Since we couldn't get on the chamber days boats we liked,
Santa cruz was a good destination. The south side of santa
cruz is mostly kelp forests, but we were on the north side,
which has little kelp, and is known for steep walls close to
the island shore. Halibut hunting is known to be good in the
sandy areas.

Dive #1 - quail Rock

This site had many spanish shawl, blue rockfish, seals and sea
lions. There was also some kelp. it was a nice dive site.

spanish shawl

This site had many large caves filled with lobster, rockfish,
and the largest swell shark I've seen.

swell shark

Dive #2 - Cueva Valdez

This dive had a small amount of kelp, but very few fish. There
were seals & sea lions here.

The sand was filled with huge clusters of squid eggs, what a
sight!

squid eggs

An octopus was free swimming in the shallows. He was happy we
weren't hunting for octopus.

octopus

Dive #3 - Diablo

This dive site had many nudibranchs, including many Tritonia
festiva. This site had lots of structure going deeper than
other sites, and a large number of fish, but no kelp. A great
site! There is a really nice wall to the east (left).

Tritonia festiva

This cabezon was not shy and hung out with us for a while.

cabezon

This Seal was resting on the bottom, and let us come right up
to her.

harbour seal

Many nudibranchs were on this dive site.

two hermissendas

san diego dorid

Dive #4 - Scorpion walls. The diving here is better to the
left (east). The site had many treefish, scallops, opaleye,
and garibaldi.

Garibaldi

The water was around 55-56 on the dive sites, sometimes a
little colder below 45ft. The vis was so-so, usually 16-38ft.

My dive buddy Penny liked the food on the peace. The food was
good, and the crew was helpful.

There was one other photographer on the boat, Graham. Everyone
else was hunting. The boat was nice and roomy due to a light
load.

Other divers, happy as can be

Near deer creek, during the drive home.

On the way home we stopped at deer creek, before the LA county
line, and watched about a dozen dolphins go by. It was a nice
way to end the day!

• I'd have liked to have been there. (-) seahunt 22:12:40 05/05/06 (0)