After 3 weeks of preparation, four young marines from 29 Palms completed their PADI Open Water Certifications with dives at Corona Del Mar State Beach and Catalina Island at the end of February.

Geoff, David, Anthony and Zane had completed the academic portion of the their training on-line through the PADI eLearning program.  They then completed their pool training with Great Vis Scuba in Hemet at the Indoor Aquatic Center.

 On Saturday, the 25^th, they did three dives at the Beach where they learned safe surf entries, and practiced various skills they learned in the pool.  It was a good day for Corona Del Mar with 15 feet of visibility.  They saw lots of baby Sting Rays, Kelp Bass, a couple of Garibaldi and a really cool California Scorpion fish hidden on a small rock reef. 

Sunday we went out on the Sundiver out of Long Beach.  The Sundiver captain and crew took an immediate liking to the four young men and made sure their charter and dives went well.  On dives that took them as deep as 60 feet, they completed their training in stellar fashion.  Visibility at Catalina was over 50 feet that day, a rare treat.  While they saw many different kinds of “Marine” life, perhaps the most interesting was a very large male Sheep Crab mating with and holding onto a much smaller female.

The trip on the Sundiver was not limited to just our four marines.  We had a total of 16 divers from Great Vis on board that day.  Mike and Lynnof Hemet were just out for a day of diving, John from Banning and Raemie of Hemet completed their Dry Suit Diver certifications, Rhonda and Carissa were also just out for a dive.  Rich and Dave were instructing with Dive Master Josh’s assistance.

Weather was perfect, the Captain and Crew were awesome, the food was great and everyone had a fantastic day!

ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVING!

Four students of Great Vis Scuba completed their Advanced Open Water Diver Certifications on Thursday.  Doing dives from the Humboldt out of San Diego, Nikki, from Hemet, Mark from Phoenix, John P. from Mountain Center, and John M. from Banning went down to 100 feet on the sunken wreck, the Yukon. Joining them on the dives were Dave T., from Morongo Valley and Carissa from San Jacinto.

The Yukon is a 361’ long former Canadian destroyer that was intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef off Mission Bay in San Diego.  It was sunk 12 years ago and rests on its side in 100’ of water.  Mark, Nikki, and the two Johns completed their Deep Dive and a Wreck Dive on this site. Later they did a third dive on the Ruby E, another artificial reef off of San Diego. 

These wrecks are full of marine life. Many species of fish and invertebrates now make these artificial reefs their homes.  There are some divers who say that California Diving does not have the bright colors of tropical diving.  They have not seen these wrecks covered in Strawberry Anemones, Cauliflower Anemones, and various species of fish like the Painted Greenling.

These three dives were the last of 5 dives required for Advanced Certification.  The previous week John and John were at Corona Del Mar doing their Underwater Navigation Dive and Search and Recovery Dives.  In very low visibility on the the Navigation dive, they successfully returned to within 22' of their starting point on a 400' square pattern.  Nikki and Mark had previously completed Navigation, Search and Recovery and Dry Suit adventure dives.

Congratulations to all of them on their new level of certification.

We have several new trips and events coming up. Tomorrow is the monthly Dive Club meeting where we will have a short presentation of Diver Safety equipment.  We'll be serving pizza.

On February 23rd we will be on the Humboldt for 3 dives on the Yukon and Ruby E.  These "wreck alley" trips are always fun.  On the 26th, we'll be taking the Sundiver to Catalina for 3 dives.  We have 4 young marines making their first boat dives as well as 12 other Great Vis Scuba divers.

Pricing for the April 28-May 3, 2013 trip on the Juliet to the Bahamas was just received.  Including the port tax, we have 4 spots at $1670, and 6 at $1770.  This includes 3 meals, snacks, and all beverages.  Nitrox is $100 more for the whole week.  Price does not include air or ground transfers. Anyone who is interested will be able to hunt Lion Fish at no extra charge, the boat provides the equipment.

