Easter morning came very early this year. Marisa came to visit from Hawaii and we decided to to attempt another cold dive here in Southern California. She was staying with her auntie and cousin in Carlsbad, so we decided to check out a shore dive at La Jolla Cove. I have only ever gone to Catalina to dive and was impressed the first time. After all, once you dive through the kelp forest and see the vibrant orange of the Garibaldi, there's not much more excitement. At least in my 4 dives experienced off Catalina.
I had a lot of anxiety before this dive and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was because I wasn't spending Easter with my family. It was the first Easter each of us had spent separated from other family members. Or perhaps it was because I was not looking forward to diving in the 55 degree water. But, we woke up early and drove down to La Jolla to meet our guide, Dover. He gave us the dive briefing and we geared up then climbed down the 50 something step staircase.
We got in the water, which Dover had informed us that the conditions had not been this good in at least three months! Perfect diving conditions! We swam on the surface to the buoy that was 250 yards out. As we were swimming, masks in the water, we spotted a couple of Horn Sharks! Maybe this was going to be a good dive! We had heard about the different sharks that had been spotted the past few days and this was a brilliant way to start the dive!
We descended and our dive really began. It turned out to be one of our top five favorite dives EVER! This includes all of Hawaii, Costa Rica, and even The Great Barrier Reef dives! We saw three different types of sharks we had never seen before, including the Horn Sharks, Soupfin Sharks (or School Sharks), and the amazing Sevengill Shark! It was a dive meant for spotting sharks and we had great success as we kept encountering them! It was just amazing!
When we finally surfaced due to how cold we were getting, Dover was just impressed as could be. He asked us how much air we had left in our tanks. 1300 PSI left. He then asked us if we knew how long we were down for. 61 minutes! He told us he has never dove with anyone with such good water times and that we compare and are even better than dive instructors! He told us we could come back anytime, and although we do not need to dive with him, he would dive with us anytime! He then told us we could dive with him for free! Haha! We went back up to the park where Dover bragged about us to the other divers he knew. Just brilliant! Not a bad way to start Easter Sunday! :)
(La Jolla Cove with Sea Lions and Pelicans.)
(Marisa going through some kelp.)
(Self portrait going through some kelp.)
(Garibaldi)
(Dover loved the lobsters. He pointed out almost every one he could find!)
(Sevengill Shark.)
(I love this picture of the Sevengill.)
(Check out that tail of the Sevengill! Just amazing!)
