. I rented a wet suit (i was carrying my fins, mask etc) and Bhanik complete snorkeling gear  and we jumped into the water to snorkel for about an hour. There wasn’t much to see on the beach but then when we went to one side which had some kelp, we saw garibaldis, few more fishes. Also spotted a tiny Spanish Shawl (nudibranch) and a sea slug. It was surprising that i managed to free dive with a 3 mm wet suit and no weights. 

The 2.15 pm boat took a long while to unload and departed late and hence our boat also got delayed. We reached San Pedro and after a short drive, we reached Amrish’s place at about 5.15 pm. That was it, our really long long weekend had ended. It was a very nice one too. 

More Pictures

Bhaniks’s Album

Rajesh’s Album

Rest haven’t uploaded their pics, My camera was in water proof case but it stopped working.

www.visitcatalinaisland.com For all information regarding Catalina, ofcourse you can always contact me as well.