Hugo
Bags a Big One
Dear Dale and Kim,
My name is Hugo Guzman and I reside in Ventura County. I have been diving and reading your awesome articles for over three years. One warm Christmas night, I was given your great book, "Southern California's Best Beach Dives" as a gift. After reading your book little did I know of the wonderful and rewarding dives that later followed which increased my knowledge on enjoyable dive spots. In December of '99 I decided to try out Deer Creek located in Malibu in search for big bugs. That night, the conditions were perfect, the water was crystal clear, no waves and a full moon. Ideal for lobster hunting maniacs. In about 20 feet of water the kelp began to thicken and more small crevices were appearing. In the middle of the huge kelp bed, I saw a small cave and long antennas popping out of it. Immediately, I knew that those extremely long antennas were attached to a huge bug. When my light illuminated the cave, I realized that the bug was a lot bigger than I imagined. I couldn't believe my eyes. Fortunately the cave wasn't deep enough for him to crawl backwards and vanish in the dark. I found myself wrestling this 10 pound giant out of its hide out. He was so fat and stubborn he wouldn't even fit in my bag so I had to swim back to the beach and drop it off. I quickly jumped back in the water in search for more crustaceans. At the end of the dive, I proudly caught my limit. The next morning my brother took a picture of me and my bug.
Your Dive Friend,
Hugo Guzman
Oxnard, CA
Dear Editor:
Thanks for Al Bruton's article about the two vessels sunk to create new artificial reefs near Isla Espirito Santo north of La Paz. Do you have or could you get the latitude and longitude of these sites? If not, how about visual references that could be helpful in locating the wrecks.
Thanks,
John Ulrich
via e-mail
John:
Concerning the Lat/Long for the Baja wrecks, I do not have the numbers yet but will get them in June when I travel to the sites for extensive photography.
The new La Paz Underwater Park Association is placing buoys on each site, plus any dive operation out of La Paz can get you there. The Lapas #3 is located about 150 yards south of Isla Ballena, just inside the east end in 62 feet of water. The Fang Ming is about one mile south of this location on a bottom 72 feet down. Both vessels should be easily visible from the surface.
Al Bruton
(for California Diving News)
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