Catalina Island - Dives and A Hike at Emerald Bay

I'm glad this will be my third entry (this deserves a great meal for break fasting. I'm thinking Nasi Goreng Special at Ramayani's in Westwood).

Before I go on, I need to mention that I had an awesome combination of Thai, Swedish and deep tissue massage yesterday for an hour at Oasis Thai Spa in Redondo. Apparently, I was breeding two giant knots in my shoulder blades, one on each side. Oum (the messeuse) "untied" it so gently, I was hardly in pain when she did it. I've had a few massage therapy in my past, but Oum is really good at what she does. Two thumbs up! She earned herself a big tip for doing such a great job!

Hemy: I wonder what caused the knots on my shoulder blades?

Oum: Two possible answers - Either tension over something you have been upset about for a long time or that you may have pulled a muscle doing something recently. 

Hemy: Sigh..

OK, so Evan and I spent about 3 days in Emerald Bay in Catalina Island this past weekend. Here are some pictures and highlights from that trip.

Two Harbors. Its a cute little town with among few other things, a couple of restaurants, a general store, a tiny tourist info center and a beautiful view. The USC Wrigley Marine Science Center is also located here.

The view from the Two Harbors jetty

Catalina Express - The ferry we took to Two Harbors

After waiting for about an hour at the Two Harbors post office, David, a senior staff from the Boy Scouts Camp picked us up in a van and drove us 7 miles to Emerald Bay. The ride was pretty bumpy as the roads were narrow and unpaved. We held tight, a little worried (I was) that the van might fall off the hill but concentrating on the picturesque view of the Pacific helped distract me.

We went on a bike ride around the campground to briefly check out the area. It is pretty impressive. I'm sure the boy scouts love to come out here for all the adventures this camp has to offer. You can find out more on their website at http://www.campemeraldbay.org/

Unfortunately for us (which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise), all the tents were occupied by the boy scouts that were there that weekend. Luckily, Rose (Jordan's friend) had a 2-person tent that she was willing to let us use for our stay. We picked Chapel Hill as our spot. Waking up in the morning for the next 2 days was absolutely awe-inspiring.

Can't complain (!)

We did 3 dives. One on each day that we were there. Following are the dive spots and log from my Suunto D4 dive watch:

Day 1
Doctor's Cove - Shore dive
Dive Time: 40 minutes
Maximum Depth: 10.9m/35.8ft
Water Temp: 20C/ 68F

Note: I didnt take my camera with me on this dive. But we did see a C-O Turbot, a sting ray, lots of sea urchin, Garibaldi, Kelp Bass and Sheepheads.

Doctor's Cove at sunset

Day 2 
Indian Rock - Kayak dive
Dive Time: 34 minutes
Maximum Depth: 19.8m/64.9ft
Water Temp: 18C/64F

Note: Evan and I suited up halfway in our wetsuits, tied up the masks, BCDs, tanks and regs in the back and our fins in the front before we kayaked for 30 minutes to Indian Rock. Evan tied up our kayaks together onto a Sea Kelp. We then suited up, threw our BCDs into the water, geared up and descended into the Kelp Forest. Swimming through the kelp and seeing the ray of sunlight shining through the surface was one of the most spiritual experience I've had underwater so far

Kayaking to Indian Rock

Sea Kelp  

Day 3
Doctor's Cove & Boat Wreck - Shore dive
Dive Time: 58 minutes
Maximum Depth: 15.7m/51.7ft
Water Temp: 18C/64F

Note: About 50ft after we swam away from shore, I saw this humongous bat ray laying on the bottom. I told Evan about it and he asked that I put on my reg and dive down near it so he could capture a video (the video didn't come out so good - no post!). As soon as I was barely near the bat ray, it got spooked and swam away! We later saw it again on the bottom. I think this bat ray is a resident at the Doctor's Cove.

Another interesting part to this dive was discovering a sail boat that sunk a few years ago. I am not sure of the story behind it (I wasn't paying attention when one of the staff members was telling the story). Evan thought it was the highlight of all the dives combined. I had seen a bigger boat sunk when I dove Mabul in East Malaysia last year. So seeing this little sail boat buried sideways underwater didnt really blow my mind away.

Jordan was the cameraman on this dive. He caught some really awesome pictures. You can check them out on my FB http://www.facebook.com/hemyadams in the Camp Emerald Bay album.

Evan and the bat ray at a different time later during the dive

Before leaving Camp Emerald Bay on our last day, Evan and I went for a short hike to Parsons Beach. It was an easy trail. I tried to snap a few shots from that hike. I also took a video to capture the panoramic view and the background sound. I'll probably post it on YouTube at some point today. Meanwhile, check out the pictures. 

This was my first trip to Catalina Island. I had no idea it was this beautiful. I love how it is pristine and well preserved. Diving is also superb here, with visibility comparable to the places I've been in South East Asia.  I would love to go back to visit and dive different parts of the island.