Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Scuba Diving San Carlos

We are back from San Carlos with pleasant memories, new knowledge and good experiences.

We met a group of eleven in Cottonwood at 4 PM on Thursday and thirteen of us aged early teens to early sixties loaded into a fifteen passenger van. By 9 PM were in a Motel 6 in Nogales.

Friday morning we crossed the border and were in San Carlos by noon. After checking into a motel and having lunch we drove to a beach for checkout dives for myself, Julie and another member of our group. This was far easier then anticipated.

A San Carlos dock scene.
Julie resting after stretching while waiting for the dive boat. (Larger version)


The original plan was to take a boat to the island for three dives on Saturday but the weather was less than ideal. We boated to San Antonio Point and did a dive. By the time we arrived a few were feeling queasy from the rough trip. However, once in the water we found a gentle surge 25 feet down.

We moved to another location for the second dive but encountered another boat with several divers in the water. A few had rounded a point and gone too far into rough water. One had a case of motion sickness and had thrown up. All were attempting to swim back to their boat on the surface. Our boat crew picked them up, took them to their boat and we diverted to another more protected location for another good dive. Here we saw the first jelly fish.

Location of our fifth dive.
Julie sitting on the back of the boat at the location of our fifth dive. (Larger version)


Saturday was perfect. No clouds. No wind. No waves. As we made our way to the island dolphins began swimming in the wake of the boat. Nearing the island we saw sea lions.

Our first dive was the best. We went down 60 feet and saw a vast array of flora and fauna. Unexpectedly a sea lion passed over my right shoulder and down in front of me almost within reach. It was exciting to have them swimming close around us.

Lunch on the dive boat.
Fish tacos for lunch. (Larger version)


We moved to another location for the second dive of the day. The first choice for another location had too many jelly fish so we abandoned that spot before dropping anchors.

Sea Lions.
Sea Lions. (Larger version)


The location for the third dive looked excellent. Sea lions were lying on the ledges around the small cove and several were on a gravel beach. However, there was a strong current that required a fair amount of effort. Still, it was a good experience.

Julie enter the water for our fifth dive.
Julie enter the water for our fifth dive. (Larger version)


After our second dive on Saturday Julie said a strange thing to me. "Thank you for doing this with me." I liked that. It affirmed she was having a good time. It's good to have common interests that we can enjoy together.

Signaling OK.
Julie raising an arm to touch her head as an OK signal. (Larger version)

1 Comments:

Blogger Anvilcloud said...

What fun! I would like to try that sometime, but, as things are going, I may not get around to it in this life. :)

6/17/2010 04:11:00 AM  

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