On Sunday we did a couple of fun dives at Point Lobos. We were joining our local diving club for the fun. We took a small boat from the landing around the corner to blue fish cove. And we saw the blue fish!
The day was calm and the water was super clear. We could see the kelp for 20-30ft before it disappeared into the depths. After putting around to the dive site we tied off our gear and put it overboard. Then we jumped in and got strapped in for the dive.
We dropped down to about 70 feet - in a wonderland of color. We're not experienced enough yet to feel comfortable with the camera, but another diver has some great photos from the same location.
We saw more, and less, on this dive than on other dives. On one hand, we were in a beautiful unspoiled marine reserve. It was easy to see big groups of fish - they puttered right over to check us out. We even saw a sheephead with his blunt nose and black and red body sections. On the other hand, we didn't see nearly as many crabs and small critters as we've seen in the sandy bottom at breakwater. Since the visibility was good we didn't have to look right up close to see a lot.
Some highlights: anemones that looked like they were two feet across! Another huge sunflower star on the prowel. Schools of blue rock fish hovering in the kelp. A giant olive snail! (ok - he was only about 2 inches, but by far the largest I've seen so far!)
We had two dives and gained some confidence in controlling our buoyancy. I learned an important lesson as well - I was having trouble staying at 15' for my safety stop. The dive master with us was pointing at my head - I reached up - and my hood had a big air bubble in it! I smooshed it out and then was able to easily hover for my safety stop. Curtis won't let me forget the way I told the story later. "The problem was that I had air in my head!!!"
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Another day at the breakwater
We went yesterday for another dive at breakwater. We had it in our heads to try to find the Matridium fields, but then realized it was quite a long swim. We decided to just try to find the pipe that heads out from the old cannery and see what was hanging out there today. Water was looking calm from the surface and we had no problem getting in. But once we got down we found it was really surgy with not so good visibility. Maybe 5 feet? Still, we saw a few fun new things... a scallop! We started him and hit started burrowing himself (herself?) down into the sand. Awesome! We saw a really big clam - about 10" across, half buried down into the sand. And...we saw a 6"+ lemon nudibranch - and took our first underwater photo!
But mostly I'm still learning buoyancy control - stopping to take pictures is a little difficult. Curtis is doing better than I am though - so he's ready to give photography a try! :)
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| From diving |
But mostly I'm still learning buoyancy control - stopping to take pictures is a little difficult. Curtis is doing better than I am though - so he's ready to give photography a try! :)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Advanced Scuba Diver!
To get the Advanced certification you have to complete 5 "Adventure dives" including a deep dive and an underwater navigation dive. The weather was beautiful on Saturday, nice and calm with almost 20 feet visibility! It was great being able to see your dive Buddy from 10 feet away. :)
Here's some highlights from our dives...
Underwater Navigation
Once I finally had enough weight to stay down, I was able to use my compass to swim in a square pattern and then in a triangle. Good thing I made it back to the starting point - could have been lost forever out there in that murky water!
Underwater Naturalist
This was an awesome dive. We basically swam around in the kelp looking for as many different kinds of organisms as we could find. We saw a giant sunflower star on the prowl - they move pretty darn fast! I hovered over a bed of kelp and watched it leap to life with crabs scuttling all around. I saw a rock fish hovering amongst the kelp fronds with that sour expression on its face. Schools of senioritas and small orange fish blending right in with the kelp. We could have stayed down all day enjoying the scenery, but alas, air is running out. Time to head back.
Night Dive
How scary is it to go diving in the dark? Actually it wasn't bad at all. We had primary and backup lights plus a marker on the back of our tanks to make it easier to see each other and tell each other apart (we each had different colors). We dropped down in fairly shallow water near the rocks at Breakwater. Our dive instructor was super excited to find three Octopi - each about the size of your hand. I think they must have been terrified - sitting in the middle of 5 spotlights trying to decide where to hide. Another interesting night-only siting ... the olive snails were paired up to mate. I noticed that they always appeared in a duo - the smaller female leading and the larger male following right behind. Cool!
Deep Dive
This is the dive I was most nervous about. Going on a boat and dropping down to 80 feet. It turns out the boat part was more intimidating than the depth part ... it was a pretty rough day out on the water. After jumping in off the back of the boat we had to make our way along the side of the boat holding onto a rope and eventually make it to the anchor line at the bow. With the boat jumping in the waves, this was tiring and more than a little unnerving. The dive itself was fairly short - we dropped down to 80 feet, did some tests to see if we were suffering from nitrogen narcosis, did a short swim around the reef, then back up to 15 feet for a safety stop before surfacing and getting back on the boat. For all the extra work of going to 80 feet ... we saw a few matridiums (giant white anemones), saw a couple crabs and a shrimp ... honestly I was mostly concentrating on buoyancy... I'm not sure what all was down there. Hopefully next time I'll be more comfortable and can enjoy the view.
