It has been pretty good snorkeling in La Jolla this summer. A few weeks back I snorkeled goldfish point, and got to see a young sea lion up close in the water. It zoomed around me a few times, checked out my fins, and then avoided the kayaks to find a rock in the sun. Last week I did the shores after work to swim with the leopard sharks. They seemed to be much shallower than usual – 3 feet of water vs. their usual 5-6 feet of water. Could have just been the surf I guess.
Saturday we snorkeled the cove. It was packed with people, but thankfully fish as well. There were lots of critters out. I headed out to the kelp beds and swam among them for a while. Not a whole lot of fish, but when the bottom of the stalks are 25 feet down, you don’t have a lot of air time to slowly explore. Quite a few lobsters out roaming around though and the kelp itself is fun to swim through and around. It feels like a different world when the sun comes out and the visibility is good. Sharp rays burst in star pattern through the water, turning the kelp leaves transparent.
I was briefly in San Diego last weekend and my singular goal was to just go for one swim in La Jolla. The fact that I wasn’t able to feels on part with attempted suicide: if you can’t even do that, you need to give up. I’m glad that someone is enjoying the magic of that place.
Too bad you didn’t get in, the water has been 68-75 on the surface. Downright balmy.