La Jolla Shores, Fri Dec 14, 2007
Shelley (my student) and I got to the shores around 7:30am. After checking the surf (what surf?) we decided everything was a go… we got all suited up (me in my drysuit, Shelly in a wet suit with a warm water predive flush) and we headed out. Our dive plan was a simple one, just go and check out Vallecitos point. Got lined up and we dropped down into 20 fsw. On the way out we spotted a 6-7 inch Sea Hare and then we kept going along the wall till we got to the point. We took our time checking all the lil cracks and holes. We didnt come across much other than the usual Gobeys and tube worms. When we got to the North side of the point we started to see a bit more. About 6-8 Sheepshead just hanging aournd the wall, a couple of octos tucked into their holes, not wanting to come out any further then just enough to check us out and a couple of small halibut, just hanging around on top of the point. Lots of Round Stingrays on the way back in. Must’ve seen at least 10 of them. Our exit was very easy we swam till we were in 4ft of water, took our fins off under the water and just walked out.
Between dives, I mentioned to Shelley that there is usually a large Halibut that hangs out on top of the point, and how disappointed I was that we hadn’t seen him. At this point Shelley made the comment that she would’ve liked to have seen a shark. Now you’ve got to realize, this was a gal that only last Saturday, was excited about learning to dive, but was uneasy about getting into the water for fear of seeing a shark! Quite a turn around after just 4 dives thus far.
Well, Poseidon must’ve been listening to us. For we no more than got through what minor surf there was and low-and-behold, sharks, lots of sharks. It was the first time she had ever seen a Leopard shark (about 7 of them actually). She was so excited she was giggling. Unfortunately, they were being pretty skittish and didn’t hang around very long and went south towards the boat launch. Not much after that we ran across a 4ft long Halibut, hanging out in the shallows. Kinda like diving wishes granted!
We got to the wall and this time we took the South path. Not a lot of fish on the wall, but we must have seen about 6 Sheep Crabs, varying in size from 6 inches across to the largest being 12 inches across. One looked like he had just escaped becoming somebody’s lunch, as he was missing 4 legs, and had a small hole in the top of his shell, as though he had been bitten. After our turn, the trip back in also included a small Decorator Crab and some more Round Stingrays. All in all, Leopard Sharks, Halibut, a few crabs… a great day to go diving.
Map to Dive Site at SeaStarAdventures.com
Surf/surge: 1-2 ft (occasional 3 ft)
Viz: 20 – 30 ft
Temp: 57F Suunto
Tags: diving, la jolla, scuba san diego, seastar adventures, shores
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