Richardson
RockI had heard about Richardson Rock for years and knew it was the stuff of which California divers dreams are made. Yet I had been certified for more than 25 years before I finally had a chance to visit it. That's because Richardson is an off the beaten path site, 5.6 miles northwest of San Miguel's Point Bennett. Since it's a small, unprotected area in the open ocean, it can only be dived when the waters are calm. This almost always means early morning, before the winds freshen and the swells grow large.
Richardson is said to have been named for the survivor of an 1851 shipwreck. A passenger named Nathan Richardson apparently clambered to safety there and was rescued by another vessel.
I
dived Richardson for the first time on the last day of a three-day
trip - - Labor Day, 1998. The boat was underway when I awoke that
morning. We had dived famed Wilson Rock the day before, so it was too
much to hope for that we'd make Richardson on the same trip. Yet in
front of me was an islet I did not recognize. It consisted of two
parts. The largest one rose about 50 feet above the water's surface.
The top was covered with bird guano and its source, gray and white
gulls. Seals and sea lions were also in evidence. I was surprised to
see pinnipeds on top of the largest rock but the mystery was soon
solved. As I watched, a couple of sea lions rode a swell up the sides
of the islet, getting off just before the swell receded. The wave
gave them, literally, a fin up. Not all of the animals made their
projected goal on the first attempt, sometimes it took multiple
tries.
Less than one-third the size of its larger sister in area, the smaller islet is also much shorter and is probably awash with swells a great deal of the time. The area between the two islets is very surgy.
Excitement was palpable on the deck of the boat as we anticipated our dive, but since anchoring was difficult we had plenty of time to get ready and calm down. The Truth eventually set two hooks off the smaller islet. We were advised to jump off the bow and go down the anchorline, then swim to the wall visible on our left and follow it right around to the stern anchor. However, since the bow anchor was deeper than I wanted to go, I opted to follow the stern anchorline down. Visibility was a murky 30 feet. Although it was relatively calm, swells on the surface generated surge to about 50 feet. I descended along the anchorline until I could see bottom, then let go and drifted to a rocky ledge at 60 feet. Anything shallower was too surgy. The area was unlike any I'd ever seen off California. The ledge had steep sides and the area looked as if it belonged in a quarry. Thick marine growth covered every surface. There were colorful hydroids, tunicates and the ubiquitous Corynactis californica anemones in pink, red and purple. Among them I found chestnut cowries, the slinky arms of spiny brittlestars, the feeding "feet" of barnacles, minuscule snails and scallops, and nudibranchs. The largest animals seemed to be the bright red Urticina lofotensis, white-spotted rose anemones. I took several photos of chestnut cowries that day. When I got my slides back, I found most of them had abnormal (aberrant) shells. The shells were scarred, most likely by damage to the animal's mantle. According to one shell expert I consulted, this can be the result of rough water, something Richardson experiences in abundance.
The water was relatively warm; in the high 50s (°F). But still, after 30 minutes, my hands were cold and my camera, out of film. I ascended the anchorline and returned to the boat. The weather held and we were able to make another dive on this site. Since I knew I had not even scratched the surface of what the area had to offer photographically, my second dive was a duplicate of the first. Marine charts show the minimum depth in the area to be 28 fathoms (168 feet), with an average of about 41 fathoms (246 feet). This is not a site for novices. Those who venture into the water at Richardson should be in excellent physical condition and know how to navigate. The wind can come up at any time, turning an intermediate dive into an advanced one.
Dive Spot At - A - Glance
Location: About 5.6 miles northwest of San Miguel's Point Bennett.
Access: Boat only. Commercial dive charter boats visit this area when conditions are good. Some boats do this as a drift dive.
Skill level: Intermediate to advanced, depending upon conditions.
Depths: 60 feet to 240 and beyond.
Visibility: Fair to good, averaging 20 to 30 feet.
Hunting: Good for scallops.
Photography: Excellent for macro. A wide variety of invertebrates abounds.
Hazards: Surge and currents. Except on exceedingly calm days do not venture close to the islets.
Charter Boats Serving This Area: 
Spectre - (805) 483-6612
Peace - (805)
984-2025
Truth/Conception/Vision
- (805) 962-1127
Explorer-(805) 646-0836
