Tag Archives: Catalina

Wreck Diving

Wrecks offer great places to dive and they are located all over the world. As technology evolves divers are able to go to sites much deeper than in past years however those dives involve greater risk to the diver and advanced training. In my younger days I did dive to much deeper wrecks but now I focus on shallower sites within what is referred to as “sport diver limits”. Wrecks provide areas that attract wide varieties of marine life and many of the sites have interesting stories attached to them. All of the sites I will post on this web site are wrecks that are within the sport diver limits of no more than 130 feet down. When you travel on a dive trip, the local dive shop can be the focal point to find those interesting sites that are attractions in the area. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can find a local who will take you to a site that’s not on the tourist trail.

Airplane wreck Mexico
Airplane Wreck, Mexico

Airplane wreck – Mexico. As with most airplane wrecks, it’s upside down and now a home for the fish.

Airplane wreck Bermuda Triangle
Airplane wreck, Bermuda Triangle

Airplane wreck found upside down…somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle. The story is that it’s the results of a drug smuggling operation gone wrong.

USS Bluegill WWII Submarine Conning Tower Hawaii
USS Bluegill WWII Submarine

USS Bluegill WWII submarine once located in 130’ of water off Lahaina, HI. This is the view looking up at the conning tower.

USS Bluegill WWII Submarine divers on deck Hawaii
Divers over USS Bluegill WWII Submarine

Divers swimming along the deck of the USS Bluegill towards the bow. These photos were taken during the late 1970’s before the boat was relocated to very deep water out of the range of divers.

USS Bluegill WWII Submarine conning tower to bow Hawaii
USS Bluegill WWII Submarine

Dive conditions were a bit murky on the day of the USS Bluegill dive. This is the base of the conning tower looking forward. The boat was used as a training location for Navy divers and a popular site for recreational divers before being relocated.

baby barge reef honolulu hawaii
“Baby Barge” Hawaii

This is the wreck of the “Baby Barge”, a small barge that was sunk to become a reef near Honolulu, HI. The bubbles are from the divers under and in the wreckage.

Turtle YO-257 WWII Navy fueling vessel
Turtle on YO-257 WWII Navy Fueling Vessel

This turtle was taking a nap on the wreck of the YO-257, a Navy fueling vessel from WWII, before the divers woke him up! There were three turtles hanging around the wreck when we arrived.

oil pump connections YO-257 WWII Navy Fueling Vessel
YO-257 WWII Navy Fueling Vessel

These are the oil pump connections on the YO-257 used in pumping oil during the refueling process. The YO-257 was 174’ long and now home to much marine life.

Top Structure YO-257 WWII Navy Fueling Vessel
YO-257 WWII Navy Fueling Vessel

The top structure of the YO-257. I love diving on wrecks, partly because of the history of the ships and partly because they attract a wide variety of marine life. The YO-257 was intentionally sunk off Honolulu to become a reef structure in 1989.

San Pedro Reef Wreck Honolulu Hawaii
San Pedro Artificial Reef, Hawaii

A short swim from the YO-257 lies the wreck of the San Pedro. The 111’ vessel was sunk as a reef off Honolulu, HI in 1996. Two turtle gracefully swim into the wreckage.

james marchetti 50foot sailboat wreck caribbean
James Marchetti

This is my youngest son, James, diving with me to a sunken sailboat at about 125’deep in the Caribbean. The boat was about 50’ long and was now the home of tropical fish and moray eels.

turtle sugarcane barge wreck caribbean
Sleeping Turtle on Sugarcane Barge

This turtle was located during a night dive on a sunken sugarcane barge that sunk off a small Caribbean island in about 30’ of water. It makes a perfect sleeping station for the turtles. They find a comfortable spot on deck to sleep and when they need air, it’s a short swim to the surface then back to the boat for more sleep. The remora on his back just tags along for the ride.

ray sugarcane barge wreck caribbean
Night Ray in Caribbean

On the way to the sugarcane barge this ray went swimming by in the darkness.

Wreck of 54' Gaff-rigged Schooner, SueJac
Sheephead swimming through the hull of the 54′ Gaff-rigged Schooner, SueJac, which sank in 1980 in Catalina Harbor

 

Island Golf

When ever I travel I try to find a golf course. Some of your more remote islands don’t have the most well groomed courses but island golf combined with island cocktails can’t be beat! Sometimes the beauty of the tropical settings provides a good excuse when your game sucks… I was just over come with the scenery and couldn’t concentrate (always a good excuse!).

Moorea Green Pearl Golf Course French Polynesia
Moorea Green Pearl Golf Course

This is the Moorea Green Pearl course in French Polynesia. It was a quiet day and we had the place to ourselves.

"Old Course" St Andrew's, Scotland
“Old Course” St Andrew’s, Scotland

St. Andrews, Scotland… the “Old Course”. We played there for three days and the weather was PERFECT… no rain, no wind. I’m told they get weather like this about once every fifty years or so. It’s the birth place of golf and still island golf!

Catalina Island Golf Course, Catalina, California, USA
Catalina Island Golf Course

Catalina Island is what I consider my “home course” since I live there a good part of the year. It is one of the oldest courses in the western US, established in 1892. Catalina is a small island off the California coast. It’s one of the few places in America where the most common form of transportation is a golf cart. The courses in Hawaii, Jamaica, the Florida Keys, etc. may be more dramatic, but your home course is always your favorite

Garibaldi Fish

Garabaldi Fish
Garabaldi Fish

The Garibaldi is a brightly colored orange fish of the damselfish family that is native to the North-Eastern subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Monterey Bay, California, to Baja California. The name is a reference to the Italian military and political figure Giuseppe Garibaldi who wore a trademark red shirt.

Not only is this fish a regular sight whilst diving off Santa Catalina, it is also the official marine state fish of California.