Dive Report 2.25.14 – I Gave In To The Cove

La Jolla, California – La Jolla Cove
Dive #382

Oh the Cove… the famous dive spot of beautiful kelp forests teeming with wildlife in an ecological reserve. A gorgeous rocky bottom, and its just mesmerizing as you swim through kelp stalks with sunlight rays just streaming down. It’s like a dream. And I don’t dive it as often as I should… Why? Its the exit. Its an “I’m stuck in quicksand with 70+ pounds of gear, about to face plant in the sand, but manage to, not so gracefully, crawl up on all fours out of the water looking like the creature from the black lagoon” problem. And now I have to climb the stairs with my heavy gear waving to the tourists who sat and watched the debacle of my Cove exit strategy. 😀 But I’ll dive the Cove sporadically.  And a few of you tormented me with shark footage… you know who you are. And I’m a sucker for some seven gill action. But unfortunately, they were no where to be found today. Clearly they didn’t get the memo that we had an underwater date. But even though the seven gills stood me up, I had plenty of other aquatic life to play with! Like the huge calicos that kept trying to makeout with my camera dome and the sheepshead that kept catching glimpses of their reflection and thinking damn thats one handsome fish! And the schools of perch and sardines. And of course the playful sea lions! The ocean was relatively flat with a few random waves that rolled through, but then they disappeared entirely. Viz was 15ft on average with pockets of 10 ft and pockets of 20+ ft. Water temp was 58-59 degrees.  It was a great way to start the day and even more importantly, it may have been my most graceful exit out of the Cove to date. 😀

Thanks Bethy, Greg, Bruce & Monie for letting me crash your dive last minute!!