Coronado Islands Refresher

The Spring of 2021 has brought some semblance of normality, or at least the hope of normality, to our lives and that goes for diving. Granted, international travel is messed up and may be for a while. In the last year I had major dive trips to Mexico, Solomons, Philippines and Canada cancelled or rescheduled due in whole or in part due to the pandemic and all the economic and societal fallout. So after California’s Covid surge passed in February and vaccines became widely available, I decided to take the fullest advantage of California diving I could in 2021 and get back to some of my favorite spots all within a day of my home. No travel necessary was the theme. I came up a “Southern California Bight Sampler” list and made plans to hit all of them in 2021. This post kicks it off. I’ll turn these into links as I get my diving done.

• Coronado Islands Refresher
• San Clemente Island’s Kelp Forests
• Catalina Island’s West End
• Farnsworth Banks
• San Diego Wrecks
• Coronado Islands – Sea Lions in Fall

I have a three day trip on the Horizon to San Clemente scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. I figured I should blow a few bubbles before then to ensure I still know how to use my regulator, computer, camera, mask and fins. So I booked a day with Waterhorse Charters to hit the Coronado Islands. I’ve been diving the Coronados since 1989 when we had some of our checkout dives there, and try to return every year. The water is generally cleaner and bluer than along the coast in California and there is a long-standing colony of sea lions at the North Island that, depending on the time of year, will show divers a good time. While May is not prime time for sea lions I did have a few visit me during my dives. (I was last in the Nados in fall 2020 for sea lions with a small group of friends, but that was not really scuba diving as I never got deeper than about 10′.)   I spent the day dialing in my camera settings again and determining that the water was still a little too cold for a wetsuit. Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Cheers, and thanks for looking!