The diving at Catalina Island is some of the best in Southern California–even when it’s not so great, like it was last weekend. I did four dives over two days, and found Catalina has been suffering from the same low-visibility problems as San Diego. I still had a great time! The Catalina dive sites I visited were Ship Rock, Eagle Reef, Rock Quarry, and Isthmus Reef.
Ship Rock
Catalina has some beautiful and healthy kelp forests, and the water was blue at Ship Rock, if a bit on the murky side.
On the rocky reef, we saw some shy garabaldi…
… And some aggressive ones!
Eagle Reef
Eagle Reef was one of my favorite sites this trip. There was just so much to see, like this Hermissenda crassicornis nudibranch:
We also saw so many adult horn sharks that I lost count after a while!
Rock Quarry
At Rock Quarry, the usual bottom-dwellers were out, like this rockfish:
Rock Quarry was also home to the biggest sea hares I’ve ever seen. The sea hares at La Jolla Shores are generally about 6″ long. These were actually rabbit-sized!
Isthmus Reef
On the final dive at Isthmus Reef, we came across a den of California spiny lobster. If you look closely, you can even see one sitting upside down on the wall (to the left). Check out its glowing eyes!
I also saw this warty sea cucumber pretending to be a bridge.
As we were wrapping up the final dive in the shallows at Isthmus Reef, a few sheephead buzzed by.
We stayed at Two Harbors, which was a beautiful and sleepy small-town alternative to Avalon.
I love Catalina and can’t wait to return!