Whytecliff 17/10/2015

I had tried to get out for a dive the previous Saturday, then again on the Thursday, but they fell through. Fortunately I was able to get out with Dave, and ended up getting in two very nice dives at Whytecliff. Visibility remained excellent, and it was great to take advantage of it.

Here was the video compilation that I put together.

I met up with Dave and his friend Paul early Saturday morning. Dave quickly realized that he forgot his drysuit at home! That would have made for a very very cold dive. So we changed plans. Dave would go home and get his suit and Paul and I would do a dive. Then I'd go for a dive with Dave after that. Worked for me!

The weather had called for a lot of rain, but fortunately it held off. It was a very nice day. Paul and I entered at the Cut, and it was slack tide when we started. Conditions were perfect. I was very glad that the Cut was calm and not full of debris like it had been the last time I tried.

During our dive we saw a lot of golden dirona's along with a very big giant pacific octopus in a crack. We headed to the right along the wall, then turned around and went around the plumose gardens to surface in the bay. The ambient light was amazing, letting you take in the full beauty of the huge cloud sponges. There were huge schools of perch around the plumose gardens, and the vis remained fabulous. Easily it was 40 plus feet, maybe a bit more. When we surfaced, the park had gotten a lot busier with quite a few scuba classes going on. Dave greeted us on the beach.

Paul had to go, and so Dave and I started our dive doing the reverse of what Paul and I did. The visibility in the bay was a bit less due to the classes stirring up the bottom. But it wasn't too bad. Once we got out nearer the day marker it got much better. We checked out the octopus crack I knew of just past the rusty boxes at about 30 feet and it was home. That made the second octopus for the day.

Dave knew of another den further along towards the day marker. At about 80 feet keeping the rock wall on your right you ran right into three large boulders on the sand beside the rock wall. Under the third one we came across the third octopus for the day. Dave almost didn't see it, as it was so big he thought it was part of the rock!

Just past the plumose gardens, I found another crack at about 100 feet with a fourth octopus. And in the plumose gardens, under the memorial marker, there was a fifth octopus! Five octopus sightings in one day was a record for me. It was amazing to see so many in the area, and very encouraging. I was sure I could reliably find at least three of the dens again.

Dave and I did some skills at the end of the dive, then swam back into the bay. I tried to check all the eel grass I could for spiny lumpsuckers, but no luck. An excellent day!