As an ex-president of Laguna Sea Dwellers was getting married on the exact day the same Laguna Sea Dwellers very active dive club for over-active divers was having a day trip to Farnsworth Bank on the Magician, the journey schedule was a little modified so that the few divers that had signed up for both could be accommodated... I was one of them so I did not necessarily mind the 3am early departure. Sort of. I had planned for it and I was bunked by 10pm and took enough OTC sleeping pills to be able to sleep while the boat was rocking its way to Catalina and still not feel nauseated when morning came. I had some weird dreams involving rocking fishes underwater but other than that I felt ready and relaxed when we dropped anchor to what I believe was the NE Pinnacle 92.

We all geared up, the day was beautiful, and we jumped into the welcoming ocean. And then it got messy.

Not that messy, but messy enough to spoil the great expectations I had for these dives. I had been told on how beautiful it was, how crystal clear blue the water was with 100ft+ visibility, how I would feel like I had dove the Great Barrier Reef or something and how I would remember it all my life and could not wait to go again, dreaming of electric rays and purple hydrocoral.

Well, it was nice, but not that nice.

First the water was not really blue. Rather the usual Pacific green we've had all year round. Visibility was in the 20-30ft range. Still better than the usual shore dive, but a 60ft shy of a great experience. Then I have dove the Great Barrier Reef 15 years ago and it did not compare. Even through the fog of my aging memories, it was still way nicer down under. I may remember that dive all my life, but surely not for the electric rays as I saw none. I liked the purple hydrocoral though. It should lend itself to some terrific wide angle pictures, but with the reduced viz, the mild surge and my point and shoot, there was no way I could take multiple shots to stitch them together.

The encounters on the pinnacles, first the NE92, then most likely the West 93, were nice but not exceptional. A huge number of California Scorpion Fish of fairly good size where roaming all around the pinnacle. I took a few shots including some head close ups. For the best results you need to get close, then closer and shoot forced-flash, 1/125s, automatic macro, nothing unusual in these settings, they are very appropriate for all close-ups in our Southern California waters and anywhere else... Try the "I'm-not-looking-at-you technique if the big scary fishes shy away from you. Don't waste your time on a top shot or a tail/butt shot, if you don't get the eyes, you won't even see that they're in the picture, they camouflage pretty good!

I spotted also tons of nudibranchs of 3 varieties: abundance of Spanish Shawls at NE92 and Hermissenda at W93. I also saw a Mexichromis at NE92 but the shot came out pretty lame. Lots of attached fauna, very colorful, anemones in the shades of red, yellow and blue. I did not go to the Yellow Wall at NE92 as my buddy was reluctant going below 100ft. We stayed at the top of the pinnacle and played hide and seek with the sculpins. On the second dive, my buddy bailed out due to sea-sickness and I ended up doing my 2nd solo-dive at 90ft. The hydro coral formations were actually nicer than at NE92 and I found them populated with nice photogenic critters. I managed to frame a small hermit crab at the top of a coral head, still in macro, 1/125s. Cool. I was having so much fun shooting small stuff that I ended up into deco. At the half-depth safety stop, a sea lion came check me out. Way cool. I ended up on the boat with a few hundred psis left, which again is more than enough when you're on the boat.

With two dives in the 90-100ft range, the Magician captain selected a shallower spot for our third dive and we headed to Cortez Cove.

This was a nice dive, with a lot of abalones reported by everyone including my buddy. I personally spotted only one. I was probably too busy looking toward the sky to shoot some cool sun bursts through the thick kelp that was thriving at that spot. I saw a couple of lobsters too, the usual Spanish shawl, but really nothing out of the ordinary. The reflection of the hills of Catalina on the surface combined with the light rays filtered by the kelp was probably the only exciting sight on that dive. Nothing you can't see in the Avalon dive park on a good day though...

So I was not overly impressed. But don't get me wrong, it's a nice dive and I'll probably try it again if I have the opportunity and I hope to see you there!