Moray eel

Long Point
The east side of Long Point located on the front side of Catalina Island is sometimes referred to as Pirate’s Cove. With a little imagination you can see that this would be a great place for a pirate ship to tuck into to hide from someone or better yet any prevailing weather that may come along.

On a recent dive we did just that, no not hide from someone, but to find a calm spot to dive. We were able to dive in calm water that we could not find in just about any other place on the island. While white caps abounded off the point, we dove in calm waters with 35 feet of viz.

Long Point is a very good name for this site. It is a long narrow rocky ridge extending into the ocean. The rocks of the ridge extend to the water and continue dropping below the surface. The ridges rise and fall in a series of pinnacles and ledges, small caves and drop-offs. This kind of bottom terrain make for incredibly fascinating dives. The marine life varies, but offers just about anything you can possibly find at Catalina Island, including a healthy stock of friendly curious moray eels.

Fish

Though I did not encounter any morays on this dive, we were concentrating on kelp and fish photographs, there are plenty to find. One particular moray nicknamed “psycho” lives here and is very curious. He is frequently found out of his hole and will swim around you and maybe between your legs. If this happens, stay calm, he will not bite you as long as you don’t smell or act like food. Keep you fingers tucked in and don’t wiggle them in his face. Morays have very poor eyesight and rely on their sense of smell more than any other thing. Basically don’t handle a lot of fish or hold an octopus and then wave hello to the curious moray.

Inside the point is great diving for all levels of experience. This is a good place for beginners to experience caves and kelp with little concern. Just outside the point there is almost always a current, usually traveling from west to east. This area is best left to the intermediate or better yet the advance diver. The currents can be quite strong, but that also means better visibility and many times the encounter of the open water fish including yellowtail.

Kelp is present here, though not exceptionally thick. It is a great indicator of the direction of the current. Remember to dive upcurrent. If the current does come up or you venture out beyond the point, drop down into the reef system and there you will find calm water to dive in or to use to bring yourself back behind the point and out of the current and open water.

Fragile star

Many caves exist in this area, some very small, some quite large. The most fascinating cave, at least for us baby boomers is the cave that Lloyd Bridges swam through in the opening scenes from the early black and white series Sea Hunt. That was actually filmed here, and it may be silly, but I love finding the cave and swimming through it just as he did. It is shallow and there can be surge, be careful. There is a surface cave that goes through the point, look at it from just the right angle and you can see a perfect shape of Catalina Island itself only backwards. With a strong wind it whistles and resident Indians of yesterday created many legends about the point.

The best part of this dive in the lee side of the point in shallow depths. Here you see almost all that there is to see without experiencing the currents, depths and possible boat traffic. The rocky ledges and fingers will reach depths up to 80 feet and drop away to a sandy bottom that is not worth exploring.

Dive Spot At - A - Glance

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Kim Sheckler is Executive Editor of California Diving News and Executive Director of the annual SCUBA Show expos based in Long Beach, the largest convention of it's type in the Western U.S. She is also coauthor of the book A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives, 3rd Edition.