 On March 22nd, we leave for Fiji!  BULA!  This is going to be a great trip.  Watch for photos and updates on this page and in Facebook!

We enjoyed a real nice day on the Sundiver last Saturday.  We had a good group of Great Vis Divers out enjoying the flat conditions and nice weather.

Joining us were Ken, Daniel, Josh, Rhonda, Brandon, Warren, Frank and Gina.  Warren and Brandon completed their Digital Underwater Photographer Certifications, and Rhonda and Josh their Dry Suit Diver Certs.  Congratulations guys!

Conditions could not have been better, we had "Great Vis", calm conditions and sunny skies.  There was a large Shovel Nose Guitar fish just outside the Kelp line posing for pictures.  Inside the kelp were the usual Garibaldi, Blue Banded Goby, Black Smith, Kelp Bass and an occasional Lobster.

 For the first time that anyone can remember, Rhonda, wearing her brand new Waterproof Draco Dry Suit was finally not freezing.  We hardly knew her without the shivering between dives.  Both Josh and she are now fans of Dry Suit Diving.  Rhonda says California diving is lot more fun when you are dry and warm!

Thanks again to Kyaa and crew for a great day on an awesome dive boat.

From time to time in the blog we will have stories about the state of our oceans and efforts to minimize our impact on the underwater world. 

While not militant about conservancy, we recognize the need for common sense in how we treat the environments in the water world.  History is rife with examples of how fisheries have collapsed as we hunt species to the the brink of extinction.  Abalone in California, Sardines at Monterrey are but two examples.

One species under pressure in tropical waters is the Grouper of all genus.   I admit they are tasty, but the time has come to take them off our menu.  They are one of the larger predator species in these waters, and anecdotal evidence from areas where they have be protected, show them to be one of the best lines of defense against the infestation of non-native species, such as the now well known Lion Fish.
In the Caymans where there are dedicated reserves for the Grouper and their spawning grounds they have made a come back.  In other areas they are rare to extinct.  After seeing how they let divers approach, it is clear they are not difficult to take.  

One of the more interesting things I have seen personally is how they team up with eels to hunt.  They actually lead the eel to corals where prey is hidden.  The prey now has two bad choices - get eaten by the eel, or take its chances in open water with the grouper.

Happy New Year everyone.  Great Vis had a good 2011 and we are looking forward to a better 2012!

We'll start this year with a trip to Catalina on the Sundiver Express on January 14th, another to the Catalina Dive Park on the 29th, both trips put you in deep Kelp,

 We've got all kinds of classes coming up so check it out! 

In March we've got a couple big deals.  The first is a 3 dive trip on the Marissa, Sunday March 11.  This will be a deep dive trip.  125 Feet to the Hogan, 100' (at the bottom) to the Yukon (2 dives). 

Then of course we have our Fiji Trip.  This will be a great Trip!

Adventure and camaraderie are two of the best things about diving.  Every dive, even when done at the same location or site is different.  Every dive creates its own stories and makes for fun conversations and memories. 

When you take the adventure to exotic locations, like Cozumel or Fiji, the enjoyment is magnified exponentially.  Great Vis Scuba has a great trip coming up in March to the Volivoli resort in Fiji.  Many of the divers who went with the club to Cozumel had such a great time that they could not wait to sign up for the Fiji Trip.

The group will be leaving on March 24^th, and after a 12 hour flight arrive at Nadi, the main airport for Fiji.  The resort will pick us up and take us on a two ride to Volivoli.  After settling into our rooms and a quick nap, we’ll do our first dives that afternoon. 

The trip includes 11 boat dives and all the shore diving we can do while the resort dive shop is open.  Diving in Fiji will be a very different experience than diving in southern California.  Fiji’s gin clear, warm water will be an amazing contrast.  Add some of the most beautiful soft corals in the world, massive schools of tropical fish, and the potential for big animals, this will be the trip of a lifetime!

