Please enjoy these pictures from the trip to San Diego.  They are from La Jolla Shores, Wreck Alley and the Kelp beds.  Brief story of the dive trip is below.

 

So the plan was to dive the La Jolla Shores on Saturday and Wreck Alley from the Lois Ann on Sunday, and guess what....we actually did that!

 

The group consisted of Kyle and Kelly Mahoney who were there to complete their Open Water dives and Catherine, Felicia, Mike, Jim and Lori who were there to experience all the wonders of the Shores and the Alley.  Congratulations to Kyle and Kelly for completing their Open Water certs at the Shores on Saturday.

 

The Shores are fun to dive, but there is a long swim out before you can drop down and find the wall.  We dropped down on our first dive and headed to the south following the hard mud wall.  It is a great place to see lots of life.  On the way out we stopped to look at the sand dollars.  These are a great navigation tool as they always point the way back to the beach.  There are fields of them in the shallow sands.  The wall itself is full of holes that contain fish, shellfish, crabs and octopus.  You really do need to slow down and just look.  I did not have my camera on the first dive, and  we saw decorated warbonnets and a free swimming octopus....those things were hiding when I came back with the camera for the second dive. 

 

With the diving done, the group headed for Old Town and enjoyed the hospitality of the Rockin Baja and Fred's.....enough said about that.  Luckily the PADI diving manual says "no drinking and diving".  I assume that the manual is always right, so we will leave it at that!  

 

Sunday was a bright and early start for the Seaforth dock and the Lois Ann.  JR and Eric were ready to greet us.  I have always wondered why they roll their eyes when they see me, but I am told that it is a traditional diving greeting. 

 

Boat diving is always a challenge for those that suffer from any form of motion sickness, so I always recommend Dramamine and that you start taking it 12 hours before you get on the boat.  We now have confirmed evidence that homeopathic alternatives do not work.  All the small fish that live just below the surface of the sea appreciate those that do not use the 'real thing'! 

 

I truly applaud anyone who has the drive to come out and dive the wrecks.  This is not gentle Lake Pleasant stuff.  This is real world diving, and you gain real world experience.  Just being on the boat with the people and heading out into the ocean, then jumping off the boat and heading down a rope to a 366 ft wreck in cold water is experience building, so I congratulate Jim, Mike, Lori, Catherine and Felicia for getting to the bottom and seeing the wreck.  You are better divers for it. 

 

From there we visited the Ruby E and the Kelp Beds.  I like the Ruby because she is a small wreck that you can explore in its entirety with one tank.  She lays in 85 feet of water, and you can look at the engines, go into the wheel house and explore the sand around the hull for sea pens and tube dwelling anemones. 

 

Last of all, we went to the kelp beds.  This is where all the life is; fish, nudibranchs, crabs, shrimp, lobsters, octopus.....everything and all within 10 fin kicks of the anchor.  Also, the towering kelp is home to lots of fish life.  With that dive completed, we had lunch on the dock and started the long drive home!