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San Miguel Island, Best Dive Spot in the World! By: Robert A. Moriarity Sr. I was lying in my bunk on a very windy Sunday morning off San Miguell Island, when the Captains voice came over the intercom. He described this new dive spot as an advance pinnacle dive. Forgoing breakfast, I promptly climbed into my drysuit, checked all my gear and loaded the camera. Off the bow I went into one half-knot current with 30 to 50 knot winds pushing the boat around. The waves and the swinging of the boat made it very difficult to receive my camera from the crew. Once I grasped my camera, I went face down and started to kick like hell. I was going to try and stay with the anchor line. I even held onto it for about 10 feet of my descent. Then without warning the boat began to swing and the line was ripped out of my hand with an incredible force. The line was instantly out of sight. I was now in about 30 FSW and was unable to see the pinnacle. I told myself that I needed to continue in the same general direction and that I was not going back to the boat having not found it. Down another 30 FSW and there it was, looming out of the blue open water just like a coral covered tower in the fog. The visibility at this point was about 20 feet. When I landed on the top of the pinnacle I did a gear check and noticed tat my breathing rate while fighting to get down was over 50 PSI per Min. (Normally I am at 15 to 19) I took a few deep breaths and then noticed where I was. WOW! I was on top of a 15-foot diameter pinnacle at 62 FSW and it was covered with more life and colors than I could ever begin to recognize. I did not know where to start. Checking my primary and backup air supply I headed down the wall all the way to the sand at 106 FSW where I would start my dive. From this point I confirmed the camera was ready and turned on the flash/spot light and started looking for subjects. Within a minute I was very mad that I configured the camera, a Niconos V, with the 2:1 macro lens and not the standard lens. The macro lens would never be able to capture the incredible size and amount of life on this rock. By the time I was at 75 FSW I was almost out of film. Having photographed more then nine different types of Nudebranches, more soft coral than I could count and several crabs I never saw before, I was already thinking about returning. The macro lens did come handy with the purple Hydra Coral that was all over one rock. While working my way up to the top I was able to swim through three arches that reminded me of Rose Bowl Floats. The walls were so thick with all types of corals & life. It was sensory impute overload, I needed more time to take it all in. I had now been down for over 30 min. and in my dry suit I did not even notice that the water was 51 deg F. It was now time to go. I continued back to the top of the pinnacle and found that the current had picked considerably. My next task was to locate and catch the boat. I swam around the pinnacle top several times and was unable to locate the anchor chain. A moment of panic hit me that the boat may have had a problem and had to pull the anchor and I was in for one hell of a surface ride in the swells and wind. However, as I was making my last pass around the top of the pinnacle I noticed the boat generator sound. I made the decision to start my free assent in the direction of the sound. At about 30 FSW I was able to spot the outline shadow of the boat. As I was heading slowly to the surface I was being dragged by the current toward the back of the boat, and the boat was now on it's swing in my direction. I met the swim step perfectly. Once on the boat the captain announced that he was moving the boat to get out of the wind & swells and also give all the other divers a chance to dive. I sat on the deck for the longest time reflecting this dive concluding, I could make several dives on this pinnacle and I would still refer to it as the best dive spot in the world. I can't wait to return. June 28, 1998 Onboard the "Truth" Boat out of Santa Barbara, California. Robert A. Moriarity Sr. Senior Technical Systems Analysts Universal Studios Information Technology Group Server Support Team USITG-SST Desk - (818) 777-5737 Pager - (818) 215-7305 Robert.Moriarity@Un*.co* http://www.westcoastdiver.com -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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