Search and Recovery
Another dive off the boat. We were supposed to do some search patterns, then find a rock and practice using a lift bag to raise it to the surface. Sadly, though we searched and searched, we never did find a rock to lift. So this turned out to be another fun sight seeing dive. Here's my favorite part. As we were ascending back up the anchor line, I noticed a lot of debris in the water. But it was wiggling. I realized I was seeing a bunch of little animals ... sort of stick like. They were bending and straightening to propel themselves along. And look! There's one attached to the end of Curtis' glove, waiving and dancing in the current. Way cool! Only Curtis wasn't looking. When we got back on the boat, I asked excitedly if anyone else saw them. What were they? But do you know that NO ONE ELSE SAW THEM!!! I felt like a crazy person! All the rest of the day I kept thinking about those little critters. Then I finally remembered where I'd seen them before ... at the Monterey Aquarium! They have an exhibit with those things - and a giant magnifying glass so you can see them closer. Finally I was able to find out what they were. Skeleton Shrimp. Sweet! So I'm not crazy. But I am a certified Advanced Scuba Diver!
Next weekend: Point Lobos!
Here's some highlights from our dives...
Underwater Navigation
Once I finally had enough weight to stay down, I was able to use my compass to swim in a square pattern and then in a triangle. Good thing I made it back to the starting point - could have been lost forever out there in that murky water!
Underwater Naturalist
This was an awesome dive. We basically swam around in the kelp looking for as many different kinds of organisms as we could find. We saw a giant sunflower star on the prowl - they move pretty darn fast! I hovered over a bed of kelp and watched it leap to life with crabs scuttling all around. I saw a rock fish hovering amongst the kelp fronds with that sour expression on its face. Schools of senioritas and small orange fish blending right in with the kelp. We could have stayed down all day enjoying the scenery, but alas, air is running out. Time to head back.
Night Dive
How scary is it to go diving in the dark? Actually it wasn't bad at all. We had primary and backup lights plus a marker on the back of our tanks to make it easier to see each other and tell each other apart (we each had different colors). We dropped down in fairly shallow water near the rocks at Breakwater. Our dive instructor was super excited to find three Octopi - each about the size of your hand. I think they must have been terrified - sitting in the middle of 5 spotlights trying to decide where to hide. Another interesting night-only siting ... the olive snails were paired up to mate. I noticed that they always appeared in a duo - the smaller female leading and the larger male following right behind. Cool!
Deep Dive
This is the dive I was most nervous about. Going on a boat and dropping down to 80 feet. It turns out the boat part was more intimidating than the depth part ... it was a pretty rough day out on the water. After jumping in off the back of the boat we had to make our way along the side of the boat holding onto a rope and eventually make it to the anchor line at the bow. With the boat jumping in the waves, this was tiring and more than a little unnerving. The dive itself was fairly short - we dropped down to 80 feet, did some tests to see if we were suffering from nitrogen narcosis, did a short swim around the reef, then back up to 15 feet for a safety stop before surfacing and getting back on the boat. For all the extra work of going to 80 feet ... we saw a few matridiums (giant white anemones), saw a couple crabs and a shrimp ... honestly I was mostly concentrating on buoyancy... I'm not sure what all was down there. Hopefully next time I'll be more comfortable and can enjoy the view.
Search and Recovery
Another dive off the boat. We were supposed to do some search patterns, then find a rock and practice using a lift bag to raise it to the surface. Sadly, though we searched and searched, we never did find a rock to lift. So this turned out to be another fun sight seeing dive. Here's my favorite part. As we were ascending back up the anchor line, I noticed a lot of debris in the water. But it was wiggling. I realized I was seeing a bunch of little animals ... sort of stick like. They were bending and straightening to propel themselves along. And look! There's one attached to the end of Curtis' glove, waiving and dancing in the current. Way cool! Only Curtis wasn't looking. When we got back on the boat, I asked excitedly if anyone else saw them. What were they? But do you know that NO ONE ELSE SAW THEM!!! I felt like a crazy person! All the rest of the day I kept thinking about those little critters. Then I finally remembered where I'd seen them before ... at the Monterey Aquarium! They have an exhibit with those things - and a giant magnifying glass so you can see them closer. Finally I was able to find out what they were. Skeleton Shrimp. Sweet! So I'm not crazy. But I am a certified Advanced Scuba Diver!
Next weekend: Point Lobos!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Certifications and more certifications
Its October and we've already wracked up Open Water Diver, Dry Suit Diver, and Nitrox Diver. Now we know we're really in for it. Diving is fun! And we've learned by now that we aren't fair weather divers. We've decided to go for it - buying all our gear so we can get comfortable with it, and make many more dives right here in Monterey. Sounds like this isn't for everyone - there are plenty of people who don't see the point of all the hard work of cold water diving. Dry suit, lots of weight, poor visibility. But on the other hand, there is a lot to see, much of it on a small scale - you have to get right up close. I love finding something small and secret - unnoticed by most people, but yet a treasure. After a dive, I can keep the image in my mind of a perfect small anemone - not more than an inch across - different than any other anemone I've ever seen...
