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Mexico's Coronado Islands on the Lois Ann Overview While visiting San Diego to visit family and take in a showing of Island of the Sharks I took the opportunity to get wet on a day trip to the Coronodo Islands. These islands are just south of San Diego and are frequently visited by both dive boats and sportfishermen. I found the diving here to be generally less interesting as that in Monterey but it was still quite pleasant. I made the trip on the 43 foot Lois Ann which proved quite satisfactory. The Crew The Lois Ann is owned by Larry and Lois Cochrane who were both on the boat for this trip. They were quite pleasant and knowlegable about the local diving. Captain Woody and Divemaster Shawn were also both friendly and helpful. Lois was our cook and provided various pastries for breakfast, cold cuts for lunch and homemade cookies on the way back. About the only problem I had with the operation of the boat was my failed attempt to rent a pony bottle. I don't like to fly with my Scuba tanks so I inquired about renting a bail out bottle for this trip. They had one for rent but despite a reminder the day before our departure they somehow forgot it. Oh well, as it turned out most of the diving was relatively shallow and within my comfort level for doing an emergency ascent so it didn't matter too much. The Boat The Lois Ann is a 43 foot converted crew boat and as such I felt right at home. The two dive boats I frequent most in Monterey are also converted crew boats with similar layouts. The Lois Ann is a bit smaller than what I'm used to but it was comfortable. The boat has a very nice swimstep and well conceived benches for storing tanks and donning gear. The boat didn't have a camera table which would have been nice. Things could get complicated if a herd of photographers all ended up on the boat at once. Another minor photography related beef was the rinse tank. The tank was used for both cameras and mask rinse and was a bit gross by the end of the day. Except for the head the cabin area on this boat is a dry area which might have been uncomfortable if the weather hadn't been sunny. Of course this is San Diego so this might not be a big deal most of the time. Diving Operations All diving from the Lois Ann is done from the boat itself. The boat has two gates - one on either side making it easy to get all of the divers into the water quickly. The boat provides steel 80 cu ft tanks which are really nice for their heavy buoyancy characteristics. Since the water was relatively cold at 54-62 degrees everybody was wearing thick exposure protection and these tanks meant being able to dive with 4 or 5 fewer pounds of lead than with aluminum tanks. The boat also has a compressor and a Nitrox maker meaning you only have to setup your BC once and they just fill in place after that. Nitrox is available in any blend less than 40% but you pay more for mixes over 32%. The large partially submerged swimstep made getting back on the boat quite easy. The trip was advertised as providing 4 dives but this was only possible if you kept your dives and surface intervals short. I opted to make 3 long (1 hour plus) dives and didn't feel cheated. The itinerary, though, limited us to two dive sites which were right next to each other and very similar. I would have preferred 3 spots with 3 scheduled dives and a little more variety. Solo diving was permitted and dives were not led by a divemaster. For the most part the crew allowed the divers to plan their own dives and do their own thing which I greatly prefer over more structured operations. Shawn's dive briefings were thorough and accurate and the crew was careful with all of my gear. The Diving Both sites on this trip were on the lee side of North Coronado Island. There isn't much kelp here but the more or less vertical topography and abundance of large rocks makes for interesting diving. There are lots of sea urchins which might explain the lack of kelp. To my mind what Southern California needs most is a family of Sea Otters to keep the urchins under control. North Coronado Island is known for moray eels and sea lions but I saw neither on this trip. Several divers did see a large black sea bass. The invertebrate life here is neither as colorful nor as dense as what I'm used to in Monterey but since the species makeup was completely different it made for a nice change of pace. The fish life in San Diego is also quite a bit different with lots of garibaldis, scorpionfish, half moons and other species not seen in the north. Water temperature was about 54F below a thermocline at about 40 feet and about 62 degrees above it. Bring your drysuit. Visibility was about 70 feet beneath the thermocline and maybe 30 above it. The first dive site was at the south end of the island near a small arch. The top of the arch is above the water line and the bottom is at about 15 feet. The swell on this day was such that we were advised not do dive it. To the left of the arch there is a nice vertical wall going down to about 100 feet. In places the wall is undercut and the whole thing is covered with Corynactis and Zoanthid anemones. For some reason these were not as colorful as the ones in Monterey being more pastel and less vivid. I also saw some nice Nudibranchs here including a Flabellina iodinea and a Dirona sandieagensis. To the right of the arch it was a gentle sloping bottom going down to about 50 feet. I found a horn shark back in a crack in about 15 feet of water and there were lots of Garibaldis here. Both sides featured numerous gorgonions of several different species. The second spot was at the north end of the island. This spot was mostly a boulder slope angling down at about 45 degrees. We were told that morays live here but I didn't see any. A recent addition to this site is the wreck of the sportfishing boat Sal Si Puedes which crashed into the island a few weeks back. The boat is (was?) a 36 foot sportfisher and is intact and upright in about 50 feet of water. If you explore the shallows nearby you'll find the blue colored rocks where the boat impacted with the island. My only complaint with this site was the number of other divers. Two other dive boats were also anchored here when we arrived and it got a bit crowded at times. Logistics The Lois Ann operates out of Seaforth Sporfishing in Mission Bay. This is very convenient as there is good freeway access and lots of free parking. Overall I had a fun trip and would recommend the Lois Ann. The dive site selection could be a bit more imaginative and a camera table would be nice but this is a good operation. The diving at the Coronados is nice but not spectacular. Next time I'm in this area I'll give the local kelp beds a look rather than going out to the islands. San Diego Photo Gallery Happy Diving, Clinton |