Bat Ray

Big Geiger Cove
You know what it’s like during the dive briefing: The divemaster tells the group that there is great diving with one scenario off the starboard side and a completely different dive off the port side. Decisions, decisions. What do you do? Plus, you know the boat may not stay for multiple dives.

Take a camera, take a speargun; swim long , swim short, or just go the opposite way the other divers went. Big Geiger Cove is one of those dive sites that can make you crazy.

On one particular trip, Dale and I took the route of least resistance—where the other divers didn’t go. We found ourselves over a plateau with kelp sparsely scattered over a sandy bottom. Moving along the plateau I began to wonder if we made the wrong choice. The visibility was excellent—50+ feet, but I wasn’t seeing much. Then we came upon a cliff, that gave way to blue water. Peering over the side I got the impression that this was a wall that dropped down another 15 feet or so to another plateau.

I swam over the edge and slowly floated down for a very long time. I soon realized the visibility was deceiving me. The clear water made me think it was just a short distance to the bottom of the wall. But this was a great wall—bigger than most I had encountered off any of the Channel Islands, except for the open water pinnacles.

The upper plateau was in about 35 feet and I settled on a rocky bottom at 75 feet. This was a straight up and down 40-foot wall! The wall was covered with colorful gorgonian and aggregating corals. We followed the wall as it curved back around toward the cove, slowly ascending. We found more kelp and lobsters in and amongst the rocky crevices. The ever present garibaldi were all over the reef. During the right time of the year this reef is perfect for the garibaldi to build their nests as the wall allows them to build a large round nest on the flat rock.

Sea Hare

As we made our way back to the boat we found ourselves on the same plateau from which we started. Don’t misinterpret this plateau as a boring dive, but as a prelude to the spectacular.

Upon returning to the boat, the divemaster announced that we would be staying at this site. We promptly told returning divers about the incredible wall we experienced. In turn, we heard about the sighting of bat rays in the shallow cove. Since we had already been diving in fairly deep waters, we opted to try to find these rays.

The cove is made up of sand and small patch reefs, giving way to a very large stretch of eel grass. Although visibility was much less in the shallow cove, around 20 feet, the shallow water allowed for the sun to penetrate and shimmer on the emerald green of the grass. These colors were a spectacular sight, but we tried to stay focused—finding the rays.

Zoanthid anemones (right) are taking over this gorgonian at the base of the wall.

We separated about 10 feet apart and began swimming, sweeping back and forth, toward the shore. We found the first bat rays in about 15 feet of water, sitting still amongst the grass. We were able to move slowly with one of us approaching from opposite sides to take pictures. By swimming very slowly we were able to get quite close before the ray would move swiftly away. As soon as the ray would swim off, we would begin our sweep of the area again.

We must have encountered a dozen different huge bat rays during the length of our 50-minute dive. These were large rays ranging in length, wing tip-to-wing tip, of over five feet. As we encountered each ray, they would fly off in different directions, kicking up sand in the process, which in turn would slightly reduce the visibility, making the water appear even milkier than before. You will want to make sure to hover off the bottom and swim smoothly so as not to scare the rays too much and add to the low vis.

In addition to the bat rays, you may find the unusual and uncommon pipefish in and among the eel grass. The sandy bottom patches can sometimes find halibut and schools of leopard sharks. Small round rays inhabit the shallow gravel very near shore. Make sure you do not go ashore as the land is leased to a private yacht club.

Dive Spot At-A-Glance
Location: Frontside of Catalina Island, on the west end, between Arrow Point and Lion Head. GPS N33°27.661', W118°31.083' (GPS coordinates are for reference only. Do not use as your sole source of navigation)
Access: Boat only (private cove ashore, no trespassing).
Depths: 10 to 20 feet in the cove. 25 feet on the plateau. 35 to 75 feet over the wall.
Skill Level: All.
Snorkeling: Excellent in the kelp, near the rocky shore and in the shallow cove.
Photography: Very good wide-angle in cove for big bat rays and on the outer wall. Macro fair for small fish.
Hunting: Fair to poor. Some lobster in rock jumble at base of wall. Halibut in cove.
Hazards: Boat traffic above outer wall. Currents generally light.
Suggested Dive Charter Boats Frequently Serving This Area:
Encore - (310) 541-1025
King Neptune - (800) 262-3483
Sundiver - (800) 555-9446
Truth/Conception/Vision - (805) 962-1127
Horizon/Ocean Odyssey - (858) 277-7823
Mr. C - (310) 521-9737
Garibaldi - (310) 510-2800
Pacific Star - (310) 921-9210
Island Diver - (800) 642-0785
Express Divers - (866) 488-3483
Scuba Cat - (800) 353-0330
or search the California Scuba Calendar for trips to Catalina Island

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Kim Sheckler is Executive Editor of California Diving News, Executive Director of the SCUBA Show expo held each June in Long Beach, CA, and co-author of the book A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives, 3rd Edition.