Torqua
SpringsWhen I entered the water, I almost forgot to turn to the boat and signal OK. The kelp below was calling to me. I kept my head down for quite some time staring into the lush kelp bed. The blue water and healthy green and amber kelp had me mesmerized. I couldn't wait for Dale to join me and I could get started.
Torqua Springs is the type of spot that makes me close my eyes and smile just to think of it. Located on the frontside of Catalina island it has the type of topography you'd expect to find at most shoreline Catalina sights. Large boulders piled on top of each other from shore to deep water, with one exception - the boulders seems to have skipped over the shallow area, leaving a distinct sand flat between the steep surface cliffs on shore and the boulders that start in about 20 feet of water 50 yards from shore. Boulders, the size of trucks, make up thousands of homes to every reef creature you can name.
Each dive Dale and I make has a plan. Sometimes it's photography, sometimes equipment reviews, sometimes just a dive spot - but we always have a plan. But in the back of my mind I always have thoughts of fish and kelp - my favorite thing to be in the middle of during a dive. If we are in the middle of a equipment review and photography shoot and a large school of fish swims by, I can see Dale roll his eyes as I wrap myself in the center of the school.
As soon as we descended and started to skirt outside of the kelp bed, we encountered an unusually large school of mackerel. Ah-ha! Bye Dale! And off I went. Dale stayed with me as I swam through, around, and alongside the fish. All the while he tried his best to get a good angle and possibly great pictures. We only stayed with the school for a short time as they kept creeping farther down the steep slope. We hadn't planned to make this a very deep dive.
The area on the outside of the kelp at Torqua Springs is very steep
and the boulders eventually give way to a sand bottom. The best
diving at this area is shallower than 40 feet, and we headed back up
toward the thick kelp and boulder city.
Looking in all the cracks and crevices we could see lobster everywhere. This will be a great spot come October to grab a few. Even though the day limit for lobster is seven, I always suggest taking only one or two. The lobsters were partially out in the open, suggesting they were aware of the closed season status. Their frequent housemate - the moray eel was equally in abundance. This was a pleasant surprise as I was starting to get worried that something had wiped out the moray eel on the frontside of Catalina. This was the first time I'd seen one in about two years - let alone three on one reef.
As we moved up in shallow into the really thick kelp, we made our way through passage ways. It was so thick it felt as if we were exploring a shipwreck made of kelp. I would push aside kelp and find myself in another room. We encountered sheephead, garibaldi, señoritas and many more kelp forest residents. Kelp walls and thick kelp canopy made it dark in areas. Sometimes it darkened so much you had to wait a few moments for your eyes to adjust. We would peek in and look around, and if nothing caught our eye we would move on to the next room. As Dale turned to move on, I grabbed his fin and pointed to the upper most kelp canopy. Tucked up in tight was a large school of silver-gold salema. Hundreds of fish floating motionless. I was in heaven. Fish and kelp!
I spent the rest of the dive rolling around in the kelp with salema, while Dale documented my splendor.
Dive Spot At - A - Glance
Location:
South east of Long Point and Moonstone Beach on the frontside of
Catalina Island. GPS N33°23.028', W118°21.552' (GPS for
reference only. Do not use as your sole source of navigation.)
Access: Boat only.
Skill Level: All.
Depths: 15 to 80 feet. Most diving in kelp at 20-60.
Snorkeling: Good with interesting shallows.
Photography: Very good wide angle in lush kelp. Macro fair of morays, gobies.
Hunting: Lobster, yellowtail occasionally pass by.
Suggested
Charter Boats Serving This Area:
Pacific
Dream- (562) 592-1154
Encore - (310) 541-1025
Great Escape - (714)
828-9157
King/Prince
Neptune - (800) 262-3483
Sundiver - (800)
555-9446
Horizon/Ocean
Odyssey - (619) 277-7823
Mr. C - (310) 521-9737
Garibaldi - (310)
510-2800
Cat Dive - (310)
510-0330
or see the California Scuba
Calendar section of this issue for trips to Catalina Island
