West Catalina Island dive report for Channel Islands Dive Adventures. The trip was on the Magician on Feb. 11, 2018, and it was a GREAT day! Why do you ask? Because I went diving and that is what I love plus I learned some new things and improved on my UW wide-angle photography with the help of Brent Durand. Brent is scheduled for a number of CIDA trips to help with tips and suggestions to anyone on the trip that would like to ask him questions.
Sunday’s trip was aboard the Magician to the west end of Catalina. We had a full boat of 24 FUN divers and at first, it looked like “where is everyone going to fit” and then changed to “still room for more” and that is what it is like most trips. I am sure you have seen this many times. The other nice thing about Sunday was the ocean was calm and it was a beautiful day out-can’t ask for much more than that!
We did 3 dives with the first at a site named Wild West. This was the second time I have dived this site and look forward to going back again. Lots of kelp, big rocks, sea fans, some sea lions, fish, moray eels, and the occasional bat ray cruising through the kelp forest. Depths under the boat were around 40’ but it does gradually get deeper to 70’plus.
Our 2nd dive was at Black Rock which was nice especially out along the point. My average depth here was about 50’ not going much past 65’ deep at the point. Nice sea fans growing out from the large rocks and kelp although you do see a notable difference in its growth as you travel east along the front side of Catalina.
Our 3rd dive was at Indian Rock which I think should be changed to Indian Feathers because all the sargassum grass here looked like feathers growing out of the rocks and it is everywhere. Seen some fish and LARGE mammals blowing bubbles looking a bit like they didn’t quite belong. Water temp for the day was up around 58 degrees and visibility was great at 40’-50’ plus.
All in all a great day out with Captain Carl and crew doing a superb job. If you missed out join us on another. We have lots of trips planned throughout the year!
See our Dive Calendar Page for all our other fun trips.
By Ken Kollwitz