Sunset Cliffs, 8/20/05

Some friends and I explored some new underwater terrian with a dive off Sunset Cliffs, near the point. It's a popular surf spot, so in most conditions it wouldn't be a fun dive spot to access. The area is accessed from a set of stairs down the side of the cliffs. It's not bad going down, but going up is a workout! Getting into the water is pretty easy. The water is really shallow around the rocks at the base of the stairs. On the other hand, getting out of the water is a little more difficult.


The visibility was about 10' for most of the dive. We hit a few 15' spots. For the most part, the marine life was pretty scarce. We saw a few Garibaldi.


I love it when Garibaldi pose for the camera!



We found quite a few Lobsters hiding out under the rocks. Try to count the sets of yellow eyes above! There were quite a few hiding out under this shelf.



Check out this brave Lobster! He must know the season is still a few weeks away.



Here's a nice closeup of a Lobster!



How much longer until Lobster season, again? October 1st can't come soon enough!



You don't see many of these on San Diego shore dives - Starfish. In fact, this is the first one I've seen this close to shore.



That's me! Way to go, Jon, you're getting better with the camera.



That's me again, only this time of my better side.



There's a lot of Sea Grass off Sunset Cliffs. If you pass over slowly and keep your eyes open, you'll find some unique marine life.
All and all, it wasn't a bad dive. It takes some swimming to get out to deeper water. We swam out quite a ways and only reached a depth of 22 feet. The water temperature dropped to 58 degrees (F) on the bottom. Thank goodness for the Pinnacle Polar wetsuit!