My first (and last?) kelp dive
November 30th, 2007 by Sarah
When I was about 9 years old I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and was mesmerized by the 3 story kelp forest aquarium/exhibit. I decided that some day I would dive in a kelp forest. Well, after two somewhat unpleasant wetsuit diving experiences diving at the Coronado Islands over the past 4 or 5 years with James I told him that I would never dive in California again (or any cold water for that matter) unless I had a dry suit. As you can see in a recent post by James, I now have my very own, 1980s hot pink and green drysuit.
So, here are the photos of me, achieving one of my life’s goals, over Thanksgiving. I was very happy during this kelp dive, which was in about 50 feet of water at Point Loma, just outside Mission Bay in San Diego. I have to admit that I was suitably impressed by the grandeur of the kelp forest ecosystem. James even noted that I was doing a little victory dance while on the dive to express my excitement and approval. But I must let you in on a little secret. Even though these two dry suit dives, the first of my life, kept me significantly warmer that I had ever dreamed possible, and were much more pleasant than any wetsuit experience could possibly be, in the back of my mind, I was really doing a victory dance that said, “I’ve achieved what I set out to do, I’ve dove in kelp. I never have to dive in such cold and miserable water ever again. Hooray!”
Thankfully, James photographed this landmark event in all of its glory. I wasn’t comfortable enough with the use of my drysuit to take my camera on the dives, so we don’t have any photos of him.
