karmajewell
05-07-2007, 06:56 PM
All I can say is day trips to Catalina ROCKS!!! My friend Dena, Ian and I headed out from Dana point harbor to Catalina Friday the 4th. Wow what a rough day in the channel. Big swell made for a howdy doody ride out but it was worth every slam. We got out to Casino point around 10am and geared up at a leisurely pace. The plan was to dive the Valiant wreck just outside the park. So with our permit from the harbor master set we put in at the stairs and made the long swim over through the still very evident swells and wind chop. Who the heck cares though it's what's below that we were smiling about. The viz on the Valiant wasn't spectacular but just fine. 20-25ft at best. Great dive. Part of the stern had definitely crumbled off but the main structure was still in tact as well as the bow. I seen one large scorpion fish and Dena said she came across a large cabezon with an evil eye. Maybe he was guarding that jewelery box that has never been found ha ha. Second dive out of casino point went east through the kelp looking for the su jac wreck. It's small but still a life magnet. On the way over we came across a 4-5ft giant black sea bass. So incredible he/she let us get very close for quite some time. I could see the parasites on his/her eyeball. Someone needs some symbiotic lovin. Found many baby Spanish shawls on the su jac as well as a first for me, a nudi called porters chromodoris. Very cute little purple guy with a yellow stripe. Surface temp out there was 59 and I felt two thermoclines, one around 40fsw and 70fsw brrrr. Third dive, low tide at the stairs was hilarious. We went to check out the glass bottom boat and the sunken schooner. Always a pleasure. One very large bat ray graced me with a fly by. At least 6ft wing span, so cool! We found the best way to drop right in this area was to swim out to the buoy directly in front of the stairs and drop just before it for a cool dive on the glass bottom and the schooner. 7:00 ferry back to Dana point what a fun filled day of diving. So I know you divetrippers are out there reading my ridiculously long post but no one ever wants to chat. Please feel free to spark some conversation for the forum that's what it's here for. I would love to read about others and their diving journeys so please share some time. Happy bubbles trippers.