Looking forward to taking the Advanced class soon!
Looking forward to taking the Advanced class soon!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Going Alone?
Now that we had our Open Water certification, we decided to head back to Breakwater to try a dive on our own. No herd of students to jostle around with, just a chance to go out and see the fish in the spot we were already comfortable with.
We rented our gear, drove to Monterey, and got ready to get in the water. Looks a little rough out there. Hmmm.
Well, in the end, we learned a lot. Here's the list:
So it turns out paddling out into the high chop with a BCD that isn't holding air is not a fun way to start your first 'On my own' diving experience. But - we made it back in, and all our experiences together gave us a much better appreciation for what we're dealing with here. The goal is to dive and have fun, but diving in conditions beyond your experience or with unknown equipment can be dangerous.
Happily, conditions were much better on Sunday and we had two successful dives, learned more about working together, and saw lots more crabs and a few fish. The visibility was poor though - only about 5 feet.
One humorous tidbit ... Curtis' wetsuit had a lot of frayed edges, and the turbulant surf had washed in a lot of sea weed. Put the two together, and you have Curtis-monster-of-the-deep!
We rented our gear, drove to Monterey, and got ready to get in the water. Looks a little rough out there. Hmmm.
Well, in the end, we learned a lot. Here's the list:
- Make sure your BCD holds air before you get out in the water (scary to say the least)
- Don't try to put your fins on before getting in the water (at least at breakwater)... get past the surf zone and then put on your fins.
- Here's one - check the dive report before you go. Turns out 5-8 ft wind waves is not the same conditions as when we took the open water class.
- Make sure your compass is in the right way. In fact - check ALL YOUR RENTAL GEAR carefully to make sure everything is working right. Don't make assumptions!
So it turns out paddling out into the high chop with a BCD that isn't holding air is not a fun way to start your first 'On my own' diving experience. But - we made it back in, and all our experiences together gave us a much better appreciation for what we're dealing with here. The goal is to dive and have fun, but diving in conditions beyond your experience or with unknown equipment can be dangerous.
Happily, conditions were much better on Sunday and we had two successful dives, learned more about working together, and saw lots more crabs and a few fish. The visibility was poor though - only about 5 feet.
One humorous tidbit ... Curtis' wetsuit had a lot of frayed edges, and the turbulant surf had washed in a lot of sea weed. Put the two together, and you have Curtis-monster-of-the-deep!
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| From diving |
Monday, September 22, 2008
Starting the Adventure
I had no idea what I was in for when I walked into the dive shop and signed up to take the PADI open water diver course. Diving sounded like fun. I just wanted to try it. But I really had no idea what was involved - you just strap a tank to your back and jump in the water! I found it amusing to find myself there on the beach for my ocean dives two weeks later, that same tank strapped to my back, and small kids pointing at me and saying "Look mom! A Scuba diver!" Wow! And by the end of the weekend, I was! It felt so strange to go from barely knowing anything about Scuba to being A Scuba Diver. What kind of person is a Scuba diver anyway?
Some highlights of my first weekend of diving...
We used a float to mark the spot we were diving. After swimming out a ways, we turned back and saw there was a sea otter hopping around in the float! That really made me laugh. Later, we surfaced and were hanging onto the float, and here came Mr. Otter again ... swimming right towards us! I was laughing and laughing as he kept swimming closer. He finally realized we were hanging onto his play spot, dove down under the water, and swam away. Hehe.
Though the visibility was only about 10 feet, we managed to see a lot of interesting critters. Tons of purple olive snails (that's the main type of shell I've found washed up on the beach in Santa Cruz and Monterey - fun to see them all in real life driving around in the sand in about 7 feet of water). Tons of starfish. A few sandabs. And my favorite of all - lots of really nice crabs. One nice sized yellow crab, who reached his claws out at us menacingly. One beefy squarish crab hiding down under a pipe. Now the quest begins ... which crab is which? Time to look for a book on crabs of the pacific coast!
Some highlights of my first weekend of diving...
We used a float to mark the spot we were diving. After swimming out a ways, we turned back and saw there was a sea otter hopping around in the float! That really made me laugh. Later, we surfaced and were hanging onto the float, and here came Mr. Otter again ... swimming right towards us! I was laughing and laughing as he kept swimming closer. He finally realized we were hanging onto his play spot, dove down under the water, and swam away. Hehe.
Though the visibility was only about 10 feet, we managed to see a lot of interesting critters. Tons of purple olive snails (that's the main type of shell I've found washed up on the beach in Santa Cruz and Monterey - fun to see them all in real life driving around in the sand in about 7 feet of water). Tons of starfish. A few sandabs. And my favorite of all - lots of really nice crabs. One nice sized yellow crab, who reached his claws out at us menacingly. One beefy squarish crab hiding down under a pipe. Now the quest begins ... which crab is which? Time to look for a book on crabs of the pacific coast!
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