Great Vis is also offering the opportunity for aspiring divers to start their training here in Hemet (classroom and pool training), and complete their Open Water Ocean Dives in the clear warm waters of Fiji!

Check out the You Tube video of Volivoli and diving at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D5Lp8tp2rUA

There are still openings for the trip.  You can get the flyer at http://www.greatvisscuba.com/local-international-trips .  The trip includes airfare, hotel, food and diving!  The price per person, double occupancy is $2599.  The is a nominal airline tax to be determined.  There are still have a few spots left, come start you adventure.

 NEW ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVERS

Congratulations to Eric, Chris, Kevin, Warren, Carissa, all of Hemet, and Rhonda of Winchester, on completing their Advanced Open Water Certifications.  On the 3rd, they did their Underwater Navigator and Search and Recovery Dives at Corona Del Mar.   Lots of Compass work!  Eric and Chris each won a Great Vis T-Shirt  when they navigated a 100' square back to within 6' of their starting point.  Stellar navigation guys!

 This past Saturday the group went out again, this time on the Marissa in San Diego.  The first dive went according to plan.  Down to the Yukon, 95' below, where we saw the effect of depth on colors and an egg yolk.  After checking the minor variations in everyone's depth gauges/computers, we ascended slightly for a quick partial tour of the Yukon super structure before it was time to go.

 The next dive was not supposed to be a night dive, but due to the Marissa getting a late start, we wound up with two night dives.  Skills for boat diving, nitrox diving and night diving were completed by different buddy teams with everyone completing enough adventure dives to merit their advanced certifications.  Congratulations all.

 Winter Wonder (Water) Land

Winter time usually sees the SCUBA business slow down because of the holidays, and the perception that it’s too cold to dive.  Surprisingly, water temperatures don’t vary that much at depth in Southern California.  What does change is the average visibility. 

Without warm surface conditions to promote the growth of algae and other small particulates, and fewer people, boats etc., in the water stirring things up, visibility improves to the point of almost tropical conditions.  We’ve had as much as 100 feet of visibility off Catalina.

For those of you who still think it’s too cold, and plan to travel to Hawaii, the Caribbean or South Pacific, why not get certified before you go and spend your trip diving instead of learning to dive?  If you are still concerned about getting cold, you can do your book work and pool sessions with us, and complete your open water dives at your destination. While Great Vis Scuba does not schedule classes with more than six students, during winter time you are more likely to learn with even smaller groups – this means even more personal attention for you.

Already certified?  Join us as we dive the Yukon Saturday afternoon and take advantage of the early sunset to do a night dive off the Marissa in San Diego.  Or join us the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year to do a shore dive, probably at Shaw’s Cove, surf conditions permitting. 

Speaking of holidays, Christmas is almost upon us.  For those of you who have Divers to buy for, come on in to Great Vis and we’ll help you choose the right gift for them.  We have everything from T-shirts, to cameras, to accessories to primary life safety gear, you can buy from  as little as $6.  Your diver has everything?  How about a class or a trip or even an “air-fill” card?

Call for details about our monthly Dive Club meeting.  Always informal, this month’s meeting will be a social event away from the shop.

On Saturday, December 3rd, Great Vis conducted two dives toward the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Certification at Corona Del Mar.

Participants included Chris, Eric, Kevin, Carissa and Warren of Hemet, Nikki of San Jacinto and Rhonda from Winchester.  The buddy teams took part in the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive and the Search and Recovery Adventure Dive.  In spite of relatively low visibility all were successful in meeting the requirements of both dives. 

 Especially impressive was Chris and Eric's 100 foot compass square.  Navigating the low vis on compass only, the team negotiated 4 100 foot long legs and returned to within 6' of the starting point.  Outstanding Navigation!

 The next dives for this class will be from the Marissa on the Yukon, and in the Kelp off Point Loma.  The dives will be the Deep, Enriched Air and Night Adventure Dives.