Los Coronados
 With
the forecast calling for overcast skies and
drizzle, I feared the dive conditions might
adversely affect yesterday's trip to Los Coronados
Islands, as happened at Shaw's Cove three
weekends ago. But Saturday dawned with the
barest morning fog, which quickly burned off into a
perfect southern California spring day. The weather
couldn't have been better for a trip to the three
islets off the coast of Baja California. We left
the dock at around 8:00 a.m. for the
hour-and-a-half boat ride. For me, boat diving is a
double pleasure. Just being on the water is a joy
in itself, especially since I don't get to go
sailing or boating nearly as much now as I did in
my youth. Add a couple of dives, and I'm in
heaven.
About halfway to the islands, we crossed an
imaginary line in the Pacific and entered Mexican
waters. No Border Patrol officers or Mexican
federales were there to greet us, but away
to the east, I could make out Tijuana and Rosarito
Beach on the Baja coastline. As we approached our
destination, I finally got my first close-up view
of these three islands, which until now I had only
seen from afar. Recent rains had given the largest,
Coronado del Norte, a dusting of green grass. Here,
we dropped anchor for our first dive, at a dive
site called Lobster Shack.
The site earned its name for a couple of squat
buildings erected by Mexican lobster fishermen
years ago. Today, no visible remains of the shacks
are apparent. Nor do many lobsters remain in the
waters here, though I did come across a small
lobster carcass on my first dive. Large numbers of
seals and sea lions call this place home, however.
They barked at us and circled our boat as we donned
our wet suits and dive gear.
 Once
in the water, I encountered a great variety of
features. The site boasted many reefs and crevices,
a small wall and a large field of boulders. Though
the boulder field supposedly housed a number of
moray eels, we didn't see any on this dive. We did,
however, find many sea urchins. My dive buddy
cracked one of these open, instantly attracting
about 50 garibaldi and other fish.
And, as above water, we were greeted by many sea
lions below water. As one would guess, they were
incredibly playful, buzzing divers from above and
below, zooming past with fluid grace. One of them
seemed especially taken with my buddy, repeatedly
nibbling on his snorkel.
We moved on to the middle island for our second
dive. Though we found many reefs and rocks at this
site as well, the variety and visibility came a
distant second to the first dive. I caught a brief
glimpse of a seal, but hindsight suggested a second
dive at the first location would have been a better
choice.
The boat ride to Los Coronados Islands is short
enough to make a half-day excursion quite feasible.
And it's certainly a much cheaper way to dive in
Mexican waters than taking a trip to Cozumel or
Cabo San Lucas. It's a trip I won't hesitate to do
again, should the opportunity arise.
Photo credits:
Richard Herrmann, Frank Huntley
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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