 Printer-Friendly | Back  Those who have been lucky enough to travel to exotic tropical destinations are usually familiar with wall diving. Sheer coral cliffs drop off hundreds, if not thousands of feet into the abyss below. They can be both exciting with abundant marine life, yet also a challenging test of your dive skills.Lacking coral reefs, underwater walls in California are few and far between. Walls here are dependent on geological features. Some of the more famous scattered up and down the coast and around the offshore islands include Scripps Canyon, Ship Rock, Farnsworth Bank, Wilson Rock, Beg Rock and Mono-Lobo Wall. What are more common off California are, however, mini-walls. These are ledges that drop vertically, or near vertically, some 10 to as much as 50 feet. Some of my favorites include Wyckoff Ledge at San Miguel Island, Bird Rock Wall at Catalina Island, and Drop-Off Reef, Santa Cruz Island. Drop-Off Reef is not a particularly large structure, but what make this special are the deep horizontal crevices in the reef. Some extend back into the reef six feet. The ledge runs at an angle to shore but navigation is easy. Simply follow the ledge out, then return the same way. Closer to shore the top of the ledge is as shallow as 15 feet then drops stair-step to about 35 feet ending in boulders at the base of the reef. Further out the deeply cut rock face top is about 30 feet down ending in 60 feet at the sand and gravel bottom. Test your buoyancy skills as you cruise along the rock face. Currents are common but usually not strong. Water clarity is variable but usually at least good, 15 feet at worst, sometimes as much as 40 feet.  Bring a light to peer into the ledges. You will find a myriad of marine life back in the deep cracks and overhangs. The rockfish are my favorite. On a recent dive I spotted six different varieties. Rockfish are great for fish face photos as they usually let you get in really close. If you are lucky, juvenile tree fish will come out to greet you. They can be particularly fun and excellent photo material with their bright yellow stripes.Another resident that is good for fish face photos is the California scorpionfish. These guys are cocky buggers as they know their fins are poisonous if anybody touches them. They vary in color from gray to orange, but here brown seems to be the predominant color to blend with the rocks. I also like photographing the antics of painted greenlings as they flit about the reef, perching themselves in a local high spot to observe the action. During winter the painted greenlings go into a mating mode and the male turns very dark, while the female has dark stripes. Other times of the year they have horizontal bars of brick red.  Stars in numerous varieties and color, nudibranchs, and anemones provide additional color for your camera. In your search for creatures and critters don’t forget to spend time in the kelp forest atop the ledge. My buddy and I ascended in the shallow portion here heading for our safety stop. We found Norris top snails feeding on the kelp stalks, huge sea hares (sometimes called slugs), and beautiful schools of blacksmith, señorita fish, and a handful of beautiful copper colored kelp perch.You will dive Drop-Off primarily for the beauty and not the seafood. An occasional lobster can be found in the boulders at the base of the reef. Sometimes you can find halibut on the sand and gravel beyond these boulders. Scallops are present but few and small. Having dived Drop-Off now several times I must say it is one of my favorite dive spots around Santa Cruz Island. We may not have big coral walls in California, but mini-walls and ledges are abundant and entertaining. Drop-Off is one of the best. Special thanks to the dive charter boat Spectre for help in creating this article. Dive Spot At A Glance Location: On the backside (south side) of Santa Cruz Island east of the radar dome the bluff. Easy to find by kelp and depth finder. GPS coordinates N 33°59.023’, W119°36.812’ (GPS is for reference only. Do not use as sole source of navigation.) Access: Boat only. Skill Level: All. Depths: 15 to 60 feet. Visibility: Good, averages 30 feet. Photography: Good, macro best. Hunting: Poor to fair. A few lobster, scallops, halibut. Suggested Dive Charter Boats Frequently Serving This Area: Spectre - (805) 483-6612 Peace - (866) 984-2025 Truth/Conception/Vision - (805) 962-1127 Sunfish - (805) 644-1499 Raptor - (805) 650-7700 or see the California Scuba Calendar section of this issue for trips to Santa Cruz Island Dale Sheckler is editor of California Diving News, co-author of Southern California's Best Beach Dives and producer of SCUBA Show 2007, June 2-3 at the Long Beach Convention Center. © Copyright 2007, all rights reserve, by Saint Brendan Corporation, P.O. Box 11231, Torrance CA 90510, mail@cadivingnews.com. No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system/website, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission of the publisher. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this publication/website are opinions of the individual writers. The publishers of California Diving News and its contributors assume no responsibility for any mishap claimed to be a result of use of this material. Diving is an adventure sport and with it comes inherent risks. Improper use of diving equipment or improper diving techniques may result in serious injury or, in extreme circumstances, death. Readers are admonished to use their own best judgement in each individual situation. |
