Most Excellent Shore Diving Reviews of Phil Garner!

Review Date       AVG       ShoreDiving Site

09/18/2003        3.41      Divers Cove California South, USA West

Divers Cove is the most popular dive site in Orange County for dive classes. Easy entry, short surf zone and nice reefs allow students to become acquainted with California diving without a lot of work. The center of the cove is a sandy plain where you will find several classes each weekend. There are small reefs on the left side of the cove that extend into Picnic Beach. The right side of the cove is where you will find the best diving. It's a moderate to long swim to the exposed reef system offshore between Divers Cove and Boat Canyon, but well worth the effort. The outside edge of the reef ends at forty feet and has cracks and mini walls as high as twenty feet where you can find octopus, Moray eels, seals, sea lions and lobster. The inshore side of the reef is shallow and can be surgy, but there are more fish and lobsters to be found here. Divers Cove is an excellent night dive site as well. Many of the animals that you see hiding in the deep cracks during the day are roaming the reef at night. Parking is limited during the Summer and especially on weekends. There is metered parking directly in front of the cove and free parking to the West. Bring plenty of quarters! The City of Laguna Beach requires that you dive with a buddy and also carry a snorkel with you. You can keep it tucked away, but the police and lifeguards will cite you if you don't have it in your possession.

12/01/2001        3.74      Alua Beach The Big Island, Hawaiian Islands

One of the least crowded sites in Hawaii where you can see virtually everything on one dive. I've seen Manta Rays, many turtles and a large Marlin once. Nearly every coral head has a White-mouth Moray living inside. If you swim to the outside of the cove at 130 feet and lay motionless for a moment, you're in for a treat. The sand is full of Garden eels who will pop up until you move. Bring a bamboo mat, available at every store in Kona to keep sand out of your gear. The entry is very easy. Shallow sand gives way to coral at about four feet deep. From the beach, it is a short snorkel away from easy, relaxing diving Hawaiian style.

12/01/2001        2.90      Christmas Tree Cove California Mid, USA West

Continued from earlier evaluation

11/17/2001        2.70      Christmas Tree Cove California Mid, USA West

This is my favorite beach dive site in California. The visibility averages five to ten feet better than other sites on the peninsula. The trail can be a killer, but my wife(5'3")once carried three tanks up the hill in one trip. If you plan to make two dives, I suggest taking tanks for both dives down together rather than making two trips up this trail. You can leave the second tank between some rocks on the shore. If someone wants to steal it and carry it up, more power to them. As you enter the cove, the area immediately to the right has some excellent snorkeling in five to twenty feet of clear water. The best diving begins just outside the center of the cove. There are rocks the size of school buses covered with sea stars, kelp, sponges, anemones and an assortment of fish. There is a high spot outside and to the left of center that breaks the surface at low tide. If you follow this reef offshore you will find beautiful overhangs and hiding places for many critters down to eighty feet, where the rocks give way to a sandy plain. Here you will find seapens, tube anemones, sand dollars and Halibut. The first time I snorkeled at Christmas Tree Cove, I saw a Leopard shark and a large Batray in the shallow spot. My first scuba dive here brought eight Blue Sharks and a very friendly Harbor seal. After getting out of the water once, a Gray whale surfaced right where I had been less than two minutes earlier. When the ocean is flat and you feel adventurous, this is well worth the hike. Photography can be excellent, however hunting is rather poor. There seem to be few large fish and even fewer lobsters here.