This is going to be a short post, but I have been neglecting this blog a bit lately. After way too many months I finally got to dive again. A good friend had chartered my favorite dive boat to go out. This time we ventured out a bit further than the usual Anacapa Island, which is the closest to Ventura harbor. It it was well worth it.
We did go to the north-west of Santa Cruz Island. The sites were around Painted Cave, supposedly the largest sea cave in the world. Charters do allow for diving in the cave as special training and equipment is required, of which I have none. However, the area around it is still very nice. Water is a bit cooler than Anacapa and we got a lot more marine life than what has been around Anacapa lately. The warmer ocean we have been seeing in Southern California the last couple years have let to a lot of species retreating to deeper and cooler waters.
No sea lions, they just could be motivated to get into the water, but lots and lots of nudibranchs. I have not seen many lately, so this was a beautiful and welcome sight. Overall a great day and some nice diving. Now I just need to keep that up.
