 Printer-Friendly | Back  You don’t have to be Sicilian or a horticulturist to enjoy Italian Gardens, on the front side of Catalina. It’s a great spot that’s suitable for divers of all skill levels. And one of its big claims to fame is the seasonal appearance of many giant black sea bass that take up residence there through the summer months.Italian Gardens is pretty easy to get to. As you approach Long Point, the area immediately to the right (NW) along the coast is the dive site. It’s actually fairly extensive, running for about 500 yards and ending in a small cove. Anchor anywhere along that area and you’re in Italian Gardens. But looks can be deceiving. It’s a very tricky anchorage, partly due to the fact that the rock reef area lies fairly close to shore in shallow water, the winds can blow strongly down that part of the island, plus you occasionally get a surface current. What it means is that larger dive boats can slip anchor or can’t grab hold on the sloping sandy bottom. So be aware that you may be heading for Italian Gardens, but the wind and water may conspire against you. But when you can get in a dive, it’s worth the effort. On the northern edge near the cove, huge boulders and rocks serve as a pretty good substrate for kelp and they also give a nice underwater topography as well as provide home and shelter to various fish.  As you move towards Long Point, there’s a sandy bottom that slopes away from the island. In close to shore, there are numerous rocky ridges and a decent kelp bed. For beginning divers or those who don’t want to dive deep, this is a great place to explore.Along the slope there are various scattered rocks and these are enough to allow a not-too-thick kelp forest to grow. And because of this, it provides a perfect home for the giant black sea bass. Although you can have good dives at Italian Gardens without seeing black sea bass, doing a dive with these gentle giants is a special treat. Over the years, I’ve seen them in depths as shallow as 20 feet and as deep as 100 feet and everywhere in between. It’s hard to predict where they’re going to be, but my experience has been that moving towards Long Point increases your odds. Because of this, you need to make some navigational choices as well. You can pick a depth and follow the bottom contour at that depth for the first part of your dive, scanning around left and right and up and down the whole time. Then move in shallower and head on back. Or you can run a search pattern where you start deep, follow the slope up to the shallows, move over 30-40 feet, follow the slope back down to depth, move over 30-40 feet, follow the slope up to the shallows… and run this pattern moving down the area and then back again. I’ve used both methods and been successful with both and been skunked with both. Sometimes it’s just a matter of luck and being in the right place at the right time. And sometimes it also means being observant. I remember one dive where other divers were reporting black sea bass all over the place (my personal guess is that there are about a dozen there as residents) and I’d gone about 20 minutes into my dive plan without spotting a single one. I was saying to myself, “Where can these guys be hiding?” And then I got this weird feeling of someone staring at me and I turned to my left and there were not one, not two, but THREE of the behemoths “hiding” in the kelp and watching my every move. It sounds like narcosis to say that a 400-pound fish can “hide” but it’s true. In addition to the black sea bass, you might also spot halibut or bat rays on the sandy areas, sheephead, garibaldi, and kelp bass along the reef, and we occasionally come across black sea hares (the big ones - seems to be a theme for the site) clustered together and frequently laying eggs. Italian Gardens is a great place to dive when you can get there. And because you’re close to Long Point, you’ve also got some great spots like Pirate’s Cove, Hen Rock, and Torqua Springs to chose from for your second site. But be sure to put Italian Gardens on your list. And maybe after a dive there and an encounter with a giant black sea bass and some of the other residents, you’ll be heard to say (with apologies to Alka-Seltzer), “Mama Mia, that’s a some spicy dive site!” Ken Kurtis is owner of Reef Seekers Dive Co., author of many articles, past recipient of the California Scuba Service Award, and Chairman of Chamber Day/Evening. © Copyright 2008, 